Which Protein Powder Is Right For You?

These days there is a protein powder for everyone, whether your goal is to build lean muscle mass, gain weight and muscle, lose weight/fat, replace meals, or simply increase your protein intake. Let’s look at your options by objective.

Build lean muscle mass

There are 3 types of protein that will be beneficial for this purpose. These include a mix of whey protein (protein concentrates, isolates, and perhaps casein), whey protein isolate or hydrolyzate, and casein.

However, most people are on a budget and cannot afford to buy all three types of protein powder. In this case, the protein mix would be the most suitable because it will provide a sustained release of protein for up to 4 hours. This makes it useful for maintaining high protein levels throughout the day, while also containing some quick-release protein isolates to fuel muscles immediately before exercise.

If a second protein is purchased, it should be whey protein isolate powder to ensure pre- and post-workout nutrition is optimized and muscles are saturated with nutrients for muscle repair and growth. Casein, while very helpful in reducing muscle breakdown during sleep and a “must have” for some, should be your third consideration for protein powders.

Weight and muscle gain

In dealing with supplements for quite some time now, I always find it amusing how many skinny people tell me they “want to build muscle but don’t want to get too big.” It is said as if it could happen by accident, but I can assure you that it is not. If you don’t currently have an undesirable level of excess fat, exercise three or more times a week, and want to build muscle in any capacity, you’ll likely benefit from taking a mass-gaining protein and it won’t turn you into muscle any time soon. Hulk or get fat, end of story. However, if you consistently eat every 3 hours throughout the day, you may not need the carbs in a bulking protein. Mass gainers usually have a reasonably broad spectrum of protein with a few different carbohydrates, as well as being high in calories. The protein ensures that muscle recovery and rebuilding is maximized, while the carbohydrates and calories ensure a calorie surplus that is critical for muscle building.

Because bulking proteins are typically made from whey protein concentrate and carbohydrates, you’ll also benefit from having a whey protein isolate powder. However, if you just want to get a mass gainer and not an isolate as well, make sure the carb to protein ratio is close to 1:1 or you may find the portion sizes too large to get enough protein after eating. training. Of course, again, casein could be very helpful for overnight recovery.

lose weight/fat

The best single protein for this goal would be a fat burning protein. This is simply a protein with added ingredients commonly found in fat burning products. Typically, you will find that these proteins will only contain about 1/3 of the active fat-burning ingredients of a specialized fat-burning product. Therefore, you can expect much better results if you supplement a regular protein mix with a suitable fat burning product. Protein powders are important in the fat burning process because:

• Recovery speed after training
• Increases muscular endurance
• Minimizes muscle breakdown during weight loss.

Therefore, you will be able to train more regularly because the protein powder will minimize the motivation-crushing effects of sore muscles. Also for cardio, higher muscular endurance means you can train harder for longer and burn more fat during exercise. Also, the ultimate goal of burning fat is usually a lean, defined appearance. A common mistake among people trying to achieve this is an overemphasis on cardio while neglecting proper weight training and nutrition to maintain muscle mass (for men and women!). The end result is continual weight loss (muscle and fat) and never achieving that “cut look.”

meal substitution

As discussed in other articles, protein shake diets should always include a reasonable amount of carbohydrates and fat. This means finding a protein with lean fats and around 30g of carbohydrates. However, individual meals can be substituted for low-carb, low-fat shakes. When doing this, it’s best to use a protein blend consisting primarily of whey protein concentrate and some isolates for up to a 4-hour sustained release of protein.