Recover Faster with the Right Post-Workout Protein
Muscle breakdown is essential to improving athletic performance—and the key to benefiting from this breakdown is a quick recovery. With a proprietary blend of proteins and anti-inflammatory ingredients, Beachbody’s Performance Recover helps optimize the recovery process, speeding muscle growth and repair so that users are able to work out again sooner.
Muscle is in a constant state of turnover—being broken down and resynthesized. The latter part of that process (known as “protein synthesis”) peaks about two hours after exercise, although the “window of opportunity” for capitalizing on it can last up to six hours. As long as your total daily protein intake is adequate—and you’re eating it at least every five to six hours—you’re likely getting the amino acids you need to make gains. But maintaining this level of balance and timing can be challenging, especially if you’re eating at a caloric deficit. And if you’re working out in a fasted state, all bets are off. A post-workout shake can be a powerful tool in that regard—having one within 30 minutes of exercise ensures that your muscles have access to all of the building blocks they need to grow, when they want to grow.
“Muscle is predominately made of protein and is continually breaking down when we are fasted and synthesizing when we eat—particularly if the meal contains protein,” says Beachbody advisory board member Francis Stephens, PhD, a performance nutrition specialist and Assistant Professor in Metabolic and Molecular Physiology at the University of Nottingham, England. “If maximal intensity exercise has been performed to fatigue, then the muscle goes through a higher rate of turnover.”
Which is why proper supplementation is critical. There are 20 grams of protein in each serving of Recover, which is considered the therapeutic sweetspot. A study of 24-resistance trained men found that the most effective dose of protein is 20 g taken at regular intervals throughout the day. “Any less is suboptimal for recovery and muscular adaptation, ” says Dr. Nima Alamdari, PhD, Beachbody Executive Director of Scientific Affairs. “Eating more isn’t harmful, but it won’t be utilized.”
The specific blend of whey isolate, pea, and micellar casein in Recover provides a steady stream of fast, intermediate, and slow-release proteins to optimize protein synthesis. How effective are these proteins in that regard? One study of 13 male bodybuilders showed that whey isolate (fast) protein can improve strength gains even in highly trained subjects. That backs up the findings of French researchers, who recently found that both whey and pea (intermediate) proteins can increase muscle thickness by more than 10 percent. A study in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine shows that casein provides similar benefits as whey.
“Protein is like a home run,” said Alamdari. “Some (ingredients) are just indisputable in their performance-enhancing benefits.”
The blend also includes the branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) leucine, isoleucine, and valine. Research shows that BCAAs can reduce exercise-induced muscle damage and promote protein synthesis. BCAAs can also reduce muscle soreness and fatigue, according to Japanese researchers. These benefits are bolstered by pomegranate juice. Indeed, pomegranate alone can facilitate recovery and reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), according to University of Texas researchers. Alamdari says this aspect of Recover is particularly important because if you can reduce soreness, you can increase exercise consistency, which is the key to seeing results.
It’s the total package that enables Recover to be a powerful post-workout tool. “And that doesn’t just go for athletes,” says Alamandari. “These benefits are valuable for anyone who takes fitness seriously.”
Studies show that consuming whey protein after you work out can enhance muscle growth and optimize recovery. But not all post-workout protein supplements are created equal. Dr. Marcus Elliot, founder of the Peak Performance Project (P3), and Beachbody President and CMO Jon Congdon discuss what makes Beachbody Performance Recover stand out from the competition, and how consuming it within a half hour of completing a workout can help you reach your goals faster.
