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Protein shakes in muscle building – Do’s and Dont’s
For successful muscle building, several things must be right. In addition to effective training, this includes a sufficient supply of nutrients. Only when this is ensured can the body actually build muscle. Proteins take a special role with the nutrients. These are virtually the main basis for muscle building. In order to supply the body with sufficient proteins and to know that the supply is always well filled, many athletes resort to protein shakes. These have the advantage of providing the needed proteins to the body quickly and easily. But how effective are the shakes really and what should you look for when taking them??
What are the benefits of protein shakes for muscle building?
Proteins are nothing more than proteins and thus one of the key building blocks in the body. Not only are they essential for muscles to function optimally, the body also needs them to build new muscle.
So if you are building muscle, you should definitely make sure that you take enough protein to you. As a guideline for athletes in muscle building training is recommended daily 1.5 to 2.5 grams of protein for each kilogram of body weight.
A large part of this amount can be achieved through a healthy and balanced diet. However, many athletes want to make sure that there is no undersupply in any case.
This is where nutritional supplements come into play. Protein is typically sold in powder form as a supplement. Athletes can mix this with water or milk to make a shake. Depending on the shake, one drink can cover a large part of the recommended daily allowance.
If you consume 30 percent of your protein needs right after a workout, you’ll have to worry less about your nutritional composition as a result.
Protein shakes are used especially for muscle building. Therefore, strength athletes also benefit the most from them. With endurance athletes it can also be worthwhile, but here it always depends on the situation.
Those who are still in an early training phase are also still building up muscles and therefore also benefit from the proteins. In principle, however, the effect is significantly less for endurance athletes. For them, the right carbohydrates play more of a role, as these provide the fuel for the workout
The right time
An important question that always comes up with protein shakes is the timing. When is it best for the body if you take a protein shake to you?
The typical recommendation, and the time many athletes choose, is immediately after training. The background here is quite understandable. After training, the body’s stores are empty, so you try to fill them as quickly as possible.
However, the factor here is not as great as with other nutrients. Even if a direct intake ensures that proteins are stored faster in the muscles, it is also not a disaster if the protein shake is drunk a little later after training.
Generally speaking, you do try to keep your protein stores well stocked. During the training itself, the body does not build muscles, which is why proteins are not used as much as carbohydrates, for example.
However, since a lack of carbohydrates can cause the body to look for other nutrients in the body, it is at least not a bad idea to drink the protein shake after training.
The drink, on the other hand, is not necessarily recommended directly before training. This can sometimes even have the opposite effect. Instead of supporting you, the shake lies in the stomach and must be digested.
The resources, which your body uses for it, are missing then again in another place. This diminishes training performance and in turn affects muscle development. If you want to drink something before training, you are usually better off with water.
Protein shake
With water or with milk?
As already mentioned, most athletes mix their protein shakes for muscle building themselves. The purchased powder can be mixed either with water or with milk.
Both variants have their advantages and disadvantages. But in any case it is important that you use a good shaker. Otherwise, there may be lumps in the shake and you are forced to chew your protein shake. This is neither practical nor particularly tasty. Shaken well, a shake is much tastier.
When deciding between water or milk, it makes sense to consider the manufacturer. These lay out most protein powders on milk, which also shows in the taste.
Protein shakes with water usually taste a bit bland. In a way you almost feel like you are drinking watered down milk. Purely for taste reasons, many athletes opt for milk in their shakes.
However, milk is of course also the more expensive choice. In addition, you have to think about the storage and make sure that there is always enough milk in the house. Not to be underestimated are also the additional calories that you consume through the milk.
Especially those who pay very close attention to their daily calories are often better off with water. You can use skimmed milk, but this is noticeable in the taste.
Water is always the less complicated option. You can find it practically everywhere, it’s much cheaper than milk and it doesn’t add any calories either.
Besides the taste disadvantages, however, water also lacks one or the other nutrient that is contained in milk. Since you can not have enough nutrients during muscle building training, this is not to be underestimated at all.
To solve the taste problem, many athletes rely on a mix. You simply combine water and milk and then mix in the protein powder.
With a mixture of 50:50, the shake still tastes very much like a milkshake and yet has significantly fewer calories than a pure milk mixture. Especially if you’re taking low-fat milk with 1.5 percent fat, you’re actually not doing much wrong with a mix.