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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "

17.12.2010

Best post-workout shake? Whey and casein cocktail

Strength athletes have been taking fast proteins immediately after a training session for years. Now we've found a way of tweaking this basic principle, in a study done by sports scientists at Baylor University in 2006. According to their research, the best post-workout shake contains a combination of fast and slow protein.

Study
The researchers got 36 men aged between 23 and 29 to do weight training for 10 weeks. The men had all been doing weight training for at least a year, and were all given the same training schedule. They trained 4 times a week, working through all the large muscle groups in the body in 2 sessions. The men started with sets of 10 reps and ended with sets of 6 reps.

On the days that they didn't train, the subjects drank a shake in the morning. On all the other days they drank a shake as soon as possible after finishing their training session, and not longer than 2 hours later.

The placebo group drank a shake that contained only carbohydrates. [P] The first experimental group drank a shake containing 40 g whey protein, 3 g BCAAs and 5 g glutamine. [WBG] The second experimental group drank a shake containing 40 g whey protein, 8 g casein. [WC] The three shakes all contained the same amount of energy.

Results
After 10 weeks the WC group had progressed more than the other groups on all counts.

T1 = after 5 weeks; T2 = after 10 weeks.

Conclusion
"Supplementing the diet with a protein supplement containing 40 g/d of whey and 8 g/d of casein while resistance training improves the training adaptations", the researchers conclude.

In a recent post we wrote about Danish research which comes to pretty much the same conclusion.

Source:
J Strength Cond Res. 2006 Aug; 20(3): 643-53.

More:
Fast protein snack after training? There's room for improvement 06.12.2010
Five months of strength training with and without whey 04.12.2010
Whey is more effective before a workout than after 02.12.2010