Dr. Layne Norton

It's also probably a good idea to have protein before you train because it helps with – we've shown that protein before training helps with recovery and protein after training helps with recovery.

But it's not just like, OK, you don't need to be like having a protein shake right as you finish your last set and like downing it.

Like, no.

But it's probably a good idea to have a meal containing protein a couple – one to two hours before you lift or exercise.

It's probably a good idea to have it after you finish within a few hours.

So yes, but your training will probably naturally fall between two meals like that anyway.

You don't have to like accelerate one or the other.

The reality is if you're eating a meal an hour before you go train and you go train for an hour –

Those amino acids are still in your system for four or five hours after you originally had them, maybe even longer depending on the source.

So I'll eat – I eat four protein-containing meals a day.

I eat breakfast.

Then I eat lunch.

Usually I'll train in the middle of the afternoon because it's when I feel best.

Then I'll eat dinner within a couple hours of finishing training.

Then I'll eat a meal before bed because, again, I'm going to be going –

eight, 10 hours without consuming protein.

And that's just kind of how I do it.

Now, do I think, you know, again, I'm trying to be the most muscular person I can possibly be.

If you're just somebody who wants to build a little bit of muscle, just focus on getting enough total protein per day.

And if you can divide it up a little bit better, fantastic, right?