Protein Supplements

newbeetler

Hi all,

I know there is lots of posts on this topic but so far I have just managed to confuse myself so I am afraid that you will have to have another one. Sorry.

I have been in the gym on and off for the last few months due to injury etc. I am now logging regularly and am wondering if I need to supplement my protein after work outs.

I have set my macros as per the default and am regularly hitting/exceeding them but understand MFP set's them low.

I have about 28lbs to loose and am starting back in the gym today properly.

Planning on doing an hours swimming on Tuesday then 25 Min's cardio and 35 Mins strength on the Thursday.

Tried out the weights just before christmas and come day 2 of recovery the DOMS in my arms were the worst I have had.

I drank a maxi-muscle milk from the machine straight after work out but that was all and am wondering if I need to grab some kind of protein shake/whey protein that I should be drinking once a day?

Whats the difference between whey protein and protein shakes?

What can I add to food? e.g. I have a bowl of porridge at my desk in the morning so can I add some kind of whey protein/protein shake?

Do I even need to as I swore that I would never use these types of things but that was before I understood the benefits of protein for building lean muscle etc.

I am popping into sports direct at lunch to have a look what they have got as they have a sale on as well and it is next to sainsbury's. Probably not the cheapest but it starts to help my understanding.

Thanks for listening

smiverz

i would recomment a good whey protein, i have at least 1 shake a day , it helps build muscle and muscle recovery after workouts.
not sure where you are from but i just buy a tub of good whey from holland and barratt cost about £30 and will last u at least a month. Banana flavour is great tasting.

smiverz

plus you cant argue with the nutritional value for every shake (22g) there is 18g of protein without hardly any calories thayt cant be bad.

pyrowill

I would suggest get a good whey protein shake rather than your typical 'protein shake'. Mainly since they have a lot of extras in them like more carbs and slowly head towards being a meal replacement shake. Ideally you want something that has low calories and a good hit of protein. I'd suggest go to www.myprotein.com and go for the cheap Impact Whey protein. It's the best value out there and is available in a ton of flavours. I have whey protein and blended oats (also available from myprotein) in a shaker for my breakfast every day, fills me right up.

Nitachi

First of all Protein shakes won't aid in DOMS, L-Glutamine is more appropriate and honestly a waste of money as DOMS will reside once your muscles get used to lifting.

Ideally a protein shake should only be used if you lack or are unable to meet your daily protein needs through whole foods, it has no other additional benefits compared to the protein of a chicken breast.

MHunte

I use Isopure zero carbs zero sugar 50 grams of protein 100% whey isolate.

jayb0ne

Ideally a protein shake should only be used if you lack or are unable to meet your daily protein needs through whole foods, it has no other additional benefits compared to the protein of a chicken breast.

Depends on how in depth you'd like to go with lifting and muscle recovery...

Whey is one of the fastest digesting proteins there is, so it's useful for flooding the muscles with amino's immediately after a heavy training session. One shake of the whey I use has 40g of protein and the whole lot will be metabolised within 30 minutes of drinking it. To get the same protein from chicken breast would take hours to digest through and reach the muscles.

After heavy lifting, taking a protein shake can be a good move but remember that your body needs a fast release carb at this time too. There's a couple of reasons for this:

Firstly you need to replenish the glycogen stores in your muscles - you can throw a little dextrose in with your shake for this purpose.

Secondly, if you throw pure protein into yourself, you need to give your body a way to utilise it and transport it to the muscles where it's needed or it can potentially go to waste. Insulin is the body's transporter of nutrients - it allows for metabolism of fats into adipose tissue, which is why we try to avoid spikes of it most of the time (and which is why the atkins diet works), but it also allows metabolism of proteins into muscle, which is why we purposely spike it along with the post workout protein. For this purpose, you can use the dextrose again, or you can just eat a fast release carb like white rice for your post workout meal.

OP - This might be much more info than you need. You're on my friends list anyway, so hit me up if you want me to go through the benefits of protein shakes in more detail with you.

Jay

Nitachi

Ideally a protein shake should only be used if you lack or are unable to meet your daily protein needs through whole foods, it has no other additional benefits compared to the protein of a chicken breast.

Depends on how in depth you'd like to go with lifting and muscle recovery...

Whey is one of the fastest digesting proteins there is, so it's useful for flooding the muscles with amino's immediately after a heavy training session. One shake of the whey I use has 40g of protein and the whole lot will be metabolised within 30 minutes of drinking it. To get the same protein from chicken breast would take hours to digest through and reach the muscles.

After heavy lifting, taking a protein shake can be a good move but remember that your body needs a fast release carb at this time too. There's a couple of reasons for this:

Firstly you need to replenish the glycogen stores in your muscles - you can throw a little dextrose in with your shake for this purpose.

Secondly, if you throw pure protein into yourself, you need to give your body a way to utilise it and transport it to the muscles where it's needed or it can potentially go to waste. Insulin is the body's transporter of nutrients - it allows for metabolism of fats into adipose tissue, which is why we try to avoid spikes of it most of the time (and which is why the atkins diet works), but it also allows metabolism of proteins into muscle, which is why we purposely spike it along with the post workout protein. For this purpose, you can use the dextrose again, or you can just eat a fast release carb like white rice for your post workout meal.

OP - This might be much more info than you need. You're on my friends list anyway, so hit me up if you want me to go through the benefits of protein shakes in more detail with you.

Jay

lol I tried to deviate from protein synthesis and the insulin spike, but hey can't blame you for putting it out there. Great info nonetheless and hopefully others will also benefit from it.

newbeetler

Thanks for the advice all.

I did wonder how far the protein would help with the DOMS.

Will have a bit more of a look round and probable hit you up for some further advice Jay.

Hitting the Cardio mainly to start with as I have the 28lbs to lose but I really don;t want to start losing it and have nothing underneath ;o)

Would end up looking boney.