Does meal timing matter?

Social media has gone from saying 30 minutes after a workout is a necessary eating window to now saying meal timing is a myth.

The truth is, there ARE periods of time where your body is more anabolic, which means it is using nutrients you have consumed and shuttling them to your muscles for growth and repair. However, you typically don’t need to eat more food during these windows because you already have enough food circulating your body from previous meals to still contribute to that anabolic window.

In other words, that anabolic window is real, but you don’t have to do anything special for it. An obvious exception here is if you aren’t eating any time prior to an anabolic window, such as working out in the morning before having breakfast. In these cases, you would need to eat or drink carbs and proteins mid workout, or immediately after to make sure your body has what it needs when it’s time.

Why does the anabolic window exist?

Maximizing growth post workout (and during sleep – another anabolic window) is largely related to glycogen. Glycogen is stored carbs (energy) in muscles and the liver. After longer bouts of activity, like strenuous bodybuilding training or endurance exercise, that glycogen is used or “depleted.” Glycogen then must be replenished so that the next time you need extra energy, those energy stores are there. But did you know that, aside from providing energy, glycogen is also involved with cell signaling related to muscle repair and growth? Glycogen utilization is strongly related to insulin signaling (an anabolic process), so when glycogen replenishment isn’t happening (in cases where you workout fasted and don’t eat after, or follow a low carb diet), you are limiting your body’s ability to repair and grow muscle tissue.

How do you replenish glycogen stores post workout? Make sure that you have circulating carbs in your body to fill those storage spots. Protein in addition to carbs is also important for glycogen re-synthesis, and those amino acids are important for growth.