Here's my spin, but it will go against the grain for sure.
Many on this board, some of whom I have a great deal of respect for, have declared war on the "Post Workout Window" and have dismissed it to be nothing more than faulty bro-logic.
I have also read the adverserial studies and they are compelling in support of this mindset.
As an OLD GUY, I have learned to sit back, read all the opinions/studies (new and old) and make a more well-rounded, common-sense-based decision as I have seen this back and forth cycle go on for just about every theory in bodybuilding be it about training styles OR dieting advice.
It NEVER fails, someone, somewhere claims to have either found a newer, better way by debunking the currrent/conventional approach or has returned to what was once cool, is now cool again approach.
Can we really argue that all the competitive bodybuilders who have espoused the old school way of eating (6-8 meals a day, carbs needed in the PWO window) since the 70's are really that wrong? Don't they "prove" to some degree that this regimine works by stepping on stage at 275 peeled?
I don't care who you are and how much gear you are on, you simply cannot compete with the big boys unless your diet in dialed in (thus, using a logical and time-tested regimen).
While the very definition of a "dialed in diet" certainly varies from bb'er to bb'er, I would venture to say 90% of the guys that have EVER stepped on stage have applied the" now debunked BRO-LOGIC wisdom" of yester-year approach (6-8 meals, 300+ protein, carbs PWO)
Can we really argue with success?
It should be noted that I am a low carb guy and have never been leaner since I dropped the PWO carbs but I could also never step on stage and it's become nearly impossible for me to get sub-8% despite the RIGID dieting (low carbs) so I am NOT the type of bb'er one should emulate as I am in the small minority who does not do well at all with any carbs at all. I do believe in some sort of need to add nutrition post workout be it BCAA's or Protein at a minimum. Again, since I am a low carb guy, I cannot discuss the benefits, or lack there of, of maximizing an anabolic state using carbs PWO.