Should CrossFit Athletes Increase Protein after Training? New Study Says ‘Yes.’
Look on any container of protein powder and you will likely see the same dosing recommendation, and that is 20-25g immediately following exercise. That recommendation didn’t come out of thin air, the benefits of protein supplementation on muscle protein synthesis (MPS) are well studied and documented. When combined with exercise, protein supplementation results in heightened MPS when compared to exercise or protein supplementation alone. The type of protein, timing of ingestion, and dosing all impact MPS but dosing seems to have the single greatest impact.
Historically, a 20-25g dose of high-quality protein has been deemed sufficient to maximally stimulate MPS after resistance exercise. The catch is most of the supporting research has been done on lower body resistance exercise only. New research suggests that a higher dose might be more effective in maximally stimulating MPS following a whole-body resistance training protocol. A protocol not too different from CrossFit. Intuitively it is satisfying to think that more muscle recruitment or muscle mass would increase amino acid uptake, increasing the rate of MPS. To this point, no study has directly investigated the impact of muscle mass on the rate of MPS until now.
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