I am planning on starting to use protein shakes. I've been reading and I've concluded that: after workout shakes are the best, Whey is what I should use with low fat milk or joghurt. Also, I've found out that isolate is better because it has a fast effect. What I want to know is when to use it, how to make a good shake out of simple fruit and what might be the result. I've been planning to wake up at 5Am, make a shake, drink it and go jogging at 5.15AM, is it ok? and after jogging, I think, I should use a shake too. Before sleep as well? now, should I use 70g of powder since I weight 70kg? 70 each time or in total/day? If I get like 2% fat milk with bananas and other blend fruit, is that enough? how much fluid and fruits (70/3) on ~23g of powder? If I don't want to have too muscular body like a body builders, should I use soy protein powder? Thanks for trying on answering
Personally I'd stick to after workouts and before bed.
You could before workouts have something like a portion of Baked beans, Peanuts or Eggs on Toast as examples, for protein and Carbs to give you energy and help protect muscle from possible catabolism due to running.
Then have the Protein shake aftrerwards.
I'd go for water though over milk for a few reasons.
1. Milk thickens shakes up potentially slowing down absorption.
2. Milk adds Casein slowing down absorption.
3. Milk adds Lactose, so your body has to produce Lactase enzyme, to break down the Galactose molecule in the Di-saccharide, which could slow down absorption.
4. Milk adds more calories, slowing down absorption.
If you are not in favour of the shake and water combination taste wise you have other options, like adding a bit of Honey, Vanilla Essence, ground Ginger, Ground Nutmeg, Cinnamon, or Mocha powder as examples to manipulate the taste.
For the nighttime one, Milk would be okay, as the added Casein would be anti-catabolic for longer than Whey, as Whey is 4 calories per gram, Casein 8 calories per gram.
Soy Protein powder is fine, but Whey is okay as well and is a more favoured choice by many.
You should use 70g of powder if it gives you adequate Protein. If it gives you too much, use less, if it gives you not enough, use more.
In general you could aim for between 0.8 and 1.2g per lb of bodyweight, with a maximum of 1.5g Protein per lb.
Thanks, but here's an another thing I wanted to ask. I just bought myself some protein powder, it says I should use like 2x40g servings/day, but after watching youtube videos, I've concluded that people use around 1 scoop of powder which is like 30 - 32g. So how much should I use for starters? Also, how much really is 1 scoop... Some videos said that 20g in the morning before breakfast is the best choice, but what if I do routine by drinking juice, having a snack, after that going jogging and only then having a shake 40 minutes before real breakfast, should I use more powder (if it's 1/2 times/day I'll be using it)? it's confusing
Just 2 cents, I would be careful with how you use the protein shakes. Think about your goals, etc. Most of the powders out there are really high in fats and calories. So if you are trying to lose weight and take 2 shakes first thing in the morning, you are already going to consume around 800 calories, give or take. So just think about your goals and make sure you take a look at the sugars/fats/calories of all the different proteins.
Ah but if the guy had one with 60g protein in it and around 40g Carbs, that's only 400 calories. it would be 800 therefore if he had 2 shakes in the morning, but it wouldn't be that bad if it was just one.
One thing to be mindful of is whether they contain micronutrients or not, however with such additions to the powder manufacturing process comes a ramped up cost, so you're then into pricey powder territory, which I have always shunned and advise against because the main crux of a protein Powder is not how many herbs or Micronutrients yada yada it has in it, but what sort of protein and carb content and what levels too.
Having loads of added extras, to me, doesn't make it significantly better than a basic one and ultimately when you peak, you'll be using it to give you a "feeling", that cheaper ones might not give you, but the cost to benefit ratio then is even more diminished, without any recurrent gains in the mix anymore.
I wouldn't advise 2 shakes in the morning though, because you need some kind of micronutrient intake in the morning, rather than just consuming it for the remainder of the day, so it's spread out properly.
There is a great article that I've taken an excerpt from... It goes something like this...
Now, for the majority of individuals carbs will be used for energy. The carbs used are stored in the muscles in the form of muscle glycogen. As you exercise, the muscle glycogen is depleted and must be replenished following your workout. Without properly refueling muscle glycogen you will have difficulty recuperating after an intense workout and will probably have a hard time with exercise the following day.
In order to repair muscles and prevent excessive muscle soreness following a workout, you need to be eating quality protein after your workout as well as throughout the day. If this is not taken seriously, you will continue to have muscle soreness and never see any positive results in body composition.
You can get the rest of this article "here". It breaks it down even more. You can also get a free report that gives more detailed information about nutrition...what to eat, what not to eat, and the right times to eat, before and after exercise. Believe it or not, it really does play a pretty big role in your fitness results. If you want to get the free report, it's called "What To Never Eat After Exercise". Hope this helps.