by Neil Anderson
Generally, your body recovers from workouts 2X per day. Once right after your workout (30-90 mins depending upon circumstances) and once during your REM sleep cycle at night.
During these times your body releases growth hormone (GH). GH is fundamental to increasing protein uptake. If you have ample amounts of protein in your system you will maximize the effects of the GH spike and make greater fitness and recovery gains.
We recommend eating 4-6 oz of slow digesting proteins like lean chicken or turkey directly after a workout and within a couple hours of going to sleep. It also works to use low fat cottage cheese (1/2 cup).
You may also get benefit from a slow digesting form of protein shake. While most forms of protein shakes will do fine, you may get more benefit from a casein based protein shake just before (within 1 hour) bed.