Dietary recommendations for athletes have often provided guidelines for daily amounts of total energy consisting of carbohydrates, proteins and fats with little importance placed on when meals where consumed relative to training.  New research is showing that it is not just what you eat but when you eat it that determines the overall success of a resistance training program.  Long-term consumption of whey protein before and after resistance exercise alters anabolic signaling in a manner that is advantageous for muscle hypertrophy.

Protein ingestion increases muscle protein synthesis in proportion to the essential amino acid content of the protein dose.  In certain situations essential amino acid ingestion can provide advantages over intact proteins.  First EAA (essential amino acid) ingestion results in a rapid concentration and delivery of amino acids to skeletal muscle which increases protein synthesis.  EAA ingestion also maximizes the stimulation of muscle protein synthesis without affecting the metabolic response to subsequent meals.  On a gram per gram basis EAA ingestion results in a 2-fold greater accretion of muscle protein than consuming intact proteins.

Based on the current research we recommend taking an amino acid drink such as Intek BCAA Evolution pre-workout.  Don’t worry if you are currently consuming a pre-workout powder as you can mix BCAA Evolution with almost any conventional pre-workout.  Post workout be sure to take in at least 20 grams of protein with some type of carbohydrate.  For the ideal post-workout drink try BioRhythm After Glow.

The goal of this type of nutrient timing is to increase muscle protein synthesis so that the net protein balance becomes positive or anabolic.  When resistance training is performed in conjunction with amino acid consumption increased blood flow to exercising muscles delivers the higher amino acid concentrations to muscle which serves as a signal to increase protein synthesis.

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