Recommend me a whey protein supplement/shake...

[RandomEvent]

Ok, I've been given advice by quite a few people to add whey protein into my workout routine. To elaborate, my goals overtime are to lose some of my fat a build muscle. With my current schedule, I go to the gym 4 times a week. Every other day I do 45 minutes of weightlifting, then 15 minutes of light cardio. And every Saturday I do moderate to heavy cardio for about 30 - 45 minutes.

I haven't really changed what I eat, but rather made my portions smaller. I just don't want to eat 6 small meals a day, rather than 2 mid sized ones like I currently do.

Anyway, I was told that whey protein shakes would be a good thing for me to add to my diet. But I also have a debate if I should have a whey-protein shake before, after, or both pre and post workout. So if someone could give me their experiences with that, I'd appreciate that.

So, can anyone recommend me a good brand? Ideally, I would want a brand that has the best mix of protein and other nutrients that are found in whey protein. But I really just want one that tastes decent and isn't too expensive. Also, I'd like to be able to mix it with fat-free milk, if that's possible. Or if you have any other information, suggestions, or advice about workouts, I'd really appreciate it.

[RandomEvent]

No one?

[mothmonsterman]

put a steak in the blender.
....mmmmm meat


I have no exp. in the subject at all.

[CapnSev]

Just go get yourself a case of Muscle Milk. It's got enough protein to supplement a meal easily, and it's low in carbs and fat. The downside is it's a little expensive, but you can get it at Sam's or Costco for a good deal. I prefer it much more than mix-in powders. It tastes like a milkshake, and I don't have to clean any blenders or glasses.

[lowendmafia]

There is a huge thread on this already... but if you want to lose fat you must take in less calories than you burn. So getting the lowest calorie protein shake possible. Isopure and Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard are pretty low in calories, but do not taste as good as things like musclemilk or syntha-6. Make sure that you stay at about 60% of your max heart rate during cardio, even if you do not sweat. I do not care what anyone says about this, if they disagree with me and say that you should run as hard as you can, they are wrong. When that high of pressure is placed on your body, it burns the easiest source of calories, muscle. You should also do 20 minutes of cardio with a 3-4 minute cool down directly after weight training. Weigh protein is not a magical muscle builder/fat reducer, in fact nothing is. The best thing that you can do to lose weight is manage your diet and exercise. I gained almost 40lbs after knee surgery and I worked it off in a matter of months, while putting on about 20lbs of muscle. I went from 240 with 17% body fat to 203 with 6% body fat.

[RandomEvent]

Originally Posted by lowendmafia

There is a huge thread on this already... but if you want to lose fat you must take in less calories than you burn. So getting the lowest calorie protein shake possible. Isopure and Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard are pretty low in calories, but do not taste as good as things like musclemilk or syntha-6. Make sure that you stay at about 60% of your max heart rate during cardio, even if you do not sweat. I do not care what anyone says about this, if they disagree with me and say that you should run as hard as you can, they are wrong. When that high of pressure is placed on your body, it burns the easiest source of calories, muscle. You should also do 20 minutes of cardio with a 3-4 minute cool down directly after weight training. Weigh protein is not a magical muscle builder/fat reducer, in fact nothing is. The best thing that you can do to lose weight is manage your diet and exercise. I gained almost 40lbs after knee surgery and I worked it off in a matter of months, while putting on about 20lbs of muscle. I went from 240 with 17% body fat to 203 with 6% body fat.

Thanks, that's pretty much what I was looking for. And I know that whey protein isn't some magical solution. I'm just looking to implement it into my schedule since a lot of people have recommended it for my workouts. Also, I'm hoping I can use those as meal replacements so that maybe my current 2 medium portion meals a day can be more balanced out.

[RandomEvent]

Oh yeah, is stuff like Isopure or ON meant to be mixed with other ingredients? I just wanted something I could dump in water or milk, like I previously said. I really don't want to have to mix in eggs, other supplements, etc.

EDIT: The cheapest place to find this kind of stuff would be helpful too.

[lowendmafia]

They both only require water but I think that ON tastes better (plus much cheaper). I would recommend ON chocolate with about 10 oz's of water in a blender bottle. It isn't great, but it is definately drinkable. Just remember, Milk=more calories and fat.

The best place to buy supps like that, in my experience, is Vitamin World, or if you want to order online, bodybuilding.com (online is cheaper).

[RandomEvent]

Originally Posted by lowendmafia

They both only require water but I think that ON tastes better (plus much cheaper). I would recommend ON chocolate with about 10 oz's of water in a blender bottle. It isn't great, but it is definately drinkable. Just remember, Milk=more calories and fat.

The best place to buy supps like that, in my experience, is Vitamin World, or if you want to order online, bodybuilding.com (online is cheaper).

I'll get the smallest bottle or packet amount of both and give them a try. Thanks for all of this great information.

Also, it's best to have these after workouts, right? That's the general conclusion I got. But for me, half of the time I eat my dinner right after my workouts. So it seems like it would be best for me to have them throughout the day, and make my portions smaller. Then maybe I could do that 5 meal a day crap, just drink this twice or 3 times, and eat a few small portions.

EDIT: Also, if you have the time, can you tell me about creatine? It's something that I was never interested in based on quick info I dug up online. But now I'm wondering if that stuff does anything at all.

[Asa Samuel]

Best protein shake? my own thread not long ago.

[RandomEvent]

Originally Posted by Bass Junkie

Best protein shake? my own thread not long ago.

Awesome. I'll check it out when I get home from work.

[lowendmafia]

If you really want to set up an extensive meal plan, you should not only watch what you put in your body, but when you put it there. Your body is depleted after a workout and you should consume about 40-50 grams of quick absorbing protein within 30 minutes of working out, also quick absorbing carbs, like white bread, fruit or gatorade, should be consumed in this time frame. Generally, I drink 2 scoops of ON and some quick carbs as soon as I get home from the gym. I will eat dinner an hour or so later. I would recommend against eating quick carbs after the post-workout meal because your body will go after those calories first, as opposed to calorie stores in your body (fat). The worst thing that you can do is not eat, this is because when your body goes into starvation mode, it will store all foods consumed as fat to burn during periods of starvation.

Because you are trying to transfer fat to muscle, you have to eat much more protein than you would normally. The best sources of whole food protein (for men) are egg whites, fish, white meats, lean beef or bison and low fat cottage cheese. Try incorporating things like tuna and egg whites into meals. I will eat a can of tuna with relish as one meal. If your body is used to taking in lots of carbs, you may find yourself hungry a lot. That is ok, because you are training your body not to crave things like this. Depending on how much you weigh, you should try to eat at least 1.5 grams of protein for every lb of lean mass on your body everyday. Example, I weigh 202 lbs and am about 6% body fat. If I wanted to increase my muscle mass, I would eat about 300 grams of protein per day at about 50 grams per meal. Unfortunately, during "bulking" phases you must tie carbs to the protein in order for it to absorb, so you end up putting on a little fat. When I go on a "cutting" phase, I will eat about 200 grams of protein per day and eliminate all unnecessary calories so that my body burns off stored fat. I know that is a bit extreme, but it works.

In regards to Creatine, there are a lot of people that will tell you that it is terrible for you or that they heard about a guy who died from liver failure. These stories are all untrue and there has never been one autopsy report where the cause of death was creatine. Creatine is a natural supplement found in meats, especially beef. Your body also produces it. It is not a muscle builder, like steroids, but it helps you with your recovery time. It floods your muscles with water that helps broken down muscle tissue repair itself. Creatine Monohydrate will make you bloat a bit due to water retention. I would recommend something like Kre-Alkalyn or Creatine Ethyl-Ester because they do not require you to drink as much fluid. The one negative about creatine is that you must consume massive quantities of water or you run the risk of dehydration. I think that it is a good supplement because it allows you to rebuild muscles faster, allowing for harder, more intense training sessions.

Hope that helps...

[Aaron Saunders]

Originally Posted by lowendmafia

There is a huge thread on this already... but if you want to lose fat you must take in less calories than you burn. So getting the lowest calorie protein shake possible. Isopure and Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard are pretty low in calories, but do not taste as good as things like musclemilk or syntha-6. Make sure that you stay at about 60% of your max heart rate during cardio, even if you do not sweat. I do not care what anyone says about this, if they disagree with me and say that you should run as hard as you can, they are wrong. When that high of pressure is placed on your body, it burns the easiest source of calories, muscle. You should also do 20 minutes of cardio with a 3-4 minute cool down directly after weight training. Weigh protein is not a magical muscle builder/fat reducer, in fact nothing is. The best thing that you can do to lose weight is manage your diet and exercise. I gained almost 40lbs after knee surgery and I worked it off in a matter of months, while putting on about 20lbs of muscle. I went from 240 with 17% body fat to 203 with 6% body fat.

You really should look at the benefits of HIIT. Not saying that low-intensity cardio doesn't work, but high intensity intervals can make the process a bit faster with less time spent on the track.

+1 to all of the protein recommendations. However, I wouldn't suggest using them as meal replacements per se.

There are different kinds of shakes for different purposes.

In the morning you'd want whey protein + a bit of sugar to replenish your muscles after hours of fasting. Include lots of slow-digesting carbs (oats!) for energy throughout the day.

A pre-workout shake doesn't need to be whole proteins but you're better off with some simple carbs (sugar) for energy, maybe 5g of creatine to increase ATP production, and some amino acids; arginine (pump), taurine (energy), and carnosine (anti-catabolic) are all popular choices.

A proper post-workout would be something like what I'm using now; 38g protein, 98g carbs, 14g fats as the large amount of carbs, specifically sugar, is designed to replenish glycogen stores + create an insulin response for building muscle after strenuous activity and the protein will be used to in the process.

Before bed you want a slow-release protein like casein and a source of healthy fats. The protein in milk is 82% casein, so if you don't feel like shelling out for another protein product (Muscle Milk is a good source of casein) just drink a ton of milk. I think what really helped me in my bulk was a frequent before bed meal of 3-5 whole eggs and 2 scoops of Muscle Milk + 500mL of 2% milk.


You can achieve this with a whey protein product, a bunch of milk, some pure sugars (maltodextrin and dextrose FTW, bother your local brewer) and oats. Or you can buy a fancy MRP shake powder, a pure whey powder, a casein powder, etc. The most important ones are post-workout and before bed.

lowendmafia: Creatine is used to increase production of ATP (energy) not for recovery. Definitely a safe product though. I'm taking 3-7g of creatine a day and haven't noticed a lot of fluid retention. I wonder what'll happen when I switch back to a whey isolate though, I might be wrong .

lutamine is commonly touted as a recovery miracle aid but all clinical tests have shown it to only show measurable effect when used by severe burn victims.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

+1 on HIIT

How is your gym work getting on these days Aaron?

[lowendmafia]

Aaron: I don't mean to start an argument here, but with an increase in ATP comes an increase in muscle resiliency. Increased muscle resiliency means faster recovery times. I was just trying to put it in simplest of language. Most "recover" supplements include Kre-Alkalyn as one of their main ingredients. My father, who is 65, uses creatine to help him with recovery and muscle retention. I just know a lot of people that think that taking creatine or NO will make them blow up like Jay Cutler, so I was trying to explain that it will not help you build muscle as much as it helps you use your muscles more frequently. When I go on a bulking cycle I can put on 10-15lbs easy, but when I "trim the fat" I only really put on 2-3 lbs of muscle. Also, I only said that creatine monohydrate produces water retention, not the more advanced CEE or Kre-Alkalyn. Either way, there are things that work for some, and do not work for others. I can just tell you what works for me.

Edit: I forgot to mention HIIT. I have used it in the past, but I was wounded in the military (knees) and am not really capable of doing HIIT. I do, however, cycle a lot.

[Armueller2001]

DON'T buy stuff at GNC

You can buy the same or better for about half the cost online.

www.bulknutrition.com
www.vitaminshoppe.com

[rokkitt]

ON

best cheapest best tasting

also, I like Muscle Milk

[Tsal]

Originally Posted by lowendmafia

Aaron: I don't mean to start an argument here, but with an increase in ATP comes an increase in muscle resiliency. Increased muscle resiliency means faster recovery times.

I need to back Aaron in this, though, because to my understanding, creatine is used for generating an energy storage chemical called creatine phosphate in the cells, which can be quickly utilized to generate a few extra ATP's when required, as in, when exercising. CP plays very little role in recovery, but it does help you to work a bit harder. If you want faster recovery, that stuff is not something you can buy without getting a signature from a doctor.

Why you often get creatine in recovery products, is because you want to replenish the CP stores. Your muscles can't hold that much of the stuff, though, so you only get a couple of extra reps at the gym, which is why the other athletes or sports guys don't use it all the time - that, and the fluid retention with the mono phosphate form, that might actually hurt your performance by adding several pounds of water to your weight.

Oh, and one more point, to the OP who was asking does it work: yes, creatine is the only "small jar" additional product that has been scientifically shown to help you to increase muscle mass. It's not a huge difference, but creatine isn't very expensive either.

[RandomEvent]

Ok, so when I'm done with my workouts, I'll drink some protein shake and Gatorade. Then I'll eat an hour or so later. Is there anything I should avoid eating? I'm wondering about carbs, basically. I'm Asian, so I can't live without my rice at dinner.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Creatine does more than just muscle recovery, it does give the ability to push a bit more, think of it kind of like giving all your muscle cells a little more compression.

Of course thought, creatine doesnt work on everyone, and about 1/3rd of the population will not react or benifit from supplimental creatine.