The Top 10 Post Workout Nutrition Myths

I love reading these articles for number of reasons.  It dispels myths that these ignorant gym rats rant about.  It helps understand what is happening at a scientific level rather than understanding from trial and error as most of these myths are derived from. Without further ado, I present you the first one…

  Consuming the drink immediately following the workout will elicit the greatest protein synthesis.

It’s amazing to see how more advanced, and often experienced, people behave in the gym when it comes to getting their post workout meal. Some guys even sit there, right after their last set, and slug back a drink! In fact I’ve even heard “as soon as the weight hits the floor” touted as the war cry for the hardcore. While this is actually a sub-optimal practice for muscle growth and recovery, not to mention borderline obsessive compulsive, it’s good to see their heart is the right place.
Comparing research that used drinks consumed immediately after a workout (Tipton et al., 2001) versus those ingested an hour after training (Rasmussen et al., 2000), the results are surprising: it seems that post workout meal ingestion actually results in 30% lower protein synthesis rates than when we wait! So every time we thought that we were badass for drinking “as soon as the weight hit the floor, we were actually short changing ourselves. Not a big deal. Let’s just learn, adapt, and move on.
Strike two for the one hour post workout window.

You can read more here.