Dr. Luc (Luke) van Loon

That's an absolute yes.

I mean, there's even studies that, so again, 0.8 grams of protein, you can actually gain muscle on 0.8 grams of protein.

Maybe you can gain more muscle in 1.2, but you can still gain muscle in the 0.8 grams protein per kilogram body mass per day.

The body is much smarter than we think.

If you actually do exercise and we ingest the same protein that we contract throughout the body, we see that the same amount of protein is, of course, digested and absorbed, but more goes to the leg that did exercise.

So there's also an efficiency effect.

Physical activity makes you more of what you just ate.

So more of the protein is actually converted when you perform physical activity.

So the body gets smarter how it handles protein.

I think so.

I mean, all those little things that matter.

I mean, to look at a cyclist, it's the bike, it's the helmet, it's the nutrition, it's the training, it's the mental coaching, and all of this together make the better athlete.

So it's all these small things.

So what is interesting to see is that you have an anabolic response to feeding, you have an anabolic response to exercise, you have an anabolic response, a greater anabolic response when you compare the two.

Now, the nice thing is that I think question number one, the question I was being asked the most is, do I need to take the protein before or after the exercise session?

Which is almost the same question you're asking.

Should I do the exercise before the meal or after the meal?

It's basically also the same thing.

It doesn't really matter that much because exercise makes the muscle more sensitive to the stimulation of muscle protein synthesis through food intake, but it does so for up to 24 to even 48 hours.

So if you do an exercise session today, your response to breakfast tomorrow morning will be greater, but also lunch tomorrow afternoon and also dinner tomorrow night.