Here is a recent article underlining the importace of a pre-workout nutrition plan.
For those of us who already have a sound plan, I thought you might like to see some science.
For those of you who don't, harken.
Timing of amino acid-carbohydrate ingestion alters anabolic response of muscle to resistance exercise.
Tipton KD, Rasmussen BB, Miller SL, Wolf SE, Owens-Stovall SK, Petrini BE, Wolfe RR.
Department of Surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77550, USA. [email protected]
The present study was designed to determine whether consumption of an oral essential amino acid-carbohydrate supplement (EAC) before exercise results in a greater anabolic response than supplementation after resistance exercise. Six healthy human subjects participated in two trials in random order, PRE (EAC consumed immediately before exercise), and POST (EAC consumed immediately after exercise). A primed, continuous infusion of L-[ring-(2)H(5)]phenylalanine, femoral arteriovenous catheterization, and muscle biopsies from the vastus lateralis were used to determine phenylalanine concentrations, enrichments, and net uptake across the leg. Blood and muscle phenylalanine concentrations were increased by approximately 130% after drink consumption in both trials. Amino acid delivery to the leg was increased during exercise and remained elevated for the 2 h after exercise in both trials. Delivery of amino acids (amino acid concentration times blood flow) was significantly greater in PRE than in POST during the exercise bout and in the 1st h after exercise (P < 0.05). Total net phenylalanine uptake across the leg was greater (P = 0.0002) during PRE (209 +/- 42 mg) than during POST (81 +/- 19). Phenylalanine disappearance rate, an indicator of muscle protein synthesis from blood amino acids, increased after EAC consumption in both trials. These results indicate that the response of net muscle protein synthesis to consumption of an EAC solution immediately before resistance exercise is greater than that when the solution is consumed after exercise, primarily because of an increase in muscle protein synthesis as a result of increased delivery of amino acids to the leg.
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Now, I didn't post this to say I think that a pre-workout shake is more important than a post. I think everyone should do both. But a pre may be just a little bit more important, especially if you are going to be going over an hour.
But remember, this study was done on FASTED subjects. The post subjects were working out after fasting overnight. I would say that working out after starving yourself is cetainly gonna make the pre shake more important, so to me it doesn't definitively prove anything, but it does illustrate that there is a good reason to be having both a pre and post workout shake with protein and carbohydrates.
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