Eating The Right Protein After Your Workout For Increased Muscle Gains

I don’t know about you, but I’m sure excited about summer right around the corner. It’s a great time to enjoy your family, friends, traveling, and of course, the amazing weather.

It is an absolute shame when a young guy who should be having the time of his life is self-conscious or lacks confidence because of his body. So many skinny guys I talk to feel like they can’t even take off their shirts in public because they are embarrassed about their physique. We are going to stop that nonsense once and for all today and get into a “post-workout protein blue print” that will help you pack on rock solid lean muscle mass in the shortest time possible.

So many naturally skinny guys are holding back their muscular gains because they don’t know how to properly consume protein after a workout. There are a few rules that apply to consuming protein after a workout for increased muscle gains. There are actually two very important times after your workout that you want to ingest protein, and if you fail to follow these rules, you are slowing down your progress.

I want you to be able to build large muscles in the least amount of time possible, so I’m excited to share with you my rules for eating the right protein after your workout for increased muscle gains.

There is a lot of confusion surrounding this topic, so I want to debunk any “protein myths” and “bro science” and give you the hard facts on post-workout protein for increasing your protein synthesis and lean muscle gains.

What Kind Of Protein Should You Use After Your Workout?

Right after you finish a grueling muscle-building workout at the gym (hopefully filled with lots of compound exercises), you need to start the ever-so-important muscle growth and recovery process. Protein after workouts will set the stage for protein synthesis to occur and will feed your muscles with fast digesting amino acids that your body can utilize immediately.

Your post-workout shake needs to consist of a fast digesting source of protein. Whey protein after workouts is an ideal choice. You want to stay away from a casein protein shake after workouts because this is a very slow digesting form of protein.

There are three kinds of whey protein that are ideal for post-workout consumption. The cheapest form of fast digesting whey protein is going to be a whey concentrate. This still does a good job, and if you are on a tight budget, I highly recommend it. Gold Standard makes a cheap and effective whey concentrate based formula.

Two slightly more expensive forms of whey protein for your post-workout shake are whey isolate and hydrolyzed whey protein. These are rapid digesting forms of protein that are ideal for a post-workout shake. Whey isolate and hydrolyzed whey protein will be absorbed into your bloodstream quicker and typically contain less “filler ingredients” than the whey concentrate powders. This means that the protein formula consists of pure protein, glutamine, and other muscle-building amino acids, such as branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs).

Another huge advantage to a whey isolate and whey hydrolysate is the lack of fat. Most whey isolates are fat-free. Fat will slow down the absorption rate of your protein powder, so you want to pick a protein powder that is as close to fat-free as possible. Remember that for maximum muscle recovery, protein synthesis, and growth, we want a rapid digesting post-workout shake.

How Much Protein After Your Workout?

Now that we have covered what kind of whey protein is ideal for a post-workout shake, let’s dive into how much protein you need to consume after your workout. My rule of thumb is that I will consume about 1 gram of whey protein for every 5 pounds of body weight. So if you are a 200-pound guy, simply divide 200 by 5 and you have 40 grams of protein. This would be a little less than 2 scoops of whey protein.

Another really important rule of thumb for your post-workout whey protein shake is to consume fast digesting carbohydrates. What this does is cause a really important insulin spike that will create the perfect anabolic atmosphere, helping you in three muscle-building ways.

First of all, insulin is highly anabolic post workout when your muscles are depleted and begging for protein and amino acids. Spiking your insulin immediately upon finishing your workout has been scientifically proven to help you recover faster and grow bigger and stronger. Secondly, consuming fast digesting carbohydrates in your post-workout shake serves as a vital nutrient activator. This means that it helps to shuttle the muscle-building protein and amino acids into your cells, helping you initiate the early stages of muscle growth. Last but not least, you burn your muscle glycogen during an intense workout, so consuming simple carbohydrates post workout refills your muscle glycogen and prepares you for the upcoming workout. This is ideal if you are training on back-to-back days.

You want to have approximately twice as many fast digesting carbohydrates as proteins in your whey protein post-workout shake, so if your body weight requires you to consume 30 grams of protein, you should be consuming about 60 grams of carbohydrates. One of the cheapest and most effective post-workout carbohydrate sources is dextrose powder. Dextrose powder is really cheap and is a rapid digesting simple sugar that will serve as the perfect nutrient activator in your post-workout shake.

What About The After-Workout Meal?

You should make sure to finish your post-workout shake no more than 30-45 minutes after your workout. Once this is done, I recommend a 2^nd post-workout protein window for increasing your muscle growth. This is especially important for a naturally skinny guy.

Anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour and a half after finishing your post-workout shake, I recommend a meal consisting of slower digesting protein and slower digesting carbohydrates. This will really set the stage for muscle recovery and will even out your blood sugar following that rapid digesting post-workout shake. Now we want to consume quality calories that will drip feed our muscles with everything they need to grow bigger.

I recommend consuming about 40-50 grams of a lean protein such as steak, chicken, fish, or egg whites in your after-workout meal. Another 40-50 grams of complex carbohydrates should be consumed along with this. If you are in a serious bulk, you can even up the amount of protein and carbohydrates in this meal. During my aggressive bulks, I will make up to 1 pound of grass-fed beef and eat 2 sweet potatoes in my post-workout meal. This is a bit extreme and I weigh close to 200 pounds, but you get the idea.

Some great after-workout meal carbohydrates are sweet potatoes, brown rice, lentils, black beans, and quinoa.

That’s it! It’s not rocket science, but there are certainly some vital steps you need to incorporate into your post-workout nutrition regimen to build larger and stronger muscles. By choosing the right protein after your workout, you will see increased muscle gains and a faster recovery.