Protein Shakes - Before or After?

Happy Friday everyone!  Many of you may have heard the saying “20% gym, 80% nutrition”.  I’ve heard different splits than these, but my point is some of you may be wondering of that 80% nutrition, what should be focused on when it comes to pre and post workout nutrition?  I’ve had the pleasure of talking with some of you and offering tips, and one common thing that’s been brought up is Protein Shakes, the use of them, and when to have them?

I want to state that I’m not a Registered Dietician or a Nutritionist, so I can only tell you what has worked for me.  One thing people should understand, and I notice this a lot, is that they see something working for one person and figure that it should work for them as well.  That’s not always the case.  Not only have I read up on a lot of different supplements out there, I’ve also tried numerous combinations and found what has worked best for me and my body’s needs. 

As I’ve mentioned, I’ve had talks with some of you about having protein shakes to go along with my workouts and when to have them.  Pre-workout shake?  Post-workoutshake?  The question as to when the best time to have that shake is still up in the air, in my opinion.  After reading these two articles (highlighted ‘Pre-workout shake’ & ‘Post-workout shake’) I think we can all agree that there’s benefits to both times because our bodies are in need of nutrition, whether it’s for energy or repair. 

Personally I have my protein shake within 30 minutes of completing my workout to help with the healing and growth process of my muscles, which is important because of the damage we do to them while working out. But also my choice for doing this might get a little chuckle out of some of you, but I choose to have mine afterwards as a little reward.  Silly as it sounds, it’s true!  Let’s face it, if some of you have been consuming protein shakes for years now, you can attest to the fact that they’ve come a long way in how they taste!  These days some of the protein shakes out there are VERY tasty!  Now because I choose to have my shake afterwards I do take into consideration of my fuel source intake before my workout.  As mentioned in the article about Pre-workout shakes, BCAA’s will help fuel your muscles during your workouts, and because I know this, I use a BCAA supplement that I put in my pre-workout drink (not a shake, a pre-workout drink) to fuel me through my workouts. Then after my workout I drink my post-workout drink (Creatine, Glutamine, and more BCAA's) and my post-workout protein shake. 

Some of you still might not be sure as to when to have that protein shake, pre or post workout, but what I might suggest is to try either way, or both, and see what works best for you.  Like I said, what I said above is what I have found that works best for me.  The nutrition that we build in around our workouts is what’s important so that we can get the most out of that time we put in.  I hope you take away some great information from the articles I’ve read and provided for you.  Have a great day everyone! :)