Show me one proper study that says that protein timing dosent matter for bodybuilding purposes.
The whole "everyone's different" blah blah bullshit dosent cut it. Sure there might be some weird case of someone that is different but that's an anecdote and dosent affect the general pattern that we all perform better following a certain system/diet
You don't get it do you?
How can there be literally hundreds of thousand and even millions of success stories from IF, DCA, Warrior, etc diet followers if what you're trying to assert is true? There can't be. Don't be dense and just accept the fact that the general pattern you think exists doesn't.
Anyway, you asked for one....here it is:
Protein timing is a popular dietary strategy designed to optimize the adaptive response to exercise. The strategy nvolves consuming protein in and around a training session in an effort to facilitate muscular repair and remodeling, and thereby enhance post-exercise strength- and hypertrophy-related adaptations. Despite the apparent biological plausibility of the strategy, however, the effectiveness of protein timing in chronic training studies has been decidedly mixed.
While some studies have shown that consumption of protein in the peri-workout period promotes increases in muscle Despite the apparent biological plausibility of the strategy, the effectiveness of protein timing in chronic training studies has been decidedly mixed. While some studies have shown that consumption of protein in the peri-workout period promotes increases in muscle strength and/or hypertrophy [
16-
19], others have not [
20-
22]. In a review of literature, Aragon and Schoenfeld [
23] concluded that there is a lack of evidence to support a narrow “anabolic window of opportunity” whereby protein need to be consumed in immediate proximity to the exercise bout to maximize muscular adaptations. However, these conclusions were at least in part a reflection of methodological issues in the current research. One issue in particular is that studies to date have employed small sample sizes. Thus, it is possible that null findings may be attributable to these studies being underpowered, resulting in a type II error. In addition, various confounders including the amount of EAA supplementation, matching of protein intake, training status, and variations in age and gender between studies make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions on the topic. Thus, by increasing statistical power and controlling for confounding variables, a meta-analysis may help to provide clarity as to whether protein timing confers potential benefits in post-exercise skeletal muscle adaptations.
From the same study:
Only randomized controlled trials or randomized crossover trials involving protein timing were considered for inclusion. Protein timing was defined here as a study where at least one treatment group consumed a minimum of 6 g essential amino acids (EAAs) ≤ 1 hour pre- and/or post-resistance exercise and at least one control group did not consume protein < 2 hours pre- and/or post-resistance exercise. Resistance training protocols had to span at least 6 weeks and Only randomized controlled trials or randomized crossover trials involving protein timing were considered for inclusion. Protein timing was defined here as a study where at least one treatment group consumed a minimum of 6 g essential amino acids (EAAs) ≤ 1 hour pre- and/or post-resistance exercise and at least one control group did not consume protein < 2 hours pre- and/or post-resistance exercise. Resistance training protocols had to span at least 6 weeks and directly measure dynamic muscle strength and/or hypertrophy as a primary outcome variable. There were no restrictions for age, gender, training status, or matching of protein intake, but these variables were controlled via subgroup analysis using meta-regression.
More from the study:
Reduced model: hypertrophy
After the model reduction procedure, total protein intake, study duration, and blinding remained as significant covariates. The reduced model was not significantly different from the full model (P = 0.87). In the reduced model, there was no significant difference between the treatment and control (difference = 0.14 ± 0.11; CI: -0.07, 0.35; P = 0.20). The mean ES for control was 0.36 ± 0.09 (CI: 0.18, 0.53). The mean ES for treatment was 0.49 ± 0.08 (CI: 0.33, 0.66). Total protein intake (in g/kg) was the strongest predictor of ES magnitude (estimate = 0.41 ± 0.14; CI: 0.14, 0.69; P = 0.004). To confirm that total protein intake was mediator variable in the relationship between protein timing and hypertrophy, a model with only total protein intake as a covariate was created. The difference between treatment and control was not significant (difference = 0.14 ± 0.11; CI: -0.07, 0.35,; P = 0.19). Total protein intake was a significant predictor of ES magnitude (estimate = 0.39 ± 0.15; CI: 0.08, 0.69; P = 0.01). Figure
3 shows the total protein intake-adjusted ES’s for each study, as well as the overall effect from the meta-regression with only
total protein intake as a covariate.
Hypertrophy sub-analyses
Separating the hypertrophy analysis into CSA or FFM did not materially alter the outcomes. For FFM, there was no significant difference between treatment and control (difference = 0.08 ± 0.07; CI: -0.07, 0.24; P = 0.27). Total protein intake remained a strong predictor of ES magnitude (estimate = 0.39 ± 0.07; CI: 0.25, 0.53; P < 0.001). For CSA, there was no significant difference between treatment and control (difference = 0.14 ± 0.16; CI: -0.17, 0.46; P = 0.37). Total protein intake was again a predictor of ES magnitude (estimate = 0.55 ± 0.24; CI: 0.08, 1.20; P = 0.02).
Discussion
This is the first meta-analysis to directly investigate the effects of protein timing on strength and hypertrophic adaptations following long-term resistance training protocols. The study produced several novel findings. A simple pooled analysis of protein timing without controlling for covariates showed a significant effect on muscle hypertrophy (ES = 0.24 ± 0.10) with no significant effect found on muscle strength. It is generally accepted that an effect size of 0.2 is small, 0.5 is moderate, and 0.8 and above is a large, indicating that the effect of protein timing on gains in lean body mass were small to moderate. However, an expanded regression analysis found that any positive effects associated with protein timing on muscle protein accretion disappeared after controlling for covariates. Moreover, sub-analysis showed that discrepancies in total protein intake explained the majority of hypertrophic differences noted in timing studies. When taken together, these results would seem to refute the commonly held belief that the timing of protein intake in the immediate pre- and post-workout period is critical to muscular adaptations [
3-
5].
Practical applications
In conclusion, current evidence does not appear to support the claim that immediate (≤ 1 hour) consumption of protein pre- and/or post-workout significantly enhances strength- or hypertrophic-related adaptations to resistance exercise. The results of this meta-analysis indicate that if a peri-workout anabolic window of opportunity does in fact exist, the window for protein consumption would appear to be greater than one-hour before and after a resistance training session. Any positive effects noted in timing studies were found to be due to an increased protein intake rather than the temporal aspects of consumption, but a lack of matched studies makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions in this regard. The fact that protein consumption in non-supplemented subjects was below generally recommended intake for those involved in resistance training lends credence to this finding.
The effect of protein timing on muscle strength and hypertrophy: a meta-analysis
