The single most important thing when it comes to working out
And optimizing that single most important thing
Since beginning my journey into learning so much about the theory of fitness and health, I’ve been asked time and time again about what I consider to be the single most important thing someone can do to enhance their training and achieve their goals. I always say the same thing, which tends to trigger eye-rolls: “dedication”. I think it’s obvious as to why — most athletes are very dedicated, so after their eye roll they usually ask again, “okay, what’s the next best thing?”.
It’s having whey protein, before the gym. Not after the gym. It’s crazy how few people believe me on this one, and it’s even crazier how many people have argued over it. Not only does the science on this matter resolve the discussion, it makes perfect intuitive sense to anyone familiar with evolution. First, the science: Whey protein pre-workout significantly boosts total protein synthesis in the body compared to nothing pre-workout, or just a carbohydrate based drink pre-workout, and it significantly boosts total protein synthesis in the body compared to having the protein shake after the workout. This is measured by a higher metabolic rate post-workout.
See: evidence that metabolic rate is boosted by this: Timing protein intake increases energy expenditure 24 h after resistance training, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19997003/
See more evidence: Metabolic impact of protein feeding prior to moderate-intensity treadmill exercise in a fasted state: a pilot study, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1186/s12970-018-0263-6
See evidence that protein pre-workout increased fat oxidation (usage of fat for energy): Metabolic impact of feeding prior to a 60-min bout of moderate-intensity exercise in females in a fasted state, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36726396/
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Once the debate is over, I always mention “why are we even debating this; wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry and just have protein both before, and after your workout?” Here’s some research saying protein after workouts is a good thing to do (there are hundreds of others, though they only inspect the effect of protein post-workout; papers inspecting pre vs post are unfortunately rare):
See research showing more protein synthesis from postworkout protein: Combined ingestion of protein and free leucine with carbohydrate increases postexercise muscle protein synthesis in vivo in male subjects, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15562251/
See whey protein helping with fat loss when consumed post workout: The effects of whey protein with or without carbohydrates on resistance training adaptations, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26677350/
See a review paper, concluding “Conclusions: This review suggests that protein supplementation may enhance muscle mass and performance when the training stimulus is adequate (e.g., frequency, volume, duration), and dietary intake is consistent with recommendations for physically active individuals.”: The effects of protein supplements on muscle mass, strength, and aerobic and anaerobic power in healthy adults: a systematic review, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25169440/
So, I personally have whey protein before and after the gym. Whey protein is high in leucine (the amino acid added for the best benefit in the paper linked directly above in 1.). Now, you might be wondering, why do I keep talking about whey protein. Why not soy? Why not pea? Why not egg? Why protein powder; why not a steak, or omelette? Well, there’s a very simple scientific answer. Whey protein is the most bioavailable protein science knows about. See the chart below, and note in advance, that biological value is the most important column. Here’s a definition for what it is from Wikipedia.
Biological value (BV) is a measure of the proportion of absorbed protein from a food which becomes incorporated into the proteins of the organism's body. It captures how readily the digested protein can be used in protein synthesis in the cells of the organism.
So in conclusion, we’ve argued scientifically that it’s best to have protein before your workout if you’re just going to have one protein shake. If you’re going to have two, one before, and one afterwards is optimal. If you’re going to have three, have the third before bed, and have whey protein, not a slow digesting protein. I will argue for the timing being optimal before bed in the future, because we’ve already established from this table above that whey protein is the king of all currently consumed proteins. It’s the most useful, and the most well received by our bodies (if you’re lactose intolerant, buy whey isolate that’s lactose free). It’s worth noting that whey protein is a complete protein source, so you could live on it if it was the only protein you were consuming and your other nutritional needs were met from fruits / veggies / chia / etc.
Now it’s time to make the hand-wavy argument rooted in evolution. It is a fact that cell division is a very risky process. When a cell divides, it creates two new cells, each with approximately half of the resources of the initial cell. If this happens, and a famine strikes after the cell divides, then both cells die, and the organism loses the utility from these cells. Naturally, this pressure meant that evolution made it so that cells will not divide unless resources are “abundant and everywhere”. Intuitively, you can think of this as being “well-fed”. So let’s say you’re going to the gym and you’re hungry, and you workout hard, and do everything right. Now you go home and have protein, which will signal to your body that you’re “well-fed”. This will probably work, but it certainly won’t work as well as if you’d had protein before the work-out, because in this case, while working-out your cells are saying “woah, we’ve got amino acids everywhere, cell division is totally a safe thing to do”. This argument sufficiently explains the results in the literature about pre-workout protein boosting resting energy expenditure (metabolic rate) more than post-workout protein.
Note 1: whey protein is incredibly cheap given what it gives you. 1 scoop of 27-28grams of whey protein isolate can usually be found at a price of around $1 a scoop if you look for deals. This is another reason I’m a fan. It’s not only the most effective protein, it’s also the cheapest protein.
Note 2: I will rewrite this with many many more citations, but it will be a subscribers only post. This post is free and will always be free as I believe it’s truly the highest impact simple change anyone can make. Move your protein from post-workout to pre-workout. If you’re allergic to whey, get essential amino acids (EAA’s) and take 12-14 grams of EAA powder before you workout, perhaps mixed in your pea protein, or soy, or whatever substitute you like to use.