Protein Shake Before Or After Workout Lose Weight

Whether your main goal is fat loss, fitness, or building muscle, you’re about to learn the best time to take protein, as well as other tips that will optimize your results.

When you exercise, the wear and tear from movement causes microtrauma to muscle fibers. Because your muscles are mainly protein, your body relies on available amino acids and proteins to repair the tiny muscle tears.

Microtrauma elevates your body’s protein requirements after exercise. If you exercise regularly, that means your protein needs will be elevated all the time when compared to people who don’t exercise[*].

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Your body is capable of repairing itself using stored amino acids, but this method is less efficient than drinking protein shakes or eating protein-rich foods[*]. 

And eventually, due to limited amino acid stores, insufficient protein intake results in incomplete recovery (from all exercise) and decreased muscle growth (from weight training in particular). 

Over time, inadequate protein intake can cause the loss of hard-earned lean muscle mass, and losing muscle is bad news for your health and fitness[*][*].

When Should I Drink A Protein Shake—before Or After A Workout?

Simply put, exercising without sufficient protein can be detrimental, and may have the opposite of the intended effect: decreased fitness and loss of lean muscle mass.

In reality, not all protein is created equal. Along with your total intake, the type and amount of amino acids (the building blocks that make up dietary protein) affect your results.

The larger the amount of essential amino acids (EAAs), branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), and leucine contained in a protein source, the more it boosts your recovery and muscle protein synthesis[*].

When Is The Best Time To Drink A Protein Shake?

(Of all protein powders, whey protein has the most EAAs, BCAAs, and leucine, which is why we recommend it for people who work out[*].)

For example, you may have heard that you only have 30 minutes to consume a protein shake after lifting, or else your gains will be compromised. 

While some research partially supports this idea, none of the studies are particularly strong[*]. Many of them suffer from inconsistencies or other issues.

When Is It Too Late To Drink Protein After A Workout

At the end of the day, the people who make a strong case for a post-workout anabolic window aren’t doing it on the basis of scientific evidence. That doesn’t automatically make them wrong, but they don’t have an ironclad argument, either.

Here’s our take at Levels: for anabolism (muscle growth), it can’t hurt to drink a protein shake within 30-60 minutes of lifting--but don’t stress out if you leave your shake at home by accident, either. 

Your body can store glucose for energy in the form of glycogen. Unless you trained hard recently or follow a very-low-carb diet, you have approximately 600 grams of glycogen stored in your muscles and liver[*][*]. 

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Some people add carbs to their protein shake to replenish glycogen lost during exercise, but is this practice necessary? And if so, when?

Also, if you do need glycogen replenishment ASAP, a mix of protein and carbs appears to do the trick faster than carbs alone[*].

For rapid glycogen replenishment, try a 4-to-1 ratio of simple carbs to protein. For example, a 400-calorie blend of 80 grams dates, strawberries, or oats (blended with a blender) with 20 grams whey protein.

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Research suggests that you can burn more fat by avoiding carbs and maintaining a glycogen-depleted state post-workout, and this practice doesn’t appear to reduce muscle protein synthesis[*][*][*][*].

Therefore, if your goal is fat loss (or you just want to stay lean), lifting weights or performing HIIT to deplete glycogen and then eating protein instead of carbs after training could improve your results.

Some research even shows that post-workout carbs make no difference in muscle protein synthesis, or that low glycogen does not reduce muscle protein synthesis[*][*]. 

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If or when carbs do boost muscle protein synthesis, the effects are likely due to increased insulin levels or reduced protein oxidation, the latter of which you can also achieve using sufficient protein intake[*][*].

Otherwise, there is no rush to consume carbs during or after training, and waiting to eat carbs probably enhances fat loss without compromising muscular growth. 

A few studies show that consuming protein pre-workout can boost your EPOC, which is to say, you’ll burn more calories after you train if you drink a protein shake first[*][*]. 

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One study found a 6 calorie (kcal) difference between protein and no-protein groups over 2 hours, while another found an increase of approximately 80 calories (kcal) 24 hours after lifting with pre-workout protein[*][*]. 

As you may have noticed, there’s no strong evidence that pre- or post-workout protein timing makes a meaningful difference in muscle growth, glycogen (most of the time), or EPOC-related calorie burn.

But just because pre- and post-workout protein timing studies don’t show huge differences doesn’t mean you should altogether dismiss the idea of having protein around the time you train.

What To Eat Before And After Your Workout

For one thing, as the authors of 2018 paper from Frontiers in Nutrition point out, there’s no practical advantage to delaying your protein intake after you finish training, only potential downsides[*]. 

Overall, there’s a good chance that consuming protein during or immediately after exercise is more effective than consuming protein an hour or more after training[*]. 

And endurance athletes, listen up: a meta-analysis of 11 studies found an immediate 9% increase in performance from consuming protein and carbs pre-exercise compared to carbs alone[*]. You don’t need protein and carbs before every practice session, but the evidence suggests it’s a winning strategy for competition.

Protein Before Or After Workout?

Now that you’re up to speed on the research, here’s some common sense advice: If you’re an athlete, a fitness enthusiast, or you want to build muscle by lifting weights (how else?), it pays to experiment with pre- versus post-workout protein timing!

At their best, studies measure the average response of large groups of people who aren’t you. If you want the ultimate personal insight around protein timing, measure your own response in terms of performance, fat loss, or muscle building. 

You may not be able to control for every variable, but you can still get a pretty good idea of what works for your body.

Benefits Of Drinking A Protein Shake Before Bed

Beyond the bare minimum to stay alive, which is what the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for protein represents, eating extra protein each day can boost your results[*]. 

And surprisingly, even if you eat more protein than your body can convert to muscle, it can still decrease protein breakdown in your muscles[*].

When it comes to building muscle, “net muscle protein synthesis” refers to the results you get to keep--your gains, in other words.

What I Drink Before And After Exercising

Eating plenty of extra protein increases your overall muscle-building for the day by reducing muscle protein breakdown[*]. Think of it as increasing your bottom line by decreasing losses.

Liquid protein shakes like whey protein are a convenient way to ensure you get enough protein to support your goals. They’re also a fantastic way to experiment with raising your protein intake.

And if you’re concerned about consuming excessive protein, know that a high daily protein intake is unlikely to be an issue--unless you are dehydrated or have pre-existing kidney problems[*].

How To Lose Weight With Protein Shake Meal Replacements

At Levels, we recommend men and women make a protein shake with 40 grams of whey protein or more post-workout to gain lean muscle or recover from intense exercise.

As for daily protein intake for muscle, strength, or hard training, we recommend starting with 25-30% of calories from protein, then going up from there if you feel a need to fine-tune.

Therefore, if you eat 2500 calories per day, we advise about 160-190 grams of total protein per day to build muscle mass.

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Basically, you could consume as little as a single whey shake on lifting days only (post-workout), or you could have 2-3 shakes a day to ensure you’re getting adequate protein.

As we covered earlier, getting extra protein some time during or after your workout, getting high-quality protein, and getting enough protein are all key for good results.

But what about timing protein intake strategically at other times? Can that make a difference in your fitness, recovery, or muscle building?

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One study found that among already-trained men who were following a strength training program, a schedule of consuming protein once every 3 hours was superior to intervals of 1.5 or 6 hours[*]. 

In contrast, another recent study found that protein timing throughout the day may not have any helpful effect for overweight people who lift weights but aim to lose fat[*].

Other research suggests that if you want to maximize muscle protein synthesis, 30-40 grams of slow-acting casein protein before bed is effective[*].

When You Should Drink A Protein Shake

To sum up, it’s undeniable that protein timing matters sometimes, but equally true that it’s not the all-important factor some people make it out to be. 

But along with all the research-based insights about protein intake, other cutting-edge data indicates that the amount of calories you eat could help determine protein synthesis and recovery[*].

At this time, scientifically speaking, the exact caloric cost of building muscle is unknown, and eating extra calories may boost muscle growth independently of resistance training or protein intake[*]. 

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Therefore, unless your goal is pure fat loss, obtaining a caloric surplus is a great way to ensure the best results along with protein intake and timing. 

And by the same token, your best bet for fat loss is creating a caloric deficit through diet and exercise, with protein intake and timing being important secondary considerations. The timing of protein intake in