10 Protein Tips for Muscle Growth

1. Consume 4-6 meals per day with protein 

2. A total of around 20-40 grams + of protein per meal (lean towards 40 grams if plant based protein or mixed)

3. As age increases, the grams of protein per meal should also increase to the higher end of that 40 gram per meal

4. A minimum of 2.5 hours in between protein intakes

5. If training before consuming protein, aim to consume protein as soon as possible after training

6. If consuming protein before and after training, the post training meal can be delayed a little, up to about 2 hours after training

7. If unsure when the next meal after training will be, consume a simple protein shake soon after training and wait 2.5 hours for the next meal 

8. Consume 40 grams of protein pre-sleep if aiming to maximise muscle growth

9. Be realistic with the amount of meals you aim for each day and be consistent

10. Gain an appreciation of protein content of meals you typically buy when out

Protein Timing for Muscle Gain

Easiest Guide - 3-6 meals spread across the day with at least 2.5 hours in between each meal.

If training fasted, consume protein as soon as practical.

If consuming meals pre and post workout, aim for those meals to be separated by about 4 hours max.   

More detail - Protein that we eat is broken down into amino acids.

Around 30-60 minutes after a protein intake, blood amino acid levels as well as insulin will likely peak and stay elevated for 3+ hours, depending on the size of the meal.

Mixed meals may take a little longer for levels to rise and most studies use whey protein shakes when giving time guidelines. 

This is an indication that the need to quickly ingest protein after a workout is likely to be stronger when training fasted.

If a protein rich meal is consumed within a couple of hours pre-workout, blood amino acid levels and insulin levels are likely to still be elevated, giving a little more flexibility with the timing of the post workout meal. 

If training fasted, have a protein rich meal as soon as practicably possible after training.

If training after a pre-workout meal, eat a protein rich meal sometime in the 2 hours post training window.

Timing around training will have some considerations in regards to personal preference, tolerance (how soon you feel like exercising after consuming protein), convenience and lifestyle.

Ideally, the pre and post workout meals will be separated but 3-4 hours, however the size of the pre-workout meal may dictate how soon after training the post workout meal should be. (1)(2)

The Muscle Full Effect

Easiest guide - Spread protein out with at least 2.5 hours in between protein intakes. 

More detail - It’s estimated that the anabolic (muscle building) effect of a protein rich meal lasts for about 5-6 hours.

However, there is growing research (mostly in rats) to suggest a “refractory” period where the muscle protein synthesis actually returns to baseline levels about 2.5 hours after consuming protein, even though blood levels of amino acids may still be elevated.

This effect has been dubbed the “muscle full effect” where those circulating amino acids are used for other processes other than muscle protein synthesis. (1)(2)   

How Much Protein per Meal for Muscle Growth?

Easiest guide - around 30-40 grams of protein per meal as a minimum. No issue with more but going under may not be optimal for stimulating muscle growth. 

More detail - Numerous studies have compared the grams of protein in meals, particularly post training to measure levels of protein synthesis. 

There are a few general recommendations, one being 20-40 grams per meal, and another 0.4-0.5 grams of protein / KG body weight / meal.

Recommendations around the lower end at 20 grams state the protein source should be “high quality” with 8.6 grams of Essential Amino Acids.

This obviously leads to an additional requirement to measure the quality of protein sources, namely the content of the amino acid leucine and the spectrum of essential amino acids of that protein source.

Some research has indicated that milk proteins can stimulate muscle growth in lower doses compared to plants based proteins like soy.

So for meals with mixed protein sources or plant based protein sources, aiming for the upper side towards 30-40 grams of protein per meal is probably a really good idea. (3)

 

As a general summary, it appears that a minimum of 20 grams is a good aim and the dose should increase with age.

The hypothesis is that as we age, we are more sensitive to the amino leucine in regards to muscle growth and as such, require more total protein per meal to reach a leucine threshold of 2.5-3 grams per meal. 

Leucine appears to be a major driver of muscle growth, by ‘switching on’ muscle growth when a threshold is reached.

The actual muscle growth process however needs a larger spectrum of amino acids so supplementing pure leucine does not seem effective.

Instead, a practical recommendation is 30-40 grams of protein per meal to reach the leucine threshold (1)(2)(3).   

What Can You do Consistently to Grow Muscle?

Can you consistently prepare / buy and consume 4-6 protein rich meals per day?

Whilst there might be a small benefit in having 6 rather than 4, if you can’t stick to it day in day out, or it makes the process too difficult for you, there is no point.

Instead find a pattern and structure of eating which suits you, take some time with protein portions to ensure they do have a sufficient amount of protein in each and then continue that pattern consistently. 

For most people and most goals, a high level of care with protein timing and distribution is unlikely to be necessary and simply monitoring daily protein intake will be enough.

However when maximising potential muscle growth is a goal, attention to detail may result in small advantages. 

Protein Before Sleep for Muscle Growth

Easiest guide - 40 grams of protein pre sleep.

More detail - Some research has been done which did not reveal any adverse effects of a protein intake pre-sleep, no delay in falling asleep, sleep quality or appetite the following morning.

As such, when aiming to maximise muscle growth, a 20-40 grams intake of protein pre-sleep is just another opportunity to increase total daily protein and improve overnight protein balance.

Casein protein (powder or cottage cheese), as opposed to whey protein, is slower digesting and may be beneficial pre sleep.

With some discrepancies in studies between a 30 gram dose and 40 gram dose it appears beneficial to lean towards 40 grams of protein pre sleep if employing this strategy (4). 

References:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3577439/

2. https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-11-20

3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19036897

4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6415027/