"Make sure you down that protein shake within 45 minutes of your workout!"

Over the last few decades there's been a belief that perfecting the timing of your meals will provide better results from training.

It has been taken to another level with the concept of pre-workout supplements.

With the amount of time and money invested in finding the absolute best pre- and post-workout shakes it would be fair to ask a simple question...

"Does any of it actually HELP?"

Brad Schoenfeld, director of the Human Performance Lab in New York, wanted to find out, so in 2013 he launched a study to determine just how useful post-workout meal timing actually was.

Since all the previous research was a comparison between those who ingested protein (and some carbohydrate) after workouts versus those who had nothing, Schoenfeld took a different approach.

His study had everyone eat the exact same thing, but one group consumed theirs 45 minutes after training while another waited 5 hours.

And guess what?

There was no difference in the long-term training results between the two groups.

It's clear that taking in a high quality protein source after any workout, but in particular for strength training, is beneficial.

What doesn't matter at all, though, is the timing.

So don't stress if you have to go somewhere and don't have time to line up your amino acids, shake, steak & cheese, or whatever your go-to post-workout refreshment is, right after a workout.

Then there's pre-workout.

Sales have grown from $2.5 billion annually in the US back in 2016 to over $19 billion in 2023.

It's kind of a big deal now!

If you one of the ones making these obscene profits, my apologies for sharing this inconvenient little fact.

It's a scam.

The common line is that these supplements increase energy and optimize your insides to maximize results.

Yet not a single reputable study, meaning one that wasn't sponsored by a supplement company, has found this to be true.

What is true is that caffeine, which is found in most pre-workout items, does enhance your ability to train hard.

That's the placebo effect that makes so many believe it's helping.

Coffee or tea does the same thing, though, and at a fraction of the cost.

The bottom line is that if you eat good foods at regular intervals throughout your day you'll get everything you could get out of a training session 99% of the time.

Don't sweat the timing of it all, especially before and after your workout.

Once again, sound fundamentals rules the day.