Fad diets and “expert” nutrition information from online influencers aside, there is one indisputable nutritional fact: we need protein to build and maintain muscle.
There have been arguments in the fitness and bodybuilding community for some time about the types of protein that are best utilized by the body, which we will look at in an upcoming article. Today let’s look at the timing of protein intake.
There are arguments made that you should eat a certain amount of protein at certain intervals before and following your workout to allow your body to maximize protein synthesis. This has been a subject of research and the good news is, it’s more important to make sure you are eating enough protein and far less important as to what time you do so.
In a recently published study on the Frontiers of Nutrition website, researchers compared the effects of eight  weeks of resistance training combined with two different high-protein diet strategies. These strategies included immediately pre-and after workout, or three hours pre- and post-workout. The subjects were resistance-trained males.
In the 31 subjects who completed the study, the evidence showed strength significantly increased post-intervention in both groups, and there were no significant differences in results between the two groups.
The takeaway is this: if you want to build and maintain muscle and maximize strength, you should be eating .6 to 1 gram of protein per pound of your goal body weight. If you are trying to gain or lose weight in the process, this means 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilogram of your goal body weight. This, combined with the strength building effect of resistance training, gets you the most bang for your buck!