How Much Protein Powder Should You Take After Your Workout?
Does it depend on how much you weigh?
On today’s episode of Live Lean TV, we answer a viewer question who asked: how much protein powder should you take after your workout?
This is another episode from our #WayBackWednesday series, where we highlight the best questions from previous episodes of our #AskLiveLeanTV Q&A show.
This question is from #AskLiveLeanTV Ep. 004.
Here’s today’s viewer question:
Danielleger1 on Snapchat asks: how much protein powder should you take after your workout? Is it based on your bodyweight? For example, if I weigh 150 lbs, would a 200 lbs person take the same amount of protein post workout or more? Is there a weight to protein powder ratio that we should follow after the workout to maximize our gains and recovery? Thanks.
Here’s the answer.
After your workout your body needs to repair.
That’s why it’s so important to consume protein after your workout.
Does this mean the more protein you consume, the better?
For example, if you load in 80 grams of protein after your workout, does that mean you’ll recover and grow faster?
Not necessarily.
The essential amount of protein that you want to consume post workout, regardless of your body size, is at least 20 grams of protein.
Depending on your protein goals, I usually recommend consuming between 20-40 grams of protein, after your workout.
This amount will provide your body with enough essential amino acids to help repair, grow, and recover your muscles before your next workout.
20 grams of protein is the minimum amount after your workout
When you consume less than 20 grams protein after your workout, you are not providing your body with the necessary amount of the essential amino acid, leucine.
Leucine is one of the three essential amino acids found in branched chained amino acids i.e. BCAAs.
Leucine is considered the most important amino acid, as it is known to be the sole stimulator of muscle protein synthesis.
Muscle protein synthesis is simply a fancy word for the process of repairing and building new muscle tissue.
Consuming 20 grams of protein, typically provides the body with 3 grams of leucine.
This is the minimum amount for increasing protein synthesis, at a given time.
3 grams of leucine is the same requirement, regardless if you’re a male or female, or if you’re 100 lbs or 200 lbs.
20 grams of protein is the minimum amount, so make sure you hit that amount.
I take between 25-40 grams of protein after my workout
I just throw a scoop to a scoop and a half in my post workout shake.
But remember, you always have to read the nutrition facts label as the amount of protein per scoop varies per brand.
You also need to factor that amount of post workout protein into your overall meal plan for the day.
For example, the amount of protein you have in your post workout shake will decrease how much protein you should have at each meal.
Once you figure out how much protein you’re having for the day, you can subtract this post workout protein from the overall total.
This will help you figure out how much of your protein intake goal is left.
Then you can spread what’s left over the other meals and snacks for the day.
How much protein can your body absorb at one meal?
There’s been a lot of arguments about how much protein you can actually absorb at one meal.
So if you just consume 80 grams of protein in one sitting, are you actually going to absorb that?
Or is it just going to feel like a rock in your stomach?
We prefer to have 20-40 gram servings of protein, more frequently throughout the day.
How much protein should you be having based on your weight?
Getting back to the weight to protein ratio question, your weight matters when it comes to figuring out how much total protein you should be having in a day.
Design your meal plan around that calculation, which you can do here.
Bottom line on: how much protein powder should you take after your workout?
Regardless of your weight or gender, consume at least 20 grams of protein, after your workout.
What type of protein powder do we take?
We’re often asked what is our favorite protein powder to add to smoothies after our workouts.
It’s important to find a protein powder that mixes well, tastes good, and is sweetened naturally with stevia.
I use a delicious vanilla egg white protein powder.
Jessica uses a vanilla whey protein isolate powder from our friends at EarthNutri.
They taste good, they mix easily, and they only contain natural ingredients.
This means no fillers and no junk ingredients.
Here’s a discount link to get 25% off the vanilla egg white protein powder or the vanilla whey protein isolate.
Use the coupon code: LiveLeanTV25.
Go get yourself some vanilla whey isolate or vanilla egg white protein.
Let’s go make some gains people
All right now you know how much protein powder you should take after your workout.
You also know the type of protein powder that we use.
Now it’s time to check out our insightful video on how to get enough protein in your day to get a lean belly.
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Questions For You:
- How much protein powder do you consume after your workout?
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Brad Gouthro is the founder of Live Lean TV, a media company focused on helping men and women “Live Lean” 365 days a year. Brad’s programs and content have helped millions of people all over the world learn how to get in shape, and more importantly, sustain it for life.