If you set foot in any gym, you will see people walking around with a funny shaped bottle drinking a funny coloured liquid. And if you are like me when I first saw them, you may well think what is it? Well it is protein and if you take the right type at the right time, it really can massively change your performance and looks both in and out of the gym. It does not matter if you are lifting massive weights or just exercising to keep healthy, protein will work for you!

Let’s start at the very beginning and let me tell you something you must remember…

1. YOUR MUSCLES CAN ONLY GROW WHEN THEY REST.

Rest and recovery is vital to weight loss and muscle growth, but this is probably the most important time, because when you’re resting, you must feed you muscle so that it can grow and recover quickly. Nomatter what type of training programme you decide to follow, a recovery period MUST form part of it.

When you repeatedly excercise a muscle group, the muscle fibres tear slightly and then as they recover, muscles grow so they can cope with the excercise again. This is not a bad thing. This is what gives your legs, arms, bum and stomach shape! For a more in depth view of how mucle bulding works, see – Muscle Growth.

Protein is is crucial in feeding a recovering muscle. Carbohydrates also play a part and we will discuss in – Carbohydrates and Weight Loss.

The most popular type of protein used by serious athletes is Whey Protein. The good news is that it is not expensive. If I could recommend the two most important ingredients in weight loss and muscle growth, it would be Water and Whey Protein. There is another type of protein called Soy Protein, which is recommended for those who are lactose intollerant. Soy protein is also a key ingredient to my secret fat loss diet plan.

WHY WHEY PROTEIN?

The answer to this is simple. People will try and tell you that another type is better for you. I could list lots of other types on here for you. I could even explain all the different forms such as powder, liquid and mixes etc, but I won’t. If you are just starting out on protein, then stick to powdered Whey protein. Just make sure you know how to use it.

Let me quickly explain Biological Value (BV).  This measures the proportion of protein that is broken down and used in your body from food after you ingest it.  Whey protein has the highest biological value (BV) of all known protein foods. This is great news for us! Take a look at this diagram to explain what I am saying.

Source Protein (g) Biological Value (BV)
Chicken breast 2.8 oz (79 g) 26 79
Tuna 3.0 oz (85 g) 24 83
Egg (1 whole) 6 100
Milk (1%, 1 cup) 8 91
Lean beef 2.5 oz (72 g) 22 80
Lentils (1 cup) 16 50
Red Kidney Beans (1 cup) 15 50
Bread (1 slice) 25 g 2 54
Rice (1 cup) 4 59
Pasta (1 cup) 4 54
Oatmeal (1 cup) 13 55
Whey Isolate – 159
Whey Concentrate – 104

You will notice at the bottom of this table, there are two types of whey protein – Isolate and concentrate. Obviously you can see that isolate provides more biological value, so this would be the recommended sourc, but only if you can afford it! It does not mean that your muscles will be considerable bigger or more toned if you take isolate. There are a million different types of whey protein on the market. If you have never used protein before, it is important to know that some people will sell you crap! There is no other nice way to put it. To be honest, there are only a handful of companies who actually produce a true quality whey protein. You can see my thoughts on these in the Protein review section.

WHEN TO TAKE WHEY PROTEIN

This is very important to know, because whey Protein carries out a number of tasks like:

  1. release 2 types of amino acids into your body, which help to prevent complete muscle breakdown and help to rebuild muscles almost as soon as they enter the body.
  2. When taken with carbohydrates, the acid in protein stores the glycogen in muscles, which can really improve your energy during a workout.
  3. Protein and carbohydrates together also produce insulin, which really gives your muscle building a boost!

With this information in mind, I would recommend you take whey protein 3 times a day if you are going to the gym and once a day when you are not.

If you are not going to the gym, then take your whey protein first thing in the morning as soon as you wake up BEFORE you have any breakfast. In the morning when you wake up, your body is craving nutrition and by taking protein at this point, your body will not waste any of what you take in and if you have a good, healthy breakfast about half and hour to an hour after, this will give you awesome results!

Now if you are going to the gym, ALWAYS do as you would on a non training day and take your first protein as soon as you wake up. Your next intake should be 30  minutes before your training session. This will help provide the extra energy when you do workout (SECRET – Mix this with some carbohydrates to max your energy!). Finally, take your next whey protein at as soon as you finish your session. I MEAN IMMEDIATELY! The sooner you do this after a workout – the better! This will feed your muscles and aid in the recovery process from the moment you finish your training.

I promise you that if you follow this simple course of whey protein intake, you will be supercharging the shape your body takes and burning fat throughout the day!