Many athletes take a protein supplement in the form of a powder, liquid, or bar after their workout in the hopes of building
muscle.Protein supplements are a good option for post-workout recovery, but they do not increase your muscle mass more than regular foods.
This would mean that if your diet contains enough protein, you do not necessarily need protein supplements as you can receive the same muscle gain benefit from eating regular foods.
It is best to take your protein supplement right after exercising to speed up muscle recovery
The most popular form of protein supplement used is the powder form, as it can be readily mixed with water, milk, or even juice. With powder protein supplements, many variants exist, which include but are not limited to:
- Whey (most commonly used)
- Soy (commonly used by vegans)
- Casein (slower digesting than whey)
To understand how taking protein immediately after working out increases your muscle recovery rate, it is beneficial to understand the research about what happens to your muscles after a workout.
Let's say that you are performing a bicep curl (shown left). This is an unusual motion for your muscle that causes small microscopic tears in your muscle.
To repair the damage done to your muscle done by exercise, your body needs protein, which is the reason people eat protein after working out.
Immediately after a workout, your body's natural response is to both create protein and breakdown protein, to allow for proper delivery of nutrients.
However, the problem is that the balance is shifted towards protein breakdown, which would slow down muscle recovery because this mechanism is not being geared towards muscle recovery.
This problem can be remedied by eating a source of protein such as protein supplements, as it shifts the balance towards building protein, thereby giving muscles what they need to grow and recover.
It is important to fix this imbalance quickly for maximum recovery rate, so you should take your protein supplement as soon as possible after working out.
Although the sooner you take your protein supplement the better, you generally have up to 4 hours after your workout to increase your muscle recovery speed
Hydrolysate is another form of whey supplement where the proteins are partially broken down, thereby allowing for faster transmission of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, to muscles. The body can then use these amino acids to build more proteins, which can be used to repair muscle damage.
Because of this accelerated delivery, muscle recovery is expedited with the use of this type of protein supplement.
Companies advertise their protein supplements as having unique types of proteins, but in reality you can also find them in food
The composition of amino acids in protein supplements is not different than those found in whole foods.
Some athletes believe that protein supplements contain something extra that regular food doesn't have, thereby leading to greater benefits.
This is a reasonable belief for athletes to have as many of these supplements advertise special characteristics about their product such as having branched chain amino acids (BCAA's).
BCAA's are part of the nine essential amino acids that are needed for proper bodily function and survival. These type of amino acids can only be obtained through outside sources, as our body does not produce them.
An example of a BCAA is leucine. The chemical structure of leucine is shown on the right. Notice the branch that is contained within the box.
A branch in the structure such as the one seen in leucine is what classifies an amino acid as being a BCAA.
BCAA's are highly sought by athletes because research suggests they help maintain nitrogen balances in the body, which is thought to enhance muscle recovery.
It is beneficial for these supplements to have BCAA's, but it's not necessarily a special characteristic as you can obtain them by eating foods such as chicken breast, salmon, and eggs.
Advertising that the product contains BCAA's or some other special facet is generally a marketing tactic used by nutritional companies to persuade you to buy the product. They want to make you feel as if it is worth your money, as some of these protein supplements are quite expensive.
Dylan Hernandez, kinesiology student and president of the running club team at the university, discusses how he usually plans a balanced meal, so as to achieve maximum recovery after his running workouts.
Some athletes believe that protein supplements contain something extra that regular food doesn't have, thereby leading to greater benefits.
This is a reasonable belief for athletes to have as many of these supplements advertise special characteristics about their product such as having branched chain amino acids (BCAA's).
BCAA's are part of the nine essential amino acids that are needed for proper bodily function and survival. These type of amino acids can only be obtained through outside sources, as our body does not produce them.
An example of a BCAA is leucine. The chemical structure of leucine is shown on the right. Notice the branch that is contained within the box. A branch in the structure such as the one seen in leucine is what classifies an amino acid as being a BCAA.
It is beneficial for these supplements to have BCAA's, but it's not necessarily a special characteristic as you can obtain them by eating foods such as chicken breast, salmon, and eggs.
Advertising that the product contains BCAA's or some other special facet is generally a marketing tactic used by nutritional companies to persuade you to buy the product. They want to make you feel as if it is worth your money, as some of these protein supplements are quite expensive.
Dylan Hernandez, kinesiology student and president of the running club team at the university, discusses how he usually plans a balanced meal, so as to achieve maximum recovery after his running workouts.
However, these foods are may not always be readily accessible to you after a workout. According to Dr. Rogers, in cases where the individual may not be able to eat for several hours, protein supplements can provide quick access to nutrients that are needed to start and maintain the muscle recovery process.
