Eating protein after working out only increases the building of connective tissue in muscles for about 4 hours - after that, the building rate goes back to normal.
Scientific Claim
The ingestion of protein after resistance exercise does not significantly affect muscle connective tissue protein synthesis rates beyond the first 4 hours in healthy young men.
Source Excerpt
“We observed higher muscle connective protein synthesis rates following ingestion of 25 and 100 g protein throughout the initial 4-h postprandial period (Figure 4K). In addition, muscle connective protein synthesis rates were also higher following ingestion of 100 g protein when compared to the placebo condition over the entire 12-h postprandial period, with intermediate values following ingestion of 25 g protein.”
Evidence from Studies
Supporting Studies
The anabolic response to protein ingestion during recovery from exercise has no upper limit in magnitude and duration in vivo in humans
The study measured muscle connective tissue protein synthesis rates and found that while both 25g and 100g protein increased synthesis rates in the first 4 hours, only the 100g protein condition maintained higher rates throughout the entire 12-hour period.