Well, I use the 100% Whey from GNC (chocolate), but when I make it it's usually with a banana, strawberries & blueberries...I use fat free milk, a couple of ice cubes and add peanut butter as well...mmmm... That's some good stuff and usually drink it after I work out...sometimes I use it as a meal replacement...
I have taken: Cytosport Musclemilk (chocolate, vanilla, cookies and cream) Cytosport Complete Whey (chocolate) BSN Syntha 6 (chocolate, mocachino) Optimum Whey (double rich chocolate) Just recieved these 2: Champion Whey (chocolate and mocachino) I have also tried other stuff like EAS Myoplex Ready to drink, Isopure, BSN Lean dessert etc. if you want my opinion about any of those..just ask.
Taste wise I am a chocolate / coffee (i dont drink coffee though) lover. i would rank them in this order: Musclemilk chocolate syntha6 mocachino syntha6 chocolate champion chocolate champion mocachino optimum whey chocolate cytosport whey chocolate I hate myoplex. quality wise BSN is good but it's more of a meal replacement protein so I use this before bed sometimes or if i wont have a meal for 3-4hrs like i have class, then i will take one before i go. musclemilk is a casein protein so that's also a meal replacement. It also has a lot of "extra" calories. (350cals for 32g protein) but bsn is almost a dollar a serving, and musclemilk is almost 2 bucks a serving. Optimum is a reputable company and this is an economical whey. So is champion whey. These 2 are the way to go if you want spend the least amount of money without sacrificing quality. for ~40 bucks you get 77 servings (one 32g scoop which gives you 24g of protein) whey is the faster acting protein and there's diff subsets of whey. like isolate, concentrate etc. isolate is more expensive because it's more pure. these proteins use a "blend" of everything now. hope all that helps.
I'm doing the Body for Life program right now, which if you're not familiar with it is a 12 week program of eating right and excercising 6 days a week. They push Myoplex pretty hard in the book since it was written by one of the founders of EAS, so I've been using a combination of the Myoplex Lite bars and ready to drink shakes to account for 2 of my 6 meals each day. I'm on week 4 now and am starting to see good results. I started out at 15% body fat and I'm down to 11.8% now. Check it out: www.bodyforlife.com
Cytogainer is good, I ushually stick with the chocalate. I also like isopure, it's micro-filtered so it doesn't clump up when mixed.
I was watching some late night tv a while back when this infomercial for this program called P90X came on. I normally don't watch even one full minute of this infomercials, but it caught my eye because they were talking about a muscle training/weight loss program based on "muscle confusion." Basically, muscle confusion is somewhat mildly controversial in the field of weight training, but the principles are that if you keep doing the same weight training regimen over a period of time your muscles will get used to the workout and you will stop seeing gains. So thus by "confusing" your muscles every few months, you will have continuous gains. You "confuse" your muscles by doing different types of weight training and cardio. For example you can start out doing running in the park, but then after 6 weeks do cardio in the gym. For weights you change the machines and weight routines. I have been a follower of "muscle confusion" for the past year and I've seen really good gains so far. I'm a hard core gym nut/health freak, but I think the principles of the system are valid. From what I remember, the training regimen undergone by the actors in the movie 300, were based on the same training method.
Ahhh the The Weider Training Principles are still alive and well. Progressive Overload & the Muscle Confusion Principle http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drsquat3.htm I use them both..keeps things from getting boring. as for protein shakes...i started taking the Optimum Nutrition Casein shake before bed. we'll see how that goes.
What about the differences between protein drinks and bars? I notice on most of the drinks contain less calories and more protein. I have found a bar that I really like, it is Balance Gold. It has 13 grams of protein per serving which isn't too bad for most of the bars I have seen and it is 210 calories which is not too much more than most of the drinks I have seen. What are the ups and downs of both?
so whats the best protein to take if you're not looking to gain a lot of weight, but just for something that will feed your muscles after a workout and help you get cut?
I am wanting to build some lean muscle and tone up for spring break. Have you heard of this HGH stuff? I heard it is kinda shady? Is it legal or not?
They sale these at sams but they're kinda pricey...i think around $19 for 15 or so...they taste great but i go through them too quick. Premier Protein Bar With 30 grams of high quality protein, the Premier Protein Bar has what it takes to be the most convenient meal replacement on the shelves. http://www.premiernutrition.com/products/protein.html hmmm HGH...probably ask Clemens that one. Muscle milk light is low in cals but it's pricey.
How many of those bars would you in in a day? What I am trying to do is eat small meals and have the bar or shake act as a meal replacement. Are bars more filling or are shakes?
I go would go through 3 bars a day and that got too expensive. I treated them as snacks and not meal replacements because i'm at the gainer stage. i never truly realized how much of the right kinda food you do have to eat to build muscle. Just personal opinion but i think the shakes are more filling.
So what do the shakes taste like. I've always been hesitant because I have tried multiple bar but it took a while before I found one that was good tasting. When you make the shakes do you mix them with water or milk?
13grams in a bar is nothing! in fact the pure protein bars at walmart is has 190cals/20g protein. that being said, bars have a lot of junk in them. just excess carbs and sugars u don't need, but they need to put in to make it taste decent. bars are processed, most filled with hydrolyzed collagen, polydextrose, are high in fat etc. wouldnt take a bar as my main supplement of protein. especially not after a workout. optimum whey: 240 cals = 48g of protein. Optimum 100% Whey http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/whey.html 5 Lbs. Double Rich Chocolate Serving Size1Scoop(30.4g) Servings Per Container77 Calories 120 Total Fat 1g Cholesterol 30mg Total Carbohydrate 3g Sugars 1g Protein 24g Champion Pure Whey is also a great choice. http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/cn/whey.html 5 Lbs. Chocolate Serving Size1Scoop(32g) Servings Per Container71 Calories 130 Total Fat 2g Cholesterol 35mg Total Carbohydrate 4g Sugars 2g Protein 23g
That's the thing though, do the shakes taste good? I'm eating more fish now to because it is loaded with protein.
