What's the best way to take protein for muscle growth? How to take protein to gain muscle mass

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Today's article will talk about protein: how to take it in bodybuilding, in what quantities, at what time of day and how to calculate the effective working dosage for a specific person.

Protein - how to take

Protein is protein. Protein is what muscles and internal organs are made of. Protein is the most anabolic substance. The word “protein” in bodybuilding usually means a food supplement with a high protein content.

Taking or not taking protein is the same as answering whether you should eat or not. It is necessary to take protein in any case. Our body needs a minimum of 37 g of protein every day for a non-exercising man and 29 g of protein for a woman to maintain normal functioning.

In order for the body not to use its own muscles, approximately 1 g of protein per 1 kg of its own weight (again, of a person who is not involved in sports) is needed as an energy source. In order to gain muscle mass, it is generally accepted that this dose is in the region of 1.5-2.5 g per 1 kg of weight.

Where do these numbers come from and why are they so important? Let's start with the last one. You should take protein as a sports nutrition supplement based on the need to cover the protein deficiency in your daily diet.

We take protein in the following cases:

• When you cannot get the required amount of protein during the day with solid natural food.
• When it is not always possible to eat solid food.
• During drying, when protein is needed not as a building material, but as a source of energy for the body (due to the fact that the amount of carbohydrates is reduced).

By and large, if you get a sufficient amount of protein from natural food, then you do not need protein as a sports supplement.

Now to the numbers. There is such a thing as nitrogen balance. Those. Every day our body spends a certain amount of protein to maintain its normal existence (around 25-40 g). This amount must be replenished daily. However, an adult, and even one who plays sports, has much higher needs. Firstly, due to the presence of high physical activity, and secondly, due to the need to build new and maintain existing muscle volumes.

This additional requirement is approximately 1.5-1.6 g of protein per 1 kg of body weight. From a physiological point of view, for the growth of your muscles, this amount is the minimum necessary and sufficient. In practice, it requires you to dance. Those. You eat exactly one month daily consuming 1.5-1.6 g of protein per 1 kg of weight. In this case, you can count on an increase of 2 kg of muscle mass (at the rate of 0.5 kg per week).

The slower you grow your mass, the better quality this mass will be (minimum fat and water, maximum muscle).

If the desired increase does not occur, you simply increase the amount of protein and again wait a month. Thus, by experience you will select the required amount of protein you need for muscle growth. Feel free to compensate for everything that you cannot get with natural food with protein.

Why am I talking about this approach? To save your health and your money. Don't heed the recommendations of the fitness industry thoughtlessly. Everything that you take at face value will enrich the sports nutrition manufacturer. The phrases “you should take 2-3 g of protein per 1 kg of weight” from this series. For some, 1.5 g is enough, for others, even 3.5 g will not be enough for the growth of their muscle mass, but you should not listen to the phrases “2-3 g of protein per 1 kg of weight”, which bring everyone under the same brush - they do not take into account the individual characteristics of a person (weight, level of physical development, training experience, etc.)

Protein: How to Take for Maximum Absorption

The main point of the above paragraphs is that protein should be taken to cover the protein deficiency in the daily diet. Your task is to determine the amount of protein that you lack.

Example: Vasya Pupkin, 80 kg. The required amount of protein at the rate of 2 g per 1 kg of weight is 160 g. Vasya eats 120 g of protein per day with natural food. He will have to supplement 40 g with whey protein. Vasya breaks this amount into two doses of 20 g of protein (not protein) and consumes it in between main meals.

To maximize your protein absorption, follow these guidelines:

• Don't go too far! You should not increase your protein intake above the amount you have determined (how to do this is described above). The body will take and assimilate everything that it needs, and the rest will go down the toilet.
• Protein is absorbed better when your diet is high in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are friends with insulin, a transport hormone that delivers necessary substances (including protein structures) to the cells of the body. So protein intake can be combined with carbohydrate intake.
• The smaller the single serving of protein, the better it is absorbed. There is evidence that protein is best absorbed in doses of 10-30 g.
• The more often you take protein, the better it works for you. Not everything is so literal here!!! This means protein. The more often you can supply your body with small portions of protein throughout the day, the better. For example, you eat 6 times a day, 4 of which are solid protein-carbohydrate foods, and 2 meals are whey protein. The principle has been observed.
• Choose a quality product. Buy protein from trusted specialty stores. Give preference to American brands, their quality is noticeably higher than others.

The protein is mixed with water, milk or juice in a blender or shaker. Milk can give you an extra 2.5 g of protein per 100 ml, and sweet juices will provide fast carbohydrates (this releases insulin and some additional calories). Take this into account.

Usually 30 g of powder is mixed with 250-400 g of liquid. The amount of the latter is completely unimportant, so rely on the taste sensations of the resulting cocktail. You can store the resulting protein shake for several hours, but the sooner you drink it, the better.

Never pour boiling water over protein. The protein in the additive simply denatures (curdles) and loses its properties.

Protein intake does not depend on the time of day. A person needs protein constantly, both in the first half of the day and in the evening (carbohydrates are “more capricious” in this regard). You can take it with main meals or in between. Make sure that the amount of protein entering the body per day is always constant, i.e. regardless of whether you trained today or not.

Conclusion

I hope the article will help you answer the question about protein: how to take it and how to calculate the working amount of the supplement.

Remember: sports nutrition is secondary and will never replace natural food. Try to get the required amount of protein primarily from animal products. Feel free to finish off anything you can’t get with protein.

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Protein is not a cheap sports nutritional supplement, and many bodybuilders are not able to purchase it in the required quantities. The body does not know about financial problems, and after a grueling workout it demands to provide a sufficient amount of protein. Protein dosage, how to choose it correctly? How to save money without slowing down muscle tissue growth? In this article, we offer three effective protein intake regimens to choose from, and you will just have to choose which one is best for you.

Minimum program

Calculate how much protein you need on training days, assuming a target of 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

Exclude from the resulting product proteins that are contained in regular food and other sports nutrition.

Before going to bed, take protein made from casein: it provides protein nutrition to the body for 6-8 hours. If you do not tolerate casein well, take whey protein concentrate.

If your financial capabilities allow, after training, take a milkshake with whey protein isolate.

If your training program includes one rest day, take protein at the same rate as on your training days.

If you have 2-3 consecutive days of rest, take protein as usual on the first day, and do not take it on subsequent days.

Optimal program

This protein dosage differs from the minimum program in that the dosage increases to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of weight. The protein dose has increased, hasn't it? Do not increase the dose in one serving, but increase the number of servings.

Add an extra lunch and snack to your meal list, filled with a protein shake or other protein supplement.

After training, use whey isolate, at night - casein, egg or whey protein (optional). On training days and the first day of rest, take protein as usual. If you rest for more than 1 day in a row, take 50% of the usual dose on the second or third day.

Maximum program

Unlike the optimal program, this protein dosage calculates the daily protein requirement based on 2.5 grams per kilogram of weight. This amount of protein should be enough to satisfy the body during exercise of any intensity. Even the builders of the Egyptian pyramids and the galley slaves would have had enough of 2.5 grams of protein per kilogram of weight!

If you feel excess protein (usually the excess manifests itself in the form of a specific ammonia odor in urine), return to the dose of 2 grams of protein per kilogram of weight.

Increase the number of meals to 6-8 per day. Dedicate three main meals to regular meals, and take protein shakes for the rest.

After training, we recommend taking a cocktail with a loading dose (30-40 grams) of whey hydrolyzate, which the body manages to absorb in less than 2 hours. Those who take a gainer before or after a workout do not need to take additional protein. The rest of the time, take whey protein isolate.

If you tolerate casein protein well, take 25-30 grams at night. On rest days from training, continue to take protein at the same rate as on regular days.

Conclusion

1. The protein norm for an ordinary person is 1-1.2 grams per kilogram of weight. With an active lifestyle, the protein norm increases to 1.5 grams, with extremely intense exercise - up to 2-2.5 grams per day. Eating more than 3 grams of protein per day on a regular basis is unhealthy, as WHO medical experts remind us from time to time.

2. Large doses of protein are useful in the initial stages of training, when muscles grow quickly. If you add 5-10 kilograms per year, 1.8-2 grams of protein per day should be enough for you at any level of intensity.

3. The most expensive brand of protein is whey hydrolysate. If funds allow, buy it; if not, buy isolate, the price of which is much lower. If whey isolate seems too expensive for you, buy whey concentrate.

4. When choosing a protein, pay attention to the composition of the packaging and the manufacturer. We strongly recommend purchasing sports nutrition manufactured by reputable companies. Never buy cheap protein made and packaged by an anonymous manufacturer. If you are lucky, it will contain 50-60% protein; if not, health problems may arise after taking questionable mixtures.

Beginners who are just getting acquainted with sports nutrition have a question: when should you drink protein? It should be noted here that it all depends on what kind of protein mixture you purchased. After all, today you can find different protein powders that have their own characteristics. We will tell you more about this and how and when it is best to take protein further.

How to consume protein depending on the type?

All protein mixtures that the sports nutrition market offers today can be divided into several categories:

• Isolate and concentrate;
• Hydrolyzate;
• Complex protein;
• Casein.

If you decide to purchase several types of protein at once, then you need to know the correct dosage regimen, because each of these types of mixtures is intended for different purposes. But before you start taking it, you need to remember the optimal amount of protein for athletes working out in the gym. That's 2 grams for every kilogram of your body. Within this volume, it is necessary to distribute the consumption of all types of protein.

Isolate and concentrate

Concentrate is the most common form of protein mixtures and the most affordable. In addition to protein, the composition may include carbohydrates, lactose and saturated fats. This is a universal type of protein that can be consumed morning, afternoon and evening.

Isolate, unlike concentrate, has a better degree of purification. It contains virtually no carbohydrates, fats and lactose. Isolate can be classified as “fast” proteins. It takes approximately 30-40 minutes for it to be completely absorbed by the body. Therefore, it is well suited for consumption after training and especially in the morning.

Both concentrate and isolate can be mixed with water or milk. To do this, you need to take one serving, pour it into a shaker and add milk or water. As a rule, protein cans already have a measuring spoon, which is convenient for measuring portions.

Hydrolyzate

Hydrolyzate is a form of protein that is 99% protein. That is, it is an isolate, but has already undergone even deeper purification from impurities. This processing makes it possible to call hydrolyzate the most effective form of protein mixtures, because the product is already partially broken down protein. This makes it, unfortunately, the most expensive type of protein, but in terms of absorption speed it is not inferior to anyone.

In addition, the hydrolyzate has better tolerability. Just due to the absence of impurities (lactose, fats and carbohydrates), this type of protein mixtures can be safely consumed by allergy sufferers and people suffering from lactose intolerance.

When it comes to ideal intake times, many athletes prefer to consume this protein before and after training. After exercise, hydrolyzate is especially useful because it helps to quickly replenish protein reserves and begin the process of muscle tissue restoration.

Remember! Hydrolyzate can only be dissolved in water!

Complex

Above we looked at the features of taking whey protein. But complex protein mixtures are becoming increasingly popular in the sports nutrition market. The name speaks for itself, and it is obvious that the manufacturer has combined several types of proteins in one jar.

Complex protein can be considered a universal solution for replenishing protein reserves. It can be used in the morning, during the day, and at night. It is advisable and recommended to take it also before training and after training in the gym. Taking it before training will help provide the body with the necessary amino acids that will prevent the muscles from burning out.

This is a protein for all occasions, and for those who do not want to bother with choosing a sports nutrition category. However, it must be remembered that such a complex of proteins can greatly burden the gastrointestinal tract. In some cases, it is still wiser to purchase separate types of protein mixtures in order to control the intake of proteins in the body and not put an excessive burden on digestion.

A standard serving of complex protein is approximately 30 g. It must be mixed with 200-300 ml of water, juice or milk.

Casein

Casein protein is a type of slow protein. Casein protein mixtures are made from casein, which in turn is formed from caseinogen. Milk, if anyone knows, is 80% casein, the remaining 20% ​​is whey protein.

Perhaps someone knows another statement that it is better to eat cottage cheese at night, because it contains “long-lasting” protein. That's right, casein is found in all dairy products, including cottage cheese. It is called “night” protein precisely because of its ability to be absorbed in the body for a long time and not allow the development of catabolic processes. The supply of essential amino acids occurs throughout the night, so muscles are not destroyed while we sleep.

Casein is also actively used for weight loss. Its properties help us get a feeling of fullness and satiety for a long time. This blocks hunger, and the person does not consume too much. In this case, there is a loss of fat cells, but not muscle cells, because the latter receive a sufficient amount of amino acids.

When is the best time to drink protein?

The question of how to drink protein is not too difficult to understand. Everything is very clear here: pour a portion of the mixture into a shaker, add water, milk or juice, shake and drink. Another question that requires more clarification is: when is the best time to take protein?

There can be many options for taking it during the day. Protein can be consumed in the morning immediately after sleep, in the afternoon between meals, before and after training, and also before bed. And depending on the type of protein mixture, you can build an ideal intake regimen that will fit into the very optimal amount of protein (2 g per 1 kg of body weight).

For example, whey protein (concentrate, isolate and hydrolyzate) can be consumed in the morning to quickly fill the protein deficiency in the body after sleep. Hydrolyzate is especially helpful in this case, as it is absorbed very quickly and helps avoid catabolism. Whey protein is also recommended to be taken before and after a workout.

Casein, as noted above, is a “night” protein. In other words, the ideal time to take this supplement would be in the evening just before bed. Casein protein is not suitable for taking in the morning or before training, when you need a quick surge of insulin into the blood and the same quick nutrition of the muscles. Casein takes a long time to digest and saturates the body with protein for a long time, so it is best to take it at night.

When it comes to a comprehensive supplement, the answer to the question of when to take protein becomes less complicated. The complete protein blend is suitable for use in the morning, afternoon, evening and night. In short, this is a versatile supplement that can be taken at any time of the day to replenish the necessary protein reserves in the body. The complex supplement is suitable even for nighttime use because it contains, in addition to whey protein, casein.

We will leave you with a convenient table of the appropriate time to take different types of protein supplements:

Finally, we would like to wish you good luck in your sporting achievements! Leave comments about your protein intake methods.

It has been scientifically proven that protein is an essential protein for the human body, its construction and normal functioning.

Without it, full tissue regeneration and immune protection are impossible; it helps reduce bad cholesterol in the body and performs many other important and useful functions. However, not everyone knows how to use protein as a sports nutrition.

The question is often asked: is it worth taking protein when playing sports? This is not only possible, but absolutely necessary, especially if you need to gain muscle mass, as in bodybuilding, strength sports, etc.

Ordinary people who do not engage in sports have enough protein obtained from food, but it is clearly not enough for muscle growth.

However, a sports diet should include both natural sources of protein and additional ones in the form of sports nutrition.

Natural Sources of Protein

Animal products are the main sources of protein for the human body. These are meat, fish, eggs, cottage cheese and other dairy products. By the way, did you know that raw egg whites are digested much worse than cooked ones (then its digestibility reaches 95-98%)?

Rice, buckwheat, oatmeal, and wheat cereals are another valuable source of protein; it’s not without reason that they say about a weak person: “I ate little porridge.”

A lot of vegetable protein is found in legumes (beans, peas, lentils) and any nuts (cashews, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pine). Of the vegetables and fruits, the richest in protein are cabbage, figs, avocado, and zucchini.

As you can see, there are many food products that provide our body with the proteins it needs, but they are not enough for gaining weight and intensive development of the muscular system during active bodybuilding, fitness, etc. Proteins must be taken correctly, not replacing, but supplementing the diet with them.

Before we talk about how to consume protein, let's look at its types and which ones are best to choose depending on your goals, how much protein you need to take per day and when is the best time to do it to ensure rapid protein absorption.

How to take protein

Various types of protein have long been well studied by science. Its special value lies in the fact that it is a natural product, not a synthesized one.

It is obtained by processing from ordinary milk (the whey remaining after making cottage cheese and cottage cheese). That is, in essence, it is just powdered protein. The raw material for the production of protein is also soybean; it is soy protein of plant origin.

How much protein to take to increase muscle mass depends on the athlete's weight. The optimal daily dosage for an adult is considered to be 1.5 g per 1 kg of weight. Full information about dosage, frequency and time of administration is contained on the packaging.

Teenagers are also interested in how old they are and in what dosage they can take proteins. Let's start with the fact that this cannot be done without consulting a sports doctor or nutritionist.

How long a teenager involved in sports can take proteins is decided only by them, and the dosage is calculated depending on the age, weight and height of the child.

Let us remind you that protein, like any product, can cause allergies, and its uncontrolled intake has a negative impact on the kidneys and liver of a teenager.

The best sports nutrition for weight gain

How to consume protein

Typically, a 30 g measuring cup is included with a protein package; this amount of dry powder is diluted in 180-250 milliliters of boiled water or milk at room temperature. If you don't like milk, you can replace it with water, juice or compote.

The optimal time to take protein shakes depends on the type of protein: fast, slow or complex.

Fast protein (isolate) is absorbed by the body as quickly as possible, literally in a few minutes. This is an ideal remedy for the rapid replenishment of amino acids in the muscles.

If the athlete's goal is to gain muscle mass, then it is advisable to drink a protein shake an hour before training and immediately after it. It is also useful to take it in the morning, immediately after waking up.

Slow protein It is absorbed by the body much longer, within 6-8 hours. If it is intended to gain muscle mass and improve muscle definition, then you need to drink it before bed so that the muscles receive the amount of amino acids they need during the night.

Complete protein is a mixture of different types of protein: casein, whey, egg and soy. It is perfectly digestible and combines all the best qualities of each type:

• casein – blocks destructive processes in tissues, has high biological value;
• whey protein is a valuable source of amino acids for building muscle mass;
• egg - has a high biological value;
• soy – helps reduce bad cholesterol levels.

Protein for weight loss

Many girls are interested in the question: is it possible and how can they use protein for weight loss? First of all, girls should understand the mechanism of its effect: when the body begins to receive additional protein (remember: protein is protein in its pure form), its absorption requires additional energy, so the body has to use its fat reserves to obtain it. The protein itself is used to build muscles.

Knowing how to take protein, we must not forget that it will give the desired effect only if you follow a weight loss diet with limited carbohydrates and a reduced caloric intake. Simply put, its calorie content should be no more than 80% of the physiological norm.

In addition, it is necessary to exclude baked goods and all sweets, otherwise the combination of protein with fast carbohydrates will have the opposite effect - new fat deposits will appear. And, of course, losing weight with protein is impossible without fairly intense training in the gym.

How many times a day should you drink a protein shake? The following scheme is considered the most effective (each serving of a protein shake replaces a meal):

• 1st appointment: in the morning, immediately after getting up.
• 2nd reception: 2 hours before the start of training (after an hour you can eat one fruit).
• 3rd reception: an hour after the end of the workout.

Protein and other sports supplements have long become an integral part of the training of any more or less advanced athlete. And it's not necessarily about bodybuilder. In any other sport where you need to develop strength, endurance or muscle mass, various sports supplements are as integral a part of the daily diet as they are for a bodybuilder.

What is protein?

Quite often people confuse two essentially identical concepts. Many people believe that this is something bad, harmful to humans, but protein This is a useful, multifunctional component. So, protein and protein- this is the same organic component, which is one of the most important macroelements for our body.

In bodybuilding, a sports supplement with a high concentration of protein is highly valued for its properties, which help in building the athlete’s muscle mass due to the polypeptides it contains.

Polypeptide is a chain of all kinds of amino acids (more than 10) connected to each other by a chemical bond. This chain contains both essential and non-essential amino acids, which perform essential functions in the human body.

Why do you need protein?

Proteins play a fairly significant role in many vital processes that occur in our body. Our body, the body consists of the lion's share of protein molecules:

• Hair
• Nails
• Released hormones
• Muscles
• Lipoproteins
• Etc.

This element is the basis for building cytoskeleton, that is, a kind of framework for a living cell. Also, it plays an important role in maintaining the body’s immune system, signal transductions and so on.

In bodybuilding, protein is used to achieve several goals, namely:

• To maximize the anabolic effect and thereby build more muscle fibers.
• For drying or maintaining the body in a sporty and toned shape.

By training in the gym, we expect to build muscles and increase their volume. To do this, our body needs a building element in sufficient quantity, from which the body will create new muscle cells. As you understand, this building material is PROTEIN.

So, to get it, the athlete uses two ways. Getting this macronutrient from natural foods: meat, eggs, porridge, fish and so on. The second way, to be more precise, additional way to get protein, this is the inclusion of sports supplements in your diet, namely - PROTEIN.

Even if an athlete needs to lose weight or simply maintain his body in excellent physical shape, protein can also be used if possible. As you know, it helps burn excess fat and reduce the likelihood as much as possible. For such purposes, it is best to use whey protein isolate, which contains the maximum amount of protein with a minimum content of other substances.

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How much protein should I take?

To ensure the preservation of muscle tissue, consuming enough protein is a must. If a person starts playing sports: running or training in the gym, the need for protein increases significantly. This occurs due to the fact that an increase in physical activity involves an increase in the burning of various energy sources:

• ATP molecules
• Glucose
• And etc.

This list also includes amino acids. That is, when the body lacks nutrients to maintain physical activity, it begins to break down proteins into their constituent amino acids. To protect your muscle tissue from decay, you need to provide your body with a sufficient level of polypeptides.

The main source of this nutritional component is regular food. However, very often there is a need to add an additional source of protein to your diet, since it is very difficult to squeeze out a sufficient daily requirement from natural products. This problem occurs because most of the foods that people consume daily are rich in: carbohydrates, fats, vitamins. But not for protein.

Also, many people often have problems digesting large amounts of food. That is, many find it very difficult to consume enough food, maintaining a regimen, to get their daily protein requirement.

In addition, life circumstances often arise in which a person goes for a very long time without food. For example, when a person is on the road and there is no opportunity to eat properly. In this case, if you have a shaker and protein powder on hand, just add water to the container, pour in the protein and mix all the components thoroughly until a homogeneous mass is obtained. A minimum of time is spent on this process, as a result of which a person receives a sufficient portion of protein in order to replenish his internal reserves of nutrients and prevent catabolism.

It is especially difficult for experienced athletes whose body weight exceeds 85 kilograms to obtain the daily protein requirement from regular foods. In this case, the required amount of protein to ensure the restoration of the entire body and create all the necessary conditions for building even greater muscle mass increases significantly. The additional source we are talking about now is, as you understand, protein.

Of course, if you have no problems getting protein from food, the need for sports supplements fades into the background. That is, their use is not a priority. If you often have life circumstances in which consuming normal food in sufficient quantities becomes impossible, then you should think about purchasing the necessary sports supplements.

How much protein should you take per day?

So, many novice athletes do not know how much protein they need to drink per day in order to get the desired result, maintain muscle tissue or build it. In principle, there are no specific rules or exact numbers that would answer this question. Everything is purely individual.

Here are some of the important factors that, one way or another, determine the daily protein intake:

• level of physical activity
• athlete's body weight
• daily diet

That is, when determining how much protein you need to drink, you need to take into account the above factors and try to find a middle ground so as not to go too far or, conversely, not reach the required daily protein intake.

As you know, for an ordinary person who does not engage in any sports, 1 gram of protein per 1 kilogram of body weight is enough. When you start playing sports, especially bodybuilding, this dosage increases. Ideally, for training to pay off and give a positive result, it is necessary to adhere to a proportion of 2-3 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (for the necessary growth of muscle mass and maintaining a positive nitrogen balance). That is, if you weigh approximately 75 kilograms, the daily requirement will be approximately 150 to 225 grams of protein per day.

Let us repeat once again, if you easily get the same 200 grams of protein from natural food per day, in this case you can do without the use of sports supplements. Otherwise, you need to review your daily diet, add appropriate protein if necessary, or buy protein in specialized sports nutrition stores.

Example

So, for example, you weigh 75 kilograms. To achieve positive results, you need to take 225 grams per day. To understand how much protein you should drink, you need to determine how many grams of the above figure you consume.

For example, you get 140 grams of protein per day from natural foods. Naturally, this figure is far from ideal, and to supplement it, we subtract from 225 grams the amount of protein that you get per day from solid food, namely 140 grams. That works out to about 85 grams of missing macronutrients.

We take an average concentrate, which contains approximately 22-25 grams of protein per serving (ideally 30 grams). From this, it follows that in order to get the missing 85 grams of protein, you need to take approximately 3 servings of protein per day.

Some manufacturers are cunning by releasing something similar to protein under the guise of protein. For example, usually one serving of a protein shake (as we already know is 30 grams) should contain an average of 24 grams of protein. The remaining 5-6 grams are additional amino acids, carbohydrates, a small amount of fat, etc.

So, in some sports supplements of this type, sellers indicate the recommended volume of one serving of 40-50 grams of powder, which must be diluted with liquid. Moreover, this volume contains the same 22-25 grams of protein as a normal portion of high-quality protein (30 grams - scoop). The remaining 10-20 grams are cheap raw materials. Thus, manufacturers save their money, forcing buyers to spend additional money on buying new protein, which quickly runs out due to such large portions. It is imperative to look at the composition of the protein you purchase.

You need to take protein daily to maintain your daily protein intake. And it doesn’t matter whether you have a workout planned today or not, you can drink protein.

You can drink protein with water, juice, milk, creatine or even kefir. The most important thing is to know how to do everything correctly. You will find more detailed information in this article:

In order to take protein as correctly as possible, so that nothing interferes with its absorption, it is necessary to mix the powder with a minimum amount of liquid, sufficient to mix the protein mixture well until a homogeneous mixture is formed. Excessive fluid intake can impair protein absorption in the body .

For whey protein, it is best to mix according to the above rules. As for another popular protein, things are a little different. Casein, with a small volume of liquid, turns out to be quite thick. To ensure unhindered absorption of the additive, a larger volume of water is needed.

Experts recommend mixing protein with water, since it does not interfere with the normal absorption of the protein mixture, unlike milk. The fact is that dairy products contain various nutrients that can inhibit protein absorption. This is highly undesirable, especially when a person takes protein after a workout, when the fastest possible absorption of macronutrients is necessary.

Optimal time to take protein

A person should place the main emphasis on natural food. However, it does not always allow you to quickly obtain the required amount of nutrients at the right time. Normal food usually takes quite a long time to digest before saturating the body with the necessary macronutrients, not to mention meat products, which take several hours to digest. In such situations, sports supplements come to our aid.

Of course, after training, the body is in such a state that the absorption of foods occurs much faster. However, sometimes it is still more convenient to use protein shakes.

When to take protein?

• After waking up
• In between meals
• Before training
• After training
• Before bedtime

Important!!! Do not forget that protein is just a regular additive to the main food. You cannot replace food with protein shakes. You can do it this way: for example, after a workout, drink a protein shake if you don’t have a container with food with you. After which, you return home and prepare yourself a normal meal: boiled meat, salads, fruits, buckwheat, and so on.

Also, we must not forget that the essence of taking protein is to replenish missing nutrients. Do not overuse this supplement. For example, if you consume a sufficient amount of protein per day and you are only 40-60 grams of protein short, in order to get the daily requirement, it is enough to take protein after sleep, after training and before bed. The main goal is to comply with the daily norm in order to achieve your goal and not overdo it.

1. It's best to stir protein with water. So it's the maximum.
2. This type of sports nutrition should not be overestimated. It is not recommended to take protein if a person already gets enough protein from natural foods.
3. To improve recovery abilities, you can drink protein by combining it with. Read more.
4. You can combine protein with a gainer. However, as practice shows, you can completely do without carbohydrate-protein supplements. A detailed analysis of the topic is here – “?”.
5. Don't skimp too much when purchasing protein. A product that is too cheap may be a counterfeit or contain a low-quality mixture that violates quality standards.
6. You shouldn’t stretch out one can of protein for a whole year. Use exactly as much as written on the package - 30 grams per serving.
7. If you are intolerant to lactose, that is, milk protein, you should buy whey protein isolate.
8. A fairly good isolate with a mixture of whey protein concentrate that you should consider is - 100% Whey Gold Standard. There are 24 grams of protein per serving, which is 29.4 grams. Minimum amount of fat, maximum amount of protein, amino acids.
9. You should not consume protein if you have kidney diseases or pathologies. It is imperative to consult a doctor!

conclusions

Let's summarize all of the above. So, now you know how to take protein correctly, when you need to do it and in what quantities you need to drink it. It is important to understand that it doesn’t really matter when you take this sports supplement. The most important thing is to get the required daily protein intake.

Also, choosing a high-quality protein mixture in trusted online or offline stores is of great importance. The main problem is placing too much hope on this type of sports nutrition. That is, many spend their last money, buying either a low-quality product or a very expensive protein, hoping for a miracle. After which there is simply not enough money for normal food. Buy protein only if your budget allows you to buy sports nutrition and, at the same time, purchase all the necessary natural food in supermarkets. This is a very important point.

Protein will not give any miraculous effect, and certainly will not replace natural food. If you do not have funds. The ideal option is to spend money not on sports nutrition, but on food: meat, fruits, cereals, vegetables, and so on. This should be understood.

In principle, we can end this topic. If you liked this article, share links on social networks. It’s a matter of just a few seconds for you, but it’s a big plus for the site! If you have any questions, ask them in the comments. Thank you all for your attention!

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