The purpose is to examine the effects of time-restricted eating (TRE; consuming all calories within an 8-hour period each day) vs. normal eating (CON; consuming same kcals and protein as TRE, but during a 10-13 hr eating window each day) during 8 weeks of resistance exercise on body composition and muscle mass (whole muscle and single fiber), muscular performance, anabolic protein signaling, single muscle fiber characteristics, and the gut microbiome in well-trained young men and women.

The primary goal pertains to muscle hypertrophy (not fat loss), thus all participants will be placed in a 10% caloric surplus.

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18-35 years old with <25% (men) or <30% (women) body fat
• have experience in resistance exercise for the whole body and performed resistance exercise at least 3 times per week the last 12 months
• be able to perform all necessary exercises with safe technique and no pain
• be able to squat 1.5x (men) or 1x (women) body weight
• be able to bench press 1.1x (men) or 0.55x (women) body weight
• be on a non-specialized, mixed macronutrient diet
• have a lifestyle which enables a reasonably consistent 7+ hours of sleep per night
• be free of any current joint, musculoskeletal, and/or neuromuscular injuries

Exclusion Criteria:

• have any known current illness, prohibitive muscular or neuromuscular problem, hypertension, cardiac, pulmonary, liver, kidney, insulin or any other metabolic disorders (e.g. Type I or Type II diabetes)
• are lactose intolerant or unable to consume whey protein for any reason
• are on any medications known to affect protein metabolism
• have taken antibiotics in the last 6 months
• cannot refrain from consuming any alcoholic beverages, nicotine, or marijuana (or derivative) for a period of 48 hours prior to data collection (pre and post testing)
• consume alcohol >2x per week
• consume any analgesic or anti-inflammatory drug(s), prescription or non-prescription, chronically or within 48 hours of data collection
• consume any recreational drug(s), prescription or non-prescription, legal or illegal, chronically or within 30 days of data collection
• consume any caffeine or food within 12 hours of data collection
• cannot refrain from physical exercise (outside of activities of daily living) outside of what is prescribed by the research team for the duration of the study
• cannot refrain from using recovery methods such as electric stimulation, hot/cold therapy, massage, chiropractic, or personal air/water devices (Normatech, etc.)
• have utilized any anabolic steroid, currently or in the past
• cannot refrain from consumption of any supplementation (creatine, multivitamin, fish oil, protein powder, BCAA, pre-workouts, etc.) outside of what is provided
• cannot refrain from consuming any supplemental pro or prebiotics or other items that intentionally alter the gut microbiome
• fail to adhere to the nutritional guidelines or miss >3 of the exercise sessions
• were recently pregnant, trying to become pregnant, or are currently breastfeeding

Participants will know their group. Training and Nutrition research team members will know the participants group. Data analysis team will be blinded to condition.