Casein timing and recovery in soccer players
What it found
In 24 highly trained male soccer players, taking 30 g of casein either right after exercise or before sleep improved some measures of jump and sprint recovery 24 hours later compared with no supplement.
Neither timing was better than the other.
What they found
Studies in people
Jump height
The pre-sleep casein group jumped 1.45 cm higher on average than the control group 24 hours after training. The post-exercise group also improved their jump compared with their own starting point.
Sprint power
The post-exercise casein group had higher peak power (by 205.79 W) and mean power (by 128.43 W) than the control group. The pre-sleep group had higher mean power (by 125.14 W) than the control group.
Fatigue resistance
The post-exercise casein group showed a better fatigue index (by 4.12 W/s) than the control group.
Agility
The pre-sleep group was 0.66 seconds faster on the Illinois Agility Test than the control group, but this difference was not strong enough to count after adjusting for multiple comparisons.
No difference between timings
There were no significant differences between the pre-sleep and post-exercise casein groups on any performance measure.
Control group decline
The control group got worse on all performance tests 24 hours after training, including jump height, agility time, sprint peak power, mean power and fatigue index.
What the authors conclude
“Both pre-sleep and post-exercise casein ingestion enhanced anaerobic performance in highly trained soccer players, with each timing method favoring different performance outcomes.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that both pre-sleep and post-exercise casein ingestion enhanced anaerobic performance in highly trained soccer players, with each timing method favoring different performance outcomes.
- They state that neither strategy demonstrated superiority over the other, suggesting that casein timing may be flexibly applied according to athletes' preferences and training contexts.
- They advise that athletes may choose the timing of casein ingestion based on their specific performance goals, recovery needs, and daily schedules.
How it was done
The authors wanted to know whether taking casein before sleep or straight after exercise makes a difference to recovery and next-day performance, because this had not been directly compared in soccer players.
Twenty-four highly trained male soccer players (average age about 20.6 years) were split into three groups of eight: one took 30 g of micellar casein in water right after a hard resistance training session, one took the same dose 30 to 60 minutes before bed, and one took no supplement. Jump, agility and sprint performance were tested before and 24 hours after the session.
What it can’t tell you
- The study only looked at short-term effects, so it cannot show what happens with long-term use.
- There was no placebo group, so the authors note that expectancy effects may have influenced the results.
- The study did not measure muscle protein synthesis or other biological markers, so it cannot explain why the improvements happened.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
- Authors work at
- Gümüşhane University, Türkiye; Atatürk University, Türkiye; Bayburt University, Türkiye
The paper
- Title
- Casein Supplementation Timing and Exercise Performance in Soccer Players: Pre-Sleep vs. Post-Exercise Intake-A Randomized Controlled Trial
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Bayrakdaroğlu S, Ateş ZH, Ceylan Hİ, Kul M, Muntean RI, Dhahbi W (2025). Casein Supplementation Timing and Exercise Performance in Soccer Players: Pre-Sleep vs. Post-Exercise Intake-A Randomized Controlled Trial. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu17243938Free full textPubMed 41470882DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error