What Is The Anabolic Window?
People throw around the term anabolic window like they throw weights around at the gym, but as often as people truly have a misconceived idea of how to lift weights, they just as often have the same, if not more, of a misunderstanding about nutrition. The term “anabolic window” has become almost as much of a cliche term as “over training”. These are very valid scientifically based parts of fitness that need to be considered, but without the knowledge base other than what’s known as Bro Science behind it, the proper parameters needing to be in place will ultimately go unnoticed, and thus, unheeded.
Nutrition is a hugely integral part of any healthy pursuit, be it sport specific training, rehabilitative training, weight loss, or muscle gain. I have stressed many times over my 20 years as an Austin personal trainer, the importance of a proper and balanced diet that not only caters to your taste buds, but one that works for you and the pursuit of your health and fitness goals. If the menu items are unappealing to you, there’s a much diminished chance that you’ll stick with it and conversely, if the menu items aren’t nutritionally sound for your body’s needs and goals, you’re just spinning your wheels. Let’s say you have an idea of what to eat in order to maximize your gains, but the big remaining question that looms is “when should you eat”?
The anabolic window is commonly considered to be the time from when a workout is completed, when your body needs the macro nutrient protein to be ingested in order to maximize muscle repair and growth. Some folks say you have exactly 1 hour in order to fortify yourself with protein post workout, while others say as little as 20 minutes is the magic timing.
Within the health and fitness field, there is no such thing as magic, nor are there such things as sweeping statements, and generalizations that hold true across the board. Like everything else in this field, your ideal anabolic window is going to be individual. Some folks have a much quicker metabolic rate than others. Simultaneously, people’s workouts are markedly different, so therefore, how could we have a standard time frame for the anabolic window?
Another thing to consider is the fact that people usually start counting the minutes of the anabolic window once their workout has finished, but what about all the muscle tissue breaking down during the workout? Does time simply stand still and the muscles agree to not need repair until the magic, self prescribed, timing has been reached? Of course not. The clock starts at the completion of the first repetition, not the conclusion of the workout.
In order to get a scientifically backed determination of your actual anabolic window, you would have to be subjected to a plethora of very involved, and expensive testing. This is all actually very unnecessary. A good rule of thumb, however, is to keep your workouts clocking in at an hour or less, and upon the completion, grab yourself a quality protein drink for immediate consumption. This satisfies virtually any anabolic window.
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Andy
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