When is the Best Time to Take Protein

We all know in order to build muscle you need to eat plenty of calories and especially protein.  The rule of thumb for protein is to consume 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight for muscle building.  With any good muscle building plan, you need to spread those calories into 5-7 meals a day to keep your metabolism high and your nutrient intake steady.   There are some medical professionals who think the body cannot digest more than 35 grams of protein per sitting and therefore is another good reason to spread out your protein intake.  With our busy schedules, it is very hard for any of us to eat that many meals a day and the protein shake is the perfect substitute for 2-3 of those meals.  

Pre-workout:  I prefer to take a protein shake before I workout instead of eating a meal because your body digests whey protein powder within an hour as opposed to chicken or fish which takes your body 2 to 2.5 hours to digest.  That way I don’t feel bloated at the gym and I know the protein is going straight to my muscles instead of sitting in my stomach waiting to be digested.  

Post workout: This is the absolute most important time to take a protein shake.  This is the beginning of the all important “recovery” phase.  Your muscles have been broken down from a strenuous workout and you need to get protein to them fast in order to repair and build new muscle.  

It is important to take any protein powder, but I think whey protein is the highest quality protein for building muscle and as a bonus it’s also one the cheapest.     Whey contains all the essential amino acids for building new muscle and is also high in bioavailability so our body can digest a high amount of it.  Whey is also high in BCAA which are the amino acids, leucine, isoleucine, and valine, which help with muscle recovery and muscular breakdown.   You can get a 2 lb jug of Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard for under $23 dollars.

Top 5 Proteins

1. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard- The best all purpose protein because it mixes well, tastes great and is a blend of isolate and concentrate for fast to medium digestion.
2. BSN SYNTHA-6– Best tasting protein, no bloating, great blend of fast and slow digesting proteins.
3. CytoSport Muscle Milk– Tastes Great, has some fat in it, which makes it the perfect after workout shake.
4. Optimum Nutrition 100% Casein– Perfect before bedtime because of its slow digestion and its amino acid slow and steady release.
5. Gaspari MyoFusion– Highly digestible protein, great tasting protein blend to take anytime, night or day.