Protein powder and weightlifting

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hawkpatriot

Joined
Jul 20, 2004
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I am a new to weightlifting (three months experience), so I have this question:

How much is too much protein powder? I use GNC Pro Performance Whey Protein Powder as a nutrition supplement. I read in FLEX magazine that you should get 1 gram per pound of bodyweight daily. Is that just for competitive bodybuilders or is 1g per 1 lb the recommended amount for regular folks? I usually have 2 or 3 shakes per day, 20 gs in the morning, 20 gs at 3:00, and 40 gs after a workout. Is that too much? I weigh 180. Other than after a workout, what are the best times to consume whey protein powder?

Thanks for your help.
 
I'm gonna watch this thread with interest, waiting for lifter to weigh in :)
I've seen great results only taking a 20g shake after workouts, but then I'm on Atkins, and eat a lot of protein anyway. I'm slowly weaning off the diet, so I will probably switch to a supplement eventually.
 
Well, as I've said before, I'm not half as strong as Lifter, or nearly as pretty, but I have been lifting for 29 years. First bit of advice is to take everything you read in the bodybuilding magazines with a very large grain of salt. However, one gram per pound of bodyweight is the standard recommendation if you're trying to gain some mass. Keep in mind that includes your entire food intake. You want to space your protein throughout the day, basically eating every two or three hours. And drink lots of water.

I also recommend shopping around for your whey protein. You can spend anywhere from $30 to over $70 for a 5 lb. container. IMHO, there's no significant difference in the various whey protein products, although some dissolve better than others. Personally, I've been using Champion Nutrition, which goes for $35 for 5 lbs. at my local discount vitamin store.
 
I'd look into this more, as I believe protein intake to be recommended at 1g per lb of lean body mass/weight. not just how much you weigh.

Lean Body Weight (men) = (1.10 x Weight(kg)) - 128 x ( Weight2/(100 x Height(m))2)
Lean Body Weight (women) = (1.07 x Weight(kg)) - 148 x ( Weight2/(100 x Height(m))2)
from: http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/leanbody.htm

The hour before and the hour after a workout is pretty much one of the best spaces of time to ingest protein, as your body will grab all it can.

Remember that that per-lb intake advice is for mass gain and for when working out heavily. Don't just take it to take it...you'll gain mass, alright...hehe.

Personally, I store a lot of dormant muscle (a touch heavy), so I don't worry too much about cramming body mass enhancement down my throat. I generally do pretty good on conversion..hehe.
 
One g per lb LEAN bodyweight is the recommendation to someone training 3-4x a week with weights.

Try not to believe what you red in Flex, Muscle & Fitness etc. These magazines are 99% advertising, even in the articles. Also, 90% of all the "new" routines and tricks and the like have been known for many years, they just tack on a fancy name.... If you want good advice try this board:

http://www.drsquat.com/index.cfm?action=topics

A bunch of practical folks, and Dr. Squat is aptly named for squatting over 1000lbs in actual competition, not like most of the 'GYM' lifts quoted by so many fitness 'gurus'.
also, check out the articles:

http://www.drsquat.com/index.cfm?action=articles
 
Guys, I'm gonna dissapoint ya's. I'm real conservative when iot comes to supplements. Dvirsky nailed it when he said, if you're trying to gain weight. You didnt specify if you're trying to lose, gain, or just maintain.
Really the key is not how much protein you take but how much you absorb and utilize, and how much goes down the toilet. You're on the right track by splitting it up during the course of the day. The 1 gm. per pound is a good start as long as you're not trying to lose weight. I suggest taking whey protein right after working out for it's quick absorption, and a good milk and egg protein in the morning and at night. You can get high quality protein without the frills and hype from www.ironmind.com And dont forget about the protein in the foods you eat.
I know I'm cynical about the magazines(with good reason), especially the ones from the trainer of chumpions, but dont believe a word of it. This is a true story. I was at a seminar given by Frank Zane in Roxbury,NJ at the Mr Appalachia contest around 1979-1980. Talking to him in the hallway afterwards a guy comes up to him with a magazine with Zane's supposed chest workout in it and wants to ask him a question. Zane says let me see that. Hmm, that doesnt look bad, maybe I should try it. Meaning he had absolutely zero to do with the article. They are written by ghost riders and these guys are under contract or paid per piece for use of their name. Everything in the magazines is dollar driven. Most of the info is also written with the drug user in mind, regardless of what they say.
Hawk, you're just starting out. Use the 1 gm. as a start and as time goes by you'll find what works for you and what doesnt. The most important factor in weight training is consistency-both in your training and your nutrition. Dont believe all the hype and super supplements that come out every year.

As for Freddie Hatfield, Dr Squat, I watched him train many times back when he lived in Belleville,NJ. Back then he was an olympic lifter training with our old team, the belleville Barbell club. He was amazingly strong but never had the flexibility for olympic lifting(neither did I) which is when he got into powerlifting. Over the years he's really been an innovator trying different things and coming up with new programs. I have a couple of old video tapes of him here, most notably from the 1985 Hawaii Invitational Power Meet where he squatted 975 like the bar was empty, very impressive.I think I've also got a tape of him squatting 1014 at another meet around here somewhere. Unfortunately for one reason or another, injuries, physical limitations, etc. his other lifts were not on the same level as his squat.
His daughter Dysa, is becoming a good lifter in her own right. She squatted about 500 lbs at a meet we ran at my gym last year.

Hehe, sorry to go off track. Hawk, stick with it, train hard, eat good whole(not processed) foods, get enough rest, and be in it for the long haul. I'm not a bodybuilder(thank God:D), I'm a powerlifter, but I can tell you that if you stick with it, over time you'll find what's best. Basically what I'm trying to say, is for the first few years, moderation.
 
Yep, 1-1.5 grams per pound is right(the most recent stuff I've read mentions 1.2 gms/lb as optimal, but most people like round numbers, so...). Much less than that I wouldn't trust, anymore than that and you're probably going overboard.

As far as protein powders go, as long as you stick with a known established brand you should be fine. While there are minor differences between most of them, it comes down to taste and value/dollar with most of the established companies.

As far as protein selection, use, etc... Post workout is definately the most important time to use a protein supplement. Personally, I use a 1.5/1 carb to protein ratio. The protein is a mix of fast absorbing protein(whey) and slow absorbing protein(milk/egg). I'm not very picky about carb sources for this, just use a carb source you like(if you're using one of the creatine/carb supps, it would be ideal to add it in as the carb source).

I also add a table spoon of one of the "good" fat sources to the shake like flax seed, olive oil, etc.... I also take a bit of vit. C to help with recouperation, it does wonders to help with post workout soreness.

Pre bed-time is also a time to think about protein supplementation to help stave off catabolism during the long period while you sleep. You'd want a slow absorbing protein for this, if you're going to use a shake. You could also use whole foods for this if you wanted(e.g. cheese and a glass or two of milk). As long as it's a slow absorbing protein you'll be fine.

Pre-workout supplementation is an interesting topic. I've used pre-workout shakes, and they definately work. But in all honesty I usually forgot about it most of the time. Your average pre-workout shake is just a whey and carb mix.

Just one last thing about supplements, as was mentioned, don't bother with most of them. There's lots of dirt little secrets in the supplement business. If you get most of the guys behind the scenes, they'll admit that most of the stuff doesn't work or that they're not showing you the big picture.

Offhand, the only supplements there's near universal agreement upon as working are:

1) Multi vit/min.
2) Protein powders.
3) Good fats.
4) Creatine(although, you only keep about 1/3 of your gains, the rest is retained water, that you'll lose when you stop using).

5) Ephedrine/caff.- it worked great, but now it's banned.

6) Yohimbe- This is rather specialized, it's used to lose the last bits of lower body fat while dieting.
 
HawkPatriot, you'll really have to experiment with the amount of whey protien that you injest. Like it's been said here, you need about 1-1.5 grams pr lean body weight for maximum muscular growth. More importantly, don't forget to drink extra water. For example, I'm 6'2", 210lbs. In March I weighed 195 and I took 160 grams of whey protein (3 times between meals) daily while consuming 2 gal. of water every 8 hrs. Now in my heavy cycle, I take about 220 grams of whey protein (6 times pr day between meals) while drinking 3 gallons of water per every eight hrs. I'm kinda "old school" because I preferred the straight amino acid tablets. I was able to maintain my heaviest lean body weight on tablets (225lbs.). But then again, I was a lot younger then and I didn't work so much.
 
Is it possible to gain/maintain weight while losing fat? Like other folks of this "potatochip generation", I got a little fat around my body and I'm trying to lose it before wrestling season. The lean muscle weight doesnt bother me, just the fat. So I'm running and doing other "fitness stuff", besides lifting.
 
Yes! You can do both at the same time. A prime example of this is when I was in army basic training. I had a friend by the name of Kenny. He came to boot camp with a big belly and man boobs. After the basic three (Running, sit-ups, and push-ups) 13 weeks later he had a full set of pecs and defined abs. Some of us regularly complained about the army, but I remember Kenny always saying how great the army was. He always stated that he was a chubby, out of shape kid, and the army turned this around for him. He entered basic training at the same weight that he left, but this time he didn't have the man boobs. :D
 
Wunderbar said:
Yes! You can do both at the same time. A prime example of this is when I was in army basic training. I had a friend by the name of Kenny. He came to boot camp with a big belly and man boobs. After the basic three (Running, sit-ups, and push-ups) 13 weeks later he had a full set of pecs and defined abs. Some of us regularly complained about the army, but I remember Kenny always saying how great the army was. He always stated that he was a chubby, out of shape kid, and the army turned this around for him. He entered basic training at the same weight that he left, but this time he didn't have the man boobs. :D
Click to expand...

Thanks Wunderbar, your story just boosted my confidence 25%... At the exercise rate I'm going, I won't have to worry much longer about this beer gut and these mantits making me look like an unintimidating fata*s for wrestling season. ;)
 
My advice is to not read Flex or any other similar mag. Books from Brookfield, Justa, Kubik, or many of the books available from Ironmind or Super Strength Books come highly recommended by me.

Train hard, eat well, live right.
 
Hi All-

Just a quick post before bed...the human body can only process a certain amount of protein at a "sitting" without really taxing the kidneys. With any diet that places considerable focus on protein consumption, one must consume incredible amounts of water to ensure proper renal function. This can be dangerous and an incredibly painful experience for those who throw caution to the wind.

Good luck with your lifting, it is a fantastic sport with lots of benefits.

~ Blue Jays ~
 
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