First time using protein (woman)

jennybearlv wrote: »

Protein powder is a food to help you meet your protein macro goal along with all the other food you eat. You can take it at any time and if you have met your protein goal though the rest of your diet you don't need to. As mentioned before, when you add your protein powder to your food diary it will update your protein macros so you know if you need to eat more protein that day. You gain muscle in your legs by meeting your protein goal and lifting weights. Squats and deadlifts are good for legs. But, I think you should reconsider only working your lower body because you will look unbalanced.

pathawes6881 wrote: »

I don't wish to discourage you and keep up the good work but, Unfortunately you will find it difficult to put muscle on your legs with your workout, it takes a long time for a man to put significant muscle mass on and it's harder for women. Being in a calorie deficit makes it even harder for your body, if you speak to a bodybuilder (who know what there talking about) or someone training for a sport they will tell you that putting on muscle and losing fat are mutually exclusive unless someone is very overweight, you can do one, not the other, bodybuilders or even powerlifters looking to make a weight class, consume huge amounts of food to support muscle growth and then cut calories right back to lose fat, and they then lose some muscle as well as a lot of strength. You will get more toned and stronger if starting out lifting though. For gaining muscle you need to lift HEAVY (for you) and somewhere between 6-10 reps until you physically can't move the weight, not "oh thats enough reps I'll stop now", this is not recommended unless you've been lifting for a while as your body will require time to adapt to the stress placed on muscles and joints, and crucially it needs nutrients and energy to recover, cardio won't give you bigger legs, the stepper will help tone though. I'd recommend speaking to a personal trainer (not a fitness instructor, the're less qualified) about your training regime, and as a previous poster suggested, do some upper bodywork as well, muscular balance is important, getting results from weight training is hard and is 80% nutrition, 20% working HARD down the gym with a workout that suits you and not a generic cut and paste one.
Protein for recovery is important, he timing of it doesn't really matter, but it can help those at an elite level so lots of people like to time there intake as well, but I wouldn't worry about it, after exercise is a nice time to take it along with some carbs for glycogen spiking to increase uptake but don't worry too much.
Protein for losing weight, stick to your macros, you will lose weight.

Sorry for a long post, but the main thing I'd take from my rambling is get some professional training advice from a personal trainer who can look at your training and technique. Good luck.

pathawes6881 wrote: »

I don't wish to discourage you and keep up the good work but, Unfortunately you will find it difficult to put muscle on your legs with your workout, it takes a long time for a man to put significant muscle mass on and it's harder for women. Being in a calorie deficit makes it even harder for your body, if you speak to a bodybuilder (who know what there talking about) or someone training for a sport they will tell you that putting on muscle and losing fat are mutually exclusive unless someone is very overweight, you can do one, not the other, bodybuilders or even powerlifters looking to make a weight class, consume huge amounts of food to support muscle growth and then cut calories right back to lose fat, and they then lose some muscle as well as a lot of strength. You will get more toned and stronger if starting out lifting though. For gaining muscle you need to lift HEAVY (for you) and somewhere between 6-10 reps until you physically can't move the weight, not "oh thats enough reps I'll stop now", this is not recommended unless you've been lifting for a while as your body will require time to adapt to the stress placed on muscles and joints, and crucially it needs nutrients and energy to recover, cardio won't give you bigger legs, the stepper will help tone though. I'd recommend speaking to a personal trainer (not a fitness instructor, the're less qualified) about your training regime, and as a previous poster suggested, do some upper bodywork as well, muscular balance is important, getting results from weight training is hard and is 80% nutrition, 20% working HARD down the gym with a workout that suits you and not a generic cut and paste one.
Protein for recovery is important, he timing of it doesn't really matter, but it can help those at an elite level so lots of people like to time there intake as well, but I wouldn't worry about it, after exercise is a nice time to take it along with some carbs for glycogen spiking to increase uptake but don't worry too much.
Protein for losing weight, stick to your macros, you will lose weight.

Sorry for a long post, but the main thing I'd take from my rambling is get some professional training advice from a personal trainer who can look at your training and technique. Good luck.