The short version: both work, and they are doing different jobs. Before a session you are looking for fuel, which means carbohydrate. After it you are looking for repair, which means protein. The bar that suits one is usually the wrong bar for the other, and most people own one bar and use it for both, which is why the question keeps getting asked.
We make protein bars, so the section naming ours gives the protein, sugar and sodium from the labels and says which of the two jobs each one is actually for.
The timing, in order
- 60 to 90 minutes beforeThe useful window for a bar with real carbohydrate in it. Long enough to digest, close enough that the fuel is still available to you. This is the slot where a higher-sugar bar is an advantage rather than a compromise.
- 30 minutes beforeStill fine, but keep it small and keep the fat and fibre low. Both slow digestion, which is exactly what you do not want sitting in your stomach through a warm-up.
- Within about two hours afterThe repair window, and it is far wider than the old thirty-minute advice suggested. 15g to 25g of protein is the usual target for a single serving.
- The rest of the dayThis is the part that matters most and gets discussed least. Total daily protein across all meals outweighs the timing of any single one of them. A bar cannot rescue a day that was short overall.
What a before bar needs
- Carbohydrate, and a reasonable amount of itThis is the fuel. A bar with 3g of sugar is not a pre-workout bar, whatever else it has going for it.
- Modest protein7g to 10g is plenty. Protein before training is not useless, it is just not the job.
- Low fat and low fibreBoth slow gastric emptying. Useful at a desk, unhelpful twenty minutes into a session.
- Something you have eaten beforeThe worst moment to discover a bar disagrees with you is during the thing you ate it for.
What an after bar needs
- 15g to 25g of proteinThe number almost everything else is secondary to. Below about 15g you are eating a snack with protein in it rather than a protein bar.
- Carbohydrate is welcome here tooReplacing what you used is part of recovery. An after bar does not have to be austere.
- Sugar alcohols, in moderationMaltitol and similar keep sugar down and are how most low-sugar bars manage it. Some people tolerate them poorly in quantity.
- Real food is not worseA bar is a convenience, not an upgrade on a meal. If you are going to eat within the hour anyway, eat.
Which of ours goes where
The 1st Tee PLUS+ and 10th Tee bars carry 7g to 8g of protein and 15g to 16g of sugar at 180 to 240 calories. On the numbers that is a before bar. The sugar that reads as a weakness on a shelf is the point when you are about to go and use it.
The 1st Tee High Protein Bar, currently sold out, and the Manolo edition carry 16g of protein and 3g of sugar at 220 calories. That is an after bar, and it is a poor choice before a session for the same reason it is a good one afterwards.
They also carry 410mg of sodium each, which is high for a bar and worth knowing. After a hot round or a sweaty session that is closer to a feature than a flaw. Sitting at a desk it is just sodium.
Where people go wrong
- Panicking about the thirty-minute window. It is far wider than that, and the total across the day matters more.
- Using a low-sugar bar as pre-workout fuel. Low sugar is the right target for most purposes and the wrong one for this particular job.
- Eating a high-fibre bar immediately before training. Fibre is good for you and badly timed here.
- Reading the front of the wrapper only. Protein and sugar are both on the back, and the front is marketing.
Before: carbohydrate, 60 to 90 minutes out, low fat and fibre. After: 15g to 25g of protein, any time in the following couple of hours.
If you only want to own one bar, own the higher-protein one and accept that it is a compromise before a session. If you train often enough for the question to matter, owning both is the actual answer.
Ours are in golf protein bars, where the protein and sugar for every one of them is printed on the page.
