Based upon our research, tests, tasting and reviews, combined with customer feedback and industry knowledge regarding sales volumes, here is a list of our opinion of the best protein shakes available in the UK in 2011:

1. AST VP2 – 100% whey isolate, mixes easily, tastes great, over 90% protein, zero lactose and used daily by several of the staff at Promart Supplements. Unbiased university double blind studies undertaken in the USA show that supplementing with VP2, compared to a standard protein shake results in significant additional increases in muscle mass and strength compared to a standard protein shake. I agree with the findings.
2. Allmax Isoflex – a blend of whey isolate and hydrolysed whey isolate make this protein powder our most successful new product of 2011. It tastes great, is very high in BCAAs, lactose free, mixes easily and is a real contender for the top spot.
3. CNP Pro Peptide – By now I’m presuming everyone knows the benefits of Pro Peptide, but for people who don’t, Pro-Peptide is a fast and slow digesting blend of micellar casein, whey concentrate, egg albumen, etc. which means that it helps your body maintain a positive nitrogen balance, meaning that your body stays in an anabolic muscle building state for much longer between meals, compared with standard whey protein. Pro peptide is therefore a great protein shake to drink before bed and also between meals.
4. USN Pure Protein IGF-1 – An extremely popular premium protein blend manufactured by USN, originally from South Africa. Pure Protein IGF-1 consists of a precise mixture of whey protein isolate, whey protein concentrate, calcium caseinate, egg albumen and soy protein isolate supplying your muscles with everything they need for growth. Pure protein tastes great and mixes well
5. Massive Nutrition Colossal Whey – This is another new product, from a new manufacturer, which offers a lower priced whey protein concentrate / isolate blend at low cost. Colossal Whey is low in carbs and fats, mixes really easily and tastes very nice. This product is formulated for maximum bio-availability and ease of digestion and has received some very good feedback from our customers.

We only stock the best brands of supplements in the world, which is why all of the top 5 protein shakes above are available from our store with free next day delivery.

ON 100% Whey doesn’t make the top 5 list because despite it being a good protein powder, it is over priced, with better products costing less. You should know that a lot of the big companies around the world who supply supplements have affiliations with the brands they promote as being the best, where they either own the brands or get discounted wholesale prices on them for promoting them. For example, Monster Supplements own PhD, who win all of their supplements awards. Anyway, the point we are trying to make is that our top 5 list above is based on our own opinions only and is there to help our customers make the right choice.

Regards,

Brian, Promart Supplements

USN Pure Protein IGF-1 Overview

USN Pure Protein IGF-1 is a precise blend of:

1. whey protein isolate
2. concentrate
3. calcium caseinate
4. egg albumen
5. soy protein isolate

Vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fats are also included in each serving. Pure Protein IGF-1 is virtually carbohydrate free, which is ideal for those that prefer to obtain carbohydrates from food sources, or to keep carbs to a minimum whilst on a cutting phase for a contest.

Each serving of USN Pure Protein IGF-1 provides:

Each 2 scoop serving of Pure Protein also provides approximately 50% of your RDA of Vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C, D, E, Niacin, Folic Acid, Pantothenic Acid and Biotin.

Benefits of USN Pure Protein IGF-1

USN Pure Protein IGF-1 Review

USN Pure Protein IGF-1 is the perfect protein supplement for keeping your body in an anabolic environment. The protein blend found in Pure Protein meets your body’s immediate requirements, intermediate requirements and prolonged requirements with Pure Protein’s fast and slow digesting, sustained protein release mechanism.

Pure Protein IGF-1 also contains ZYMATECH Multiple Enayme Technology (incl. Lactase Enaymes & Fibre) for optimal protein digestion & amino acid uptake, enabling your muscles to use the nutrients optimally for growth.

Pure Protein IGF-1 is fortified with L-glutamine for nitrogen transport & muscle recovery. Pure Protein is extremely low in Carbs & contains a complete vitamin & mineral blend.

Taste: Very good taste and texture, available in Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla flavours.
Cost: Prices vary, but at the time of writing this article, our prices, including delivery are £22.99 and £36.74 for 1Kg, 2.28Kg respectively. Other reputable sites may charge £1-3 less, but at checkout add £5.99 for delivery.
Quality: Pure Protein IGF-1 is a premium quality protein supplement, up there with the likes of BSN Syntha-6 and CNP Pro-Peptide.
Digestibility: No issues reported.

USN Pure Protein IGF-1 Recommended Usage

Add two heaped Pure Protein IGF-1 scoops to 300 – 350ml of cold water in a hand held shaker and shake for 30 seconds. Allow to settle for around 45 seconds before drinking. Have 2-3 Pure Protein IGF-1 servings daily. Pure Protein IGF-1 servings may be halved. TIP: Use a measuring jug and a hand held blender available from the supermarkets, it is much more convenient.

USN Pure Protein IGF-1 – Other Ingredients

Whey protein isolate & concentrate blend, Calcium caseinate, High isoflavone soy protein isolate, Cocoa powder (only in Chocolate and Cappuccino versions), Fructose, MCT (Medium Chain Triglyceride) oil, Stabiliser: cellulose gum, Calcium (from milk source), Egg albumen, Rice starch, Colourant: E124, Red beet powder, (only in Strawberry version) & E133, E104 (only in Pistachio version), Flavourant, Phosphorous (from milk source), Ascorbic acid, Zymatech enzyme blend (mainly Lactase), Non-nutritive sweetener: Sucralose, Niacin, D-Alpha-tocoferol acetate, D-calcium-pantothenate, Pyridoxine-5-phosphate, Riboflavin, Thiamine mononitrate, Retinol, Folic acid, Biotin, Cholecalciferol, Cyanocobalamin.

Conclusion

USN Pure Protein IGF-1 is an excellent source of protein for both men and women who require additional protein in their diets, without adding many calories. This product is therefore perfect for sports men and women who want to improve their physical abilities, or for people trying to lose weight, whilst retaining and improving muscle tone. Further, Pure Protein IGF-1 is extremely popular in extreme sports such as bodybuilding and powerlifting, with hardcore athletes using this product to meet their very high daily protein requirements.

Our CNP Pro Peptide Review may also be of interest.

Regards,

Promart Supplements

Okay, so you are getting into bodybuilding and want to gain as much muscle as you can, as quick as possible, right? That means that you need to eat 6 or more high protein meals per day, which is a big task for anyone. You can use meal replacement powders such as CNP Pro MR, Nutrabolics Fighters Food, or Dymatize Elite for up to three of your daily meals, but what about the rest?

Nutritional Requirements For Muscular Growth

First of all, you should work out your daily nutritional requirements, using our macronutrient calculator. If you eat six meals per day, divide the totals by six and you have your nutritional requirements per meal. Assuming you use three meal replacements per day, then for your other three meals, you could easily reach your requirements by topping up your protein consumption by supplementing these meals with a whey protein shake.

Bodybuilders’ Typical Daily Diet Using Protein Supplements

If you use lots of protein supplements, your diet would look like this:

• 7am: Porridge + Whey Protein Shake
• 9:30am: Meal Replacement, banana, apple
• 12pm: Salad Sandwich in Wholemeal Bread + Whey Protein Shake
• 2:30pm: Meal Replacement, banana
• 5:30pm: Evening Meal + Whey Protein Shake
• 8pm: Meal Replacement + Wholemeal Toast with Peanut Butter

Bodybuilders’ Typical Daily Diet Without Supplements

If you don’t want to use supplements, then here are some easy meal options which are high protein and suitable for bodybuilding:

• 7am:
  • Boiled or Scrambled Eggs on Wholemeal Toast¹
  • Porridge + Semi Skimmed Milk
• 9:30am: Packet of Noodles, 600ml of semi skimmed milk
• 12pm:
  • Tuna, Chicken, Turkey, Beef, Extra Lean Corned Beef or Ham salad sandwich in wholemeal bread
  • Jacket Potato with Cheese & Beans, Cottage Cheese or Tuna
• 2:30pm: Same as 12pm
• 5:30pm: Evening Meal²
• 8pm: 600ml of semi skimmed milk + wholemeal toast with peanut butter³

Notes:
¹ Egg yolks and egg whites contain similar amounts of protein, but the yolks contain most of the fat, with the whites being virtually fat free. Depending upon your nutritional requirements, you could therefore either have 8 egg whites, 4 whole eggs or a combination. By the way, cooked eggs are nearly twice as absorbable as raw eggs, so make sure you cook them for best results and also to avoid salmonella. Similar to the eggs, consume as much or as little toast as required to meet your nutritional requirements.
² Your evening meal should contain a good source of protein, such as fish, poultry, lean meat, etc. If it doesn’t, then drink 600ml of semi skimmed milk with your meal (roughly 1 pint), for an additional 20g of protein.
³ milk contains micellar casein which is a slow digesting protein and combining this with low GI slow digesting food like peanut butter on toast helps keep your muscles fed with amino acids for longer dduring the night, avoiding muscle loss while you sleep.

Normal Food vs Protein Supplements – Conclusion

To meet your nutritional requirements supplements aren’t required. Regular food provides everything you need. However, your diet will include less protein, but much more sugars and fats, compared with a diet that includes protein supplements. For example, a pint of milk provides roughly 270 calories, 19g of protein, 28g of sugar and 9g of fat. Comparing that to 1 scoop of whey protein in 200ml of water, which provides 100 calories, 23g protein, 2g sugar and 0g fat, you can immediately see the difference. The main effects upon your progression as a bodybuilder if you don’t use protein supplements are as follows:

1. Less anabolic environment for gaining muscle, due to lesser, lower quality protein intake, so results will be slower and limited
2. More likely to hold body fat, unless additional cardio is performed, 3-4 days per week

My Advice

My advice… at least get some whey protein, it works out at around £0.35 per serving, so is cheaper than any regular food per gram of protein, whilst being made from milk. If you don’t like the idea of using supplements, then don’t worry about whey protein, it is basically skimmed milk, but without the sugar or micellar casein (other form of protein in milk).

Regards,

Martin, Promart Supplements

Protein supplements are expensive to buy for most people, so it makes sense for people to use them optimally and efficiently, so here are some tips:

1. Consume at least 1g of protein per pound of body weight per day, split evenly over 6 meals, spread out evenly during the day
2. Eat a high protein diet, including milk, fish, eggs, poultry, lean meat, etc.
3. When meals contain hardly any protein, supplement with a high quality fast and slow releasing protein supplement, such as CNP Pro Peptide
4. When meals contain some protein, but not enough, top them up with protein shakes, typically a whey protein concentrate powder, as it is cheapest and provides good results.
5. Always consume a post workout shake, such as CNP Pro Recover, which is a high GI, protein powder, which can be digested super quickly, due to it’s pre-digested form as a whey hydrolysate. A cheaper alternative, which also works well is a pint of skimmed milk which provides 19g of protein, 25g sugars and virtually zero fat, making it a good second choice.
6. Remember that a bodybuilding diets’ main objective is to keep the body in an anabolic state to allow more muscle to be gained, without consuming so many calories that you also get fat, i.e. ‘Stay Hungry’. As long as your diet is varied and includes plenty of fruit, veg and animal protein and you also achieve a calorific surplus and consume adequate protein throughout the day, then in combination with a high intensity progressive training programme utilising multiple joint compound movements, you are going to get bigger and stronger quickly and progressively.
7. Avoid consuming more than 35-50g of protein per meal, i.e. more for bigger individuals, less for smaller. Anything over and above your body’s ability for digestion will be used as energy, stored as body fat, or excreted, which is a waste of money.

Top 50 Bodybuilding Tips

Below is a list of the Top 50 Bodybuilding Tips, covering training, lifestyle, diet and supplementation for bodybuilders. Applying these tips to your bodybuilding programme will improve your results significantly.

Training Tips For Bodybuilding

1. Do not spend more than 60 minutes in the gym, or your body will start releasing a stress related hormone called cortisol, which is associated with muscle loss. The 60 minute rule applies to any high intensity exercise.
2. Remember that bodybuilding is an art and requires serious concentration to achieve a proper mind muscle link. The mind-muscle link is important for recruiting muscle fibers when lifting heavy weights. Over time, with practice, you should be able to recruit more muscle fibers from each muscle, allowing you to lift more weight on each exercise. There are lots of ways of improving the mind muscle link, but the most memorable is the quote by Arnold Schwarzenegger in Pumping Iron.
3. To continually build more muscle, you need to keep increasing the intensity of your training. It is therefore essential to your progress as a bodybuilder that you achieve maximum intensity in each and every work set at the gym. I personally recommend the views of Dr Darden (Massive Muscles in 10 Weeks, HIT, etc.), Stuart McRobert (Braun series of books) and Dorian Yates (Blood N Guts book).


Lift Free Weights, including Presses, Rows, Squats and Deadlifts

4. Use an ever increasing training intensity, suited to yourself. For someone who hasn’t been to the gym in the last few months, just going is ‘high intensity’. After a month or two, supersets are worthwhile. After supersetting for a couple of months, include drop sets, pre-exhaustions, timed sets, post-exhaustions, super slow sets and everything you can imagine on every work set. Training to a higher intensity than your body is used to signals your body to grow more muscle. Training to too high an intensity too quickly can leave you overtrained, which makes you feel like you have flu and is awful.
5. Every 3-4 weeks, perform a testosterone boosting workout, followed by 3 days rest for maximum results. By this, I mean go to the gym and do 10 sets of super slow full squats, starting with a weight that allows 12 slow, controlled reps for your first set and adding weight each set until you can only manage 2-3 reps on your 6th or 7th set. Then, reduce weight and increase reps again up until your 10th and final set. Take a 90 second rest between sets and complete the workout within 20-30 minutes.
6. Finish each workout with a fast set of 100 light, fast, controlled reps on a body part worked in your previous workout, i.e. if you trained your back Monday, then on Wednesday you train your legs, then end your leg workout with a set of 100 light pulldowns, aiming for a maximum muscular burn. Not only does this send blood to your recovering muscles, but it gives your body a GH (Growth Hormone) boost, which helps muscle growth and fat loss.
7. Go heavy. Heavy weights lifted with correct form are key to overloading the muscles, leading to hypertrophy.
8. Use a smooth, slow rep cadence. This helps avoid injury and makes your target muscles do the work, rather than momentum and avoids sticking points on exercises leading to plateaus in progress.
9. Emphasize the negative part of your reps for maximum muscle gains. 1 rep super slow sets, such as a 1 minute-rep on the pullups, i.e. 20 seconds in positive phase and 40 seconds in negative phase, really work the muscles and give big results.
10. Build your training routines around the big multiple joint movements, such as squats, deadlifts, weighted pullups, weighted dips, rows and presses. Increase your reps and weights on these exercises and you are guaranteed to see muscle gains. Don’t worry about isolation exercises until you are 6 months away from competition. I’m not saying don’t do isolation exercises, I am saying that if you do isolation exercises, do them at the end of your workouts, keeping them under 60 minutes and don’t do more than 2-3 sets.
11. A true high intensity workout should involve no more than 12-18 actual work sets. If you can do more than this, then you aren’t trying hard enough. Each work set should leave you out of breath, sweating, maybe a little light headed due to blood flow to muscles, etc. and 12-18 sets will leave you feeling very tired.


Full range squats and deadlifts with good form are the biggest overall muscle building exercises. Get stronger on these exercises and overall strength and muscle mass will increase significantly.

12. For some reason, many people avoid training their legs, despite them being the biggest muscle in your body and having a big effect on overall progress. If your legs are lagging behind and you struggle to achieve high intensity on the legs, then start your next three workouts with this superset:
    1. leg press (10-12 reps to complete failure); immediately followed by
    2. leg extensions (9-10 reps to absolute failure will hurt badly); immediately followed by
    3. full squats (8-10 reps to absolute failure)

    Gains of 1 inch on the quads in one week are possible.

13. Warm up for each work set by performing 1-3 sets with 20%, 40% and 60% of your work set weight. Do not reduce your work set ability, but feel the movement and prepare yourself mentally for the work set.
14. Use a full range of movement for each and every exercise, without stressing your joints. Follow this principle 95% of the time, other than for forced reps at the end of a set.
15. Use partial reps occasionally, to allow your body to feel a heavier weight for maximum overload, or to achieve more reps on the same weight, for bigger muscle pumps
16. Perform light cardio sessions first thing on a morning before breakfast for maximum fat burning. Your hormone levels on a morning place your body in the perfect environment for fat loss and seeing as your glycogen levels will be depleted from not eating since the night before, the only energy source that can be used is (mainly) body fat. This will make you feel sluggish, but it really works. Keep the cardio low intensity, to avoid stressing your body, which would result in catabolism.
17. As a 2nd best alternative to early morning runs for fat loss, follow up your weights sessions (40 minutes) with a 20 minute cardio session. Again, glycogen levels will be depleted from your weights session and body fat will provide the main energy source for light cardiovascular exercise at this point.
18. Never miss a training session, no matter what the reason. As soon as you miss one session, the rot can set in and before you know it, you no longer go to the gym. In advance, check with your gym for closing times over bank holidays, Xmas and Easter, as you may need to find another gym for those periods.
19. Try and find a training partner, or better still, two training partners. It is not a social gathering though, you know that of course, but what about your training partners? Make sure they are as dedicated as you are. Incline dumbbell press drop sets are much better with two spotters. Also, seated dumbbell lateral raises, with your training partner pushing your elbows down on the negative phase are not possible on your own. This is a very good exercise!
20. Finish your routines with 3 sets of perfect form standing barbell curls, alternating between you and your training partner repping to failure. Start with a weight that allows 12-15 reps. Reps will reduce quickly and therefore rest reduces and you get a real burn and a massive pump in the biceps. Just make sure you don’t overtrain the biceps.
21. Don’t use weight gloves, use chalk. Weight gloves do protect your palms from blistering, but they make your grip less effective on heavy pulls, such as deadlifts. With chalk, your grip on the deadlifts should improve enough for you to increase the weight by at least 25%, without straps, as long as your back is strong enough.
22. The only exercise where partial reps are okay all the time is deadlifts. The bottom 10% of normal deadlifts for some individuals can be impossible without rounding the lower back. Use a power rack, or similar and put the bar on the lowest setting, so that you are pulling from your lower shins, rather than from the floor.
23. Keep your toes in line with your knees on the squats and leg press, or risk injuries.
24. Think of any big compound exercises you hate doing and are relatively weak at and start your next 10 workouts with 1 work set of that exercise, until it becomes one of your favoured exercises. Wide grip pullups, deadlifts and most back exercises are common for people to avoid. This is probably because a lot of gym goers are extremely vain and prefer to train their front, rather than their back, as they can see it in the mirror. Not you though, of course!

Lifestyle Tips for Bodybuilding

25. Keep motivated and track progress monthly with realistic goals and photos.


Sleep well, be happy, avoid stress and alcohol and your bodybuilding progress will be optimised

26. Avoid stressful situations, as stress related hormones are associated with a loss in muscle mass.
27. Ensure you get sufficient rest, by doing as little as possible during the day when you are out of the gym
28. Sleep 8 hours every night at the same times. People often say its what you do when you are out of the gym that makes you ‘big’. Eating a good high protein diet, drinking lots of water and getting plenty of sleep is what they mean. It is hard to follow a good diet, but it becomes routine after a few weeks and gets easier.
29. Obvious one here… don’t drink alcohol. If you must, then drink lots of water before during and after your night out, to avoid dehydration. Guinness is high in iron, so would be a better choice than vodka and red bull, etc. Gin & Tonic aint a bad choice either. If you are going to have a takeaway, then a chicken kebab with chilli sauce is better than a burger, etc. Don’t make habit of it though, or you will add a bit of flab to your muscles, making you just look big and round.

Diet Tips for Bodybuilding

30. Spread your daily calories out evenly over at least 6 meals per day, so that you ‘stay hungry’. This will help regulate your insulin levels and optimise and maximise nutrient absorption.


Tuna is a great source of protein, but limit yourself to 2-3 tins per week, or the high levels of mercury in tuna can be poisonous!

31. Ensure that each of your 6+ meals per day contain the same amount of protein, to reach your daily protein requirements. Too little protein per meal and your body may become catabolic, too much and it may de-sensitise your body to protein, as well as either being excreted as waste, or used as energy through a process called gluconeogenesis. Using protein shakes, protein powder or other protein supplements makes this task much easier.
32. Drink 3-4 cups of green tea per day for it’s anti-oxidant qualities as well as naturally burning an extra 100 calories per day.
33. Try this breakfast shake:
    1. 500ml water
    2. 1 banana
    3. sprinkle of sunflower seeds and pine seeds
    4. 1 cup of fine milled plain oats
    5. 1 scoop of whey protein

    Blend and drink quickly, before the oats settle. You may have to stir between sips, but it is the quickest way of consuming 100g of oats by far.

34. Consume enough protein per day to keep your body in an anabolic muscle building state. You can use a macronutrient calculator to work out your daily protein requirements.
35. Don’t eat more than 3-4 tins of tuna per week. Tuna is very high in mercury, which is toxic in sustained high doses and can seriously and permanently affect your health.
36. Fruit is good for you and your bodybuilding diet. However, due to the sugars in fruit, it is best to consume small servings of fruit, spread out throughout the day. Also, it is better to consume fruit before your meals, as it digests much quicker than regular food and would give you gas if eaten after a large meal.
37. Low fat cheddar cheese is low calorie and 30g of protein per 100g. Not bad on wholemeal toast!

Supplements Tips for Bodybuilding

38. Don’t buy your bodybuilding supplements from the supermarkets, they sting you with much higher prices, than online supplements stores.
39. For convenience, if you don’t have a post workout shake available, drink a pint of skimmed milk, as it is high sugar, high protein and low fat, making it ideal for this purpose.


Protein shakes, such as Cytosport Muscle Milk really taste great and can be enjoyed in many flavours

40. Use a hand held blender (available from most supermarkets for under £10) to mix your protein shakes in a measuring jug. All you do is dip the hand held blender in the top of the jug, blend for 15-20 seconds and your shake is ready. Swill the blender under the tap and it is ready for your next protein shake. Much less faffing about and washing up than using a proper blender!
41. Drink 8-10 glasses of water per day, to keep your body well hydrated. Dehydration can drastically affect physical performance, which means that your training sessions will be less intense.
42. Help your body avoid overtraining by eating a good diet, high in fruit and vegetables, wholegrains, rice, lean meats, fish and poultry.
43. Avoid sugary foods at all times except for before, during and after training, when glycogen levels are depleted, to avoid the accumulation of body fat. Your liver can only hold about 150g-200g of glycogen and any more will be excreted and/or stored as body fat. Also, sugary foods play havoc with your insulin levels, which in turn results in hunger pangs and a downward spiral with your diet.
44. Do not listen to all the sales hype on the internet about ‘supplements awards’, etc. 9 times out of 10, the company or magazine promoting a particular product or brand of supplements, usually owns the brand as well and the awards are more about self promotion.
45. Always consume a sugary high protein post-workout shake immediately after training, to restore glycogen levels and restore a positive nitrogen balance in the body to allow muscle gain, rather than muscle loss.
46. Use protein supplements, to achieve a high protein diet that is low in fat.
47. Use protein bars and high protein flapjacks for convenience, rather than missing meals when on the go
48. Use creatine supplements to increase reps and strength, resulting in higher intensity training, leading to hypertrophy of the muscles. You will gain weight whilst using creatine, mainly due to the increased hydration of the muscles. It is up to you to make sure you build muscle whilst using creatine, so that when you stop using it and normal hydration levels return, the net result is a quicker increase in muscle mass than could have been achieved without creatine.
49. Use multivitamin and mineral supplements to boost micronutrient intake throughout the day. Benefits include better protein absorption, transport and synthesis, as well as many other benefits.
50. Use nitric oxide supplements, such as Gaspari Superpump to increase strength during your training sessions and to achieve a bigger pump, allowing better nutrient transport in the muscles. Be warned that using nitric oxide supplements can lead to diarrhoea if you already consume excessive amounts of arginine from your protein shakes – the tolerable amount varies widely person to person.

Remember, it is a lot harder to build a world class physique than it is to lose it. That is good news though because that’s what sets you apart from the crowd. Only an elite group of individuals can become professional bodybuilders due to the level of determination required, as well as your genetic disposition.

This list is a ‘Work In Progress’, so any additional items, or improvements would be greatly appreciated. Please leave your comments and feedback below.

Regards,

Martin Procter
Promart Supplements

Protein Requirements For Bodybuilders, Sports People and Athletes

There is one thing that is certain when it comes to bodybuilding, or any other form of exercise: unless you consume enough protein, regularly enough throughout the day, then your progress will hit a plateau and your results will hit a brick wall. So the question is, “how much protein is required per day and how often is it required throughout the day?”

Well, it makes sense that as your muscles are mainly made up of protein and water, then the more muscle you gain, the more protein you need in your diet to retain it and build more muscle. 1.5g of protein per pound of bodyweight is therefore about right for a decent level bodybuilder, when between 3% and 10% body fat, in my opinion. However, for someone who has only been training a couple of weeks and is 30% body fat, then 1.5g of protein per pound of bodyweight would be excessive. To account for body fat and muscle development when working out your protein requirements, I would therefore use the following formula.

Protein Requirements Per Day

Protein per day = Z x (1.5W – 0.015FW), where:

• W is your weight in pounds (lbs);
• F is your approximate bodyfat percentage; and
• Z takes account of your current muscle development and is 0.8 for non-trained individuals, 0.9 for intermediate gym go’ers and 1.0 for advanced athletes and bodybuilders.

• Example 1: a bodybuilder weighing 200lbs with 7% body fat requires 1.0 x ((1.5 x 200) – (0.015 x 200 x 7)) = 300 – 21 = 279g of protein per day.
• Example 2: a new gym go’er weighing 200lbs with 25% body fat requires 0.8 x ((1.5 x 200) – (0.015 x 200 x 25)) = 0.8 x (300 – 75) = 180g of protein per day.

If you struggle to reach your daily protein requirements with normal food, then you could consider using whey protein shakes. They aren’t vital, but they make life much easier, as getting a carton out of the fridge, or blending some powder is a lot quicker and cheaper than cooking some chicken, eggs or other high protein food source.

Optimum Protein Consumption During The Day

Equally important to total protein consumption per day, is the regularity of protein consumption. Your body doesn’t store protein, it is either used as energy (through a process called gluconeogenesis) or it used for protein biosynthsis (which includes muscle building). It is therefore important that you consume as much protein per meal as will be used for muscle growth as possible, but not so much that it used as energy or worse still, stored as fat. The amount of protein that can be biosynthesised per meal will vary by individual, diet, lifestyle, age, exercise and many other factors, but 40g seems to be an upper limit every 2-3 hours.

I personally think that 20-25g every 2 hours is a better solution and is more in line with recent studies which say 9g of protein per hour is the maximum that the body can metabolise. Further, I think people could get much better results in the gym from consuming 8 smaller meals per day, so that their calories and protein are spread out more. Your body would use protein more efficiently for muscle building and you would probably be able to reduce the amount of protein you consume per day by regulating protein consumption in this way. Of course the supplements manufacturers wouldn’t want you to know this! See the Wikipedia whey protein article for more information.

Protein for Muscle Growth & Repair

Every athlete, bodybuilder and the majority of top flight competitive sports people use protein supplements to provide their body with the nutrients required for muscle growth and repair. Muscle is mainly protein, so obviously to build more muscle, you need to provide your body with the raw materials, i.e. protein.

Protein Supplements Benefits

To consume the amount of protein needed per meal, 6-8 times per day, 365 days per year is virtually impossible without using protein supplements. This is because your food bill would be sky high, your life would be spent in the kitchen cooking, eating & washing up and you would also consume way too many calories from eating so much high protein food, resulting in you getting fat. The perfect solution would be a high protein, low calorie food, that doesn’t require much preparation, is high quality and low cost, whilst being good for your health. This perfect solution is available in the form of protein supplements.

What are Protein Shakes and Protein Powders?

Protein Shakes Vs Protein Powder

Protein Shakes	Protein Powder

Protein Supplements come in many forms, but in this article I am only covering shakes and powders. Protein shakes come in ready to drink cartons, making them ultra convenient, whereas protein powders come in tubs and require blending in water. Both are usually made from milk, i.e. they are mostly made up of the protein from milk, but without the sugars or fats, making them low calorie. Protein supplements are easily digested by the body, making them the best source of protein for muscle growth available… above fish, poultry and beef! Further, protein supplements cost less per gram of protein than normal food sources, with protein powder cheaper than protein shakes. Protein powder can be as cheap as 1.7 pence per gram of protein. Protein shakes cost more as they come mixed in water, making them heavier, hence higher delivery costs.

Protein Shakes or Protein Powder

Both protein shakes and protein powder are as good as each other (if the same product, by the same manufacturer), but personally I prefer protein powder as it has a longer shelf life and costs less. Protein powder should form the base of your supplements programme, with protein shakes filling the gaps, where you need the extra convenience of just grabbing a chilled shake out of the fridge, or where you are away from home and don’t have blending facilities, although a protein shaker cup would allow you to mix your protein powder on the go!

Useful Links about Protein Shakes and Protein Powders

1. Benefits of protein shakes
2. Benefits of protein powder

Regards,

Promart Supplements

Protein supplements are the most important supplement for athletes, sports men and women and bodybuilders. Without them, let’s face it, you’re not going to consume 1.5g of protein per pound of bodyweight per day, no chance. Even if you did, you would have to eat so many eggs and so much meat, that your diet would contain massive amounts of cholesterol and so many calories that you would get fat. Not to mention that your food shopping bill would cost the earth and you would spend your life cooking, eating and washing up. So, if you are wondering how many competitive athletes, sports men and women and bodybuilders use protein supplements, the answer is ALL OF THEM!

Protein Supplements Requirements

If you want to consistently and progressively improve your physique, you will need 1-2 good protein supplements as well. My advice would be to have a whey protein shake with every meal lacking in protein (usally all meals except your evening meal), have a micellar casein protein supplement before bed (with 1-2 slices of wholemeal toast) and if you only eat 3-4 times per day, increase this to 6 meals per day by using high protein meal replacement shakes.

Whey protein supplements are most easily digested, but don’t use more than 20g every 2-3 hours or the extra protein will be used as energy, or stored as fat. Micellar casein protein supplements digest slowly, ensuring a steady stream of nutrients are bing digested up to 7 hours into the night. Meal replacement powders can be used 2-3 times per day, between regular meals.

Protein Supplements ensure that instead of losing muscle, you just Gain Muscle

Your body needs protein every 2-3 hours, or it starts using it’s own stores, i.e. your muscles – this is called a negative nitrogen balance, when your body is in a muscle losing state. It is therefore essential that you consume your protein every 2-3 hours during the day, to keep your body in a positive nitrogen balance, where your body is in a muscle gaining state. It is then up to you to perform progressively higher intensity exercise, which will result in progressive muscle gains.

Ready to drink protein shakes allow you to stick to a high protein diet much more easily, as they taste great and can be a very quick way to get breakfast on a morning when you are in a rush, or late for work.

Regards,

Martin.

Whey Protein from EAS

Whey Protein

Whey protein is a collection of globular proteins derived from whey, a by-product of the cheese making process that contains all the soluble constituents of milk. Whey protein is widely recognised as being a high quality, easily digestable source of protein that supports lean muscle growth, fat loss and facilitates muscle recovery after high intensity anaerobic training.

It is absolutely essential to consume adequate amounts of high quality protein whilst training. If an individuals protein intake is too low and infrequent, then their metabolic rate is likely to drop, their strength will diminish and their ability to build muscle tissue will be hindered. In fact, their body will be in a negative nitrogen balance, meaning that they are in a ‘muscle losing state’.

Whey Protein is a fast releasing protein, so makes an ideal protein supplement to be taken with breakfast and before and after training, as well as with regular low protein meals.

CNP Pro Peptide

Protein Supplements

To keep someone weighing 200lbs in a postive nitrogen balance, so that they are in a ‘muscle building state’, their daily protein intake would need to be around 300g (ideally 40g of protein should be consumed every 2 hours throughout the day). To consume this quantity of protein from solid foods such as chicken, fish and milk is very time consuming, costly and not very practical for many people who have busy lives. An excellent solution to this problem is to add protein supplements to an existing well balanced diet. For example, if you are eating a chicken salad, then it is likely that sufficient protein is included within the meal. But, if you are eating pasta in a tomato sauce, then you should supplement such low protein meals with protein shakes. Reflex Instant Whey is an ideal example of a whey protein supplement. Instant Whey contains a high concentration of branched chained amino-acids and a digezyme enzyme system to ease protein digestion.

If you want better results and you have a bigger protein supplements budget, then you could try supplementing with Pro-Peptide from CNP Professional. Pro-Peptide is an advanced blend of bioactive fast and slow proteins. It contains whey protein high fraction concentrate and hydrolysed whey. This mixture of whey contains high levels of probiotic organisms that assist in protein metabolism leading to nitrogen retention and a healthy digestive system. For muscle building purposes, such high quality fast and slow releasing proteins keep you in a muscle building state much longer than regular whey protein supplements.

Its a fact - to develop your body to its full potential a diet rich in protein is critical!

Regards,

Gareth