The Study
Effect of increased protein intake before pre-event on muscle fatigue development and recovery in female athletes
This study saw that girls who ate more protein before their basketball games felt less tired and recovered faster — but we don’t know if it was because of the protein or just because they trained differently or ate better overall. It’s like noticing kids who bring snacks do better in class — maybe the snack helped, or maybe they’re just more prepared.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Two groups of teenage girls played basketball and ate the same total amount of protein each day, but one group ate most of it right before practice.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 546 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — even with the same total protein, timing it before training helped these young athletes recover faster and perform better during intense drills.
- 2The group that ate 60% of protein before practice improved their energy, power, and recovery by 7–27%, while the other group improved by only 3–15%.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Year
2025
Authors
T. Ahmed, H. Seleem, G. Elsayed, M. Kholif, Rania Mohammed Abduljawad, Nour Taha Ebrahem Housen, Naglaa Mohamed Roby Sofy, Hager Abdel Hady
Related Content
Claims (6)
Protein provides the amino acids that are used to build and repair muscle tissue.
Female basketball players aged 16–17 who consumed most of their daily protein two hours before training for six weeks showed greater improvements in fatigue index, peak power, anaerobic capacity, and heart rate recovery than those who spread their protein intake evenly throughout the day.
Among adolescent female basketball players consuming 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily, consuming 60% of that protein two hours before training results in greater improvements in anaerobic capacity and faster heart rate recovery after exercise compared to spreading the same amount of protein evenly throughout the day.
Adolescent female basketball players who consume 60% of their daily protein before training show larger improvements in fatigue resistance and peak power after six weeks of training than those who consume the same total amount of protein at other times.
Adolescent female basketball players who consumed 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily, with 60% of that protein eaten before training, showed faster heart rate recovery after exercise than those who spread the same total amount of protein evenly throughout the day.
Adolescent female basketball players who consumed 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily, with 60% of that protein eaten before training, showed greater improvements in peak power and reduced fatigue during high-intensity sessions than those who spread the same total protein intake evenly throughout the day.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.