The secret to progress in strength training is in the recovery process. Weight lifting breaks down muscle fibers, so they can recover by becoming bigger and stronger, and making you more powerful. Protein aids that recovery process, which is why many athletes understand the link between heavy workouts and a protein shake to speed repair and prevent muscle soreness.
But how necessary is that post-workout shake really?
Una new Research, published in the Journal of Human Kinetics, questions this habit, showing that Protein shakes they are no more effective than carbohydrate sports drinks in promoting muscle recovery and relieving soreness.
Protein shakes or water?
The study included the participation of 30 men, aged between 20 and 30, who were experienced weightlifters. They were divided into three groups and drank different recovery drinks: a group of 10 lifters drank a whey hydrolyzate based drink; another 10 received a milk based drink, and the final group received a dextrose flavored drink (carbohydrates).
All the drinks contained about 530 calories. The protein drinks contained approximately 33 grams of protein, 98 grams of carbohydrates, and 1 gram of fat. Neither the researchers nor the lifters knew who was going to receive which type of drink.
The men then performed strength and power exercises, including seated medicine ball throws and jump squats, plus an intensive resistance training session with squats, bench presses, deadlifts, military presses, and rowing exercises.
When they were done, the athletes drank their drinks and retested after 24 to 48 hours, when it was expected that the late-onset muscle pain (DOMS) would have been fully installed. The researchers had the volunteers rate their levels of muscle pain on a scale of 0 to 200, where 0 is not painful and 200 is as bad as it seems. They also repeated strength and power tests to assess muscle function.
All of the men showed significant increases in their muscle soreness levels 24 and 48 hours after the training session, with scores in all three groups rising to over 90. That is, it was approximately four times higher than the initial scores, which they ranged from 19 to 26. They also had reductions in muscle power and function.
What was important, however, was that there were no differences in pain, performance, or recovery between the different groups. Regardless of whether they got protein or another type of shake, they were still just as sore 24 and 48 hours after the intense training session.
«Although protein and carbohydrate are essential for effective repair of muscle fibers after intensive resistance training, our research suggests that varying the form of protein immediately after training does not strongly influence recovery response or reduce muscle sorenesscommented lead author Thomas Gee in a press release.
Of course, that's not to say that eating balanced nutrition after a hard workout isn't important. In fact, recovery would be improved by any of the three types of shakes versus just drinking water. What stands to reason is that you don't have to spend money on overpriced recovery drinks to get the same effect. It is important to get enough protein for the rest of the day.
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Is it necessary to drink a protein shake after training?
Although the study did not include women, it is estimated that the results are probably the same. When we think about having a post-workout drink to recover, if you are not doing the exercise on an empty stomach, the recovery drink is a moot point, since there is no total fuel depletion, but there is a release of amino acids from muscle breakdown. Instead, if you're doing fasted HIIT-type resistance training or sustained resistance training, you're going to need that recovery drink almost absolutely.