Hormonal
Pre-exercise ingestion of essential amino acids or protein, alone or combined with carbohydrates, maximally stimulates muscle protein synthesis and promotes greater strength gains compared to placebo or carbohydrate-only interventions.
If you lift weights, eat 20-35 grams of protein (or essential amino acids) mixed with carbohydrates about 30-60 minutes before your workout. This timing helps drive amino acids into your muscles while blood flow is high, stimulating protein synthesis during the exercise itself and leading to greater strength gains over time compared to just eating carbs or nothing.
ingestion of amino acids and CHO, or whey PRO, before resistance exercise can maximally stimulate PRO synthesis after completion of the exercise bout
Why this rating
Supported by multiple controlled trials (Refs 8, 9, 10, 11, 31, 32) showing consistent strength and lean mass benefits.
Source
International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: Nutrient timing
Chad M. Kerksick et al. · Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2008
DOI 10.1186/1550-2783-5-17
More from this paper
- Ingesting carbohydrates during endurance exercise (30-60g/hour) sustains blood glucose and improves performance, while adding protein (CHO:PRO ratio 3-4:1) further enhances endurance performance and glycogen re-synthesis.Strong
- Post-exercise ingestion of carbohydrates (8-10 g/kg/day) within 30 minutes maximizes muscle glycogen re-synthesis, and adding protein (0.2-0.5 g/kg/day) at a 3-4:1 ratio further enhances this re-synthesis.Good
- Ingesting carbohydrates or carbohydrates combined with protein during resistance exercise offsets muscle glycogen decrements, reduces markers of muscle damage, and promotes greater training adaptations (strength and muscle cross-sectional area) compared to placebo.Good
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