What to eat after strength training to build muscle faster

If you want to grow muscles quickly after training, the core is to give priority to replenishing fast-absorbing high biological value protein + fast carbohydrates during the anabolic window 1-2 hours after training, and try to reduce fat as much as possible. This is currently the most efficient solution generally recognized by sports nutrition and fitness practitioners.

However, new studies in the past two years have also put forward different views, believing that the so-called window is actually not that strict. As long as the total protein and carbohydrate intake throughout the day meet the standards, even if you eat 3-4 hours after training, the impact on long-term muscle growth will be minimal. This conclusion is also supported by controlled experiments - find 20 men with more than 1 year of systematic training experience were divided into two groups. One group replenished nutrition immediately after training, and the other group waited 3 hours before replenishing. Ensure that both groups consumed 2g of protein per kilogram of body weight throughout the day. Muscle mass was measured after 3 months. The difference between the two groups was less than 0.2kg, which is almost negligible.

But in the context of ordinary fitness enthusiasts, I still recommend trying to make up for this meal about an hour after training. After all, most people cannot regularly supplement 20-30g of protein every 3-4 hours. They often eat a bun in the morning before going to work, and then go to work at noon. The amount of meat taken out is not enough. It is often seven or eight o'clock after training, and it may be more than nine o'clock until dinner. After the muscle fibers are torn, the raw materials waiting to be repaired are not replenished, and the muscle glycogen is empty and there is no way to save for the next training. As time goes by, the gap will appear.

I tried it during my muscle-building period last year. If I squatted for 12 sets on the day of leg training, I immediately added a spoonful of whey protein and a small banana. The delayed onset soreness the next day was at least 30% less than if I had to wait until dinner. After eating like this for 3 months, my arm circumference increased from 34cm to 36cm. It was more than twice as efficient as the previous year when I took supplements blindly and forgot to replenish carbohydrates.

There’s no need to make things too complicated. If you don’t have the means to cook, just buy a bottle of ice water at the gym and make a spoonful of whey, with a small banana or a small bottle of sports drink, which is just enough for about 25g of protein and about 30g of carbohydrates. Don’t add peanut butter or brioche bread randomly. The excess fat will slow down the absorption speed, and the raw materials that should be introduced quickly will be blocked in the road, but the best opportunity will be wasted. If you finish training just in time for dinner, then about 150g of steamed chicken breast, lean beef tenderloin or boiled shrimp, with a bowl of white rice, will be more effective than any expensive supplement.

To put it bluntly, it is easy to understand. The muscles that have been trained are like a construction site that has just been hit by a typhoon. Broken steel bars (muscle fibers) need to be replaced, and empty building materials warehouses (muscle glycogen) need to be filled. At this time, you send good materials that are ready-made and do not require secondary processing. The workers (the body's anabolic system) can start working after they get them. If you take a long time to deliver them, and also send a bunch of useless waste materials, the efficiency will naturally not be high.

Of course, it’s not like I’m being too social in order to catch this window. I once finished my practice to catch the subway, took out a protein bar and ate it. The uncle next to me thought I was eating compressed biscuits while working in the field, and asked me if I wanted to give him half a piece of bread. If that’s true, It’s okay if you can’t catch up on eating. As long as the total protein you eat that day is 1.8-2.4g per kilogram of body weight, and the carbohydrates are enough 4-6g per kilogram, it’s not much different. You can’t lose today’s weight just because you eat half an hour late, right?