How Much Protein You Should Eat Post-Workout + Best Protein Sources

Hungry post-exercise? Given the calories burned, this will come as no surprise, but what you eat after exercising can affect how your muscles respond to the workout. While there's no one post-workout meal that will work for everyone, there is one particular macronutrient we should all be sure to eat after breaking a sweat: protein.

"As you get older, the blood flow to the muscles increases post-training, and there's really good data1 to suggest that older muscle can respond like younger muscle post-training2 with the addition of dietary protein," Lyon says. Yes, you may be able to make your muscles act younger—which, in turn, may help you live longer—with the help of high-quality protein, according to Lyon.

Of course, not all protein is created equal. All protein sources are composed of different proportions of 20 amino acids. These protein building blocks all have their own role to play in repairing body tissue, and leucine is considered the most important for muscle protein synthesis3 (the creation of new muscle). For this reason, consuming 2.5-3 grams of leucine is recommended post-workout.

As for how much protein in total to aim for after a gym session, "Thirty grams of protein post-training is a great strategy for nearly everybody," Lyon says.

Regardless of whether or not you just worked out, eating around 30 grams of protein at a time is considered a good strategy for building muscle4. Eating within two hours of wrapping up your workout is considered an optimal refueling window to maximize muscle growth5. Learn more about protein timing here.