Protein...in the morning?

brianon

Hi Guys,

I just have a quick couple a questions

I just started taking Maximuscle Protein Extreme. It recommends 3 scoops a day (with 1 before w/o and 1 after).

My questions are...
a) should I take 3 scoops a day even when I don't train ?
b) should I take the first scoop first thing in the morning even though I would be doing NO training until about 7pm (at the earliest) at least on workdays.
c) should I take any of this stuff on days when I just do cardio? I would be doing cardio 3 nights a week and weights 3 nights a week. 1 day rest.

My worry is that I am taking too much protein in the morning and it is just sitting there !? Or is that a stupid worry?

Cheers.

Degsy

What are your goals?

oh yeah..and lose the Maximuscle..overpriced rubbish.

brianon

Goals: Lose fat. Gain some muscle. Get fit. Be healthy.

I have changed my diet to cut out 90% of coke, crisps, chips, crap bread etc...

Maximuscle. Well I just bought it so I will continue until its finished. What would you recommend.

Money Shot

I wouldn't worry about what it recommends you take on the tub. That could be based on an athlete, bodybuilder, who knows - it's in their interest if you take more.

It might be a better idea to see how much protein you are eating from wholefoods, and see how much you need. You may not even need to take protein 'supplements'. If you have a deficit, and you can't fill it with whole food, then use the supplements. You would want to be training very seriously imo to be downing three protein shakes a day.

Personally, I think that most people who go to the gym to keep in shape and have moderate goals, don't really need protein 'supplements'. I think everyone on this site is downing protein shakes to beat the band, whether they need them or not. Assess your protein intake, and try and get your protein needs from whole foods if possible.

brianon

Thanks guys. I think I will cut back a bit. Maybe one a day (at training time) until the tub is gone and see how it goes.

Again. Thanks.

davyjose

brianon wrote:

Thanks guys. I think I will cut back a bit. Maybe one a day (at training time) until the tub is gone and see how it goes.

Again. Thanks.

Your missing the point I believe, Brianon. You are arbitrarily cutting down, in just the same way that you were arbitrarily taking 3 shakes a day.
If you want to put on muscle, you need to take a certain amount of protein each day ~1.5g/kilo of bodyweight. Try to get this from food, but if you can't, make up for it using supplements.

brianon

Cheers. "you need to take a certain amount of protein each day ~1.5g/kilo of bodyweight"...do you mean I need 1.5g protein per kg of bodyweight ?

Thats ould be 150g of protein a day at the moment. Where does the 1.5g/kg come from ?

Hanley

Money Shot wrote:

It might be a better idea to see how much protein you are eating from wholefoods, and see how much you need. You may not even need to take protein 'supplements'. If you have a deficit, and you can't fill it with whole food, then use the supplements. You would want to be training very seriously imo to be downing three protein shakes a day.
.

To be honest, that's probably the best advice you're gonna get in the thread.

I know from personal exp that people see guys drinking shakes and immediately assoicate the shake with getting big. The shake is really only 10% of the equation. It doesn't CAUSE the biggness per se, but it does help to support it.

The keys to getting big (imo):
-Train your arse off in the gym
-eat about 18 kcals per lb of bodyweight
-make sure you're getting at least 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight, 1.5's what i shoot for.
-Get at least 8 hours of sleep a night
-Have patience

It's not gonna happen over night bro. Just make it part of your life and the results will come. Just don't make the mistake I see alot of people making here and think your diet's the absolute key. It's important, but if you're not working hard in the gym (and I mean truly HARD) then you're just wasting your time.

As an alternative to maximuscle btw; http://pronutrition.ie/products.php?action=product&id=6
http://pronutrition.ie/products.php?action=product&id=5

brianon

Much appreciated guys.

-eat about 1.8 kcals per lb of bodyweight
so that would be 3780calories ! phew. thats a lot.
-make sure you're getting at least 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight, 1.5's what i shoot for.
that would be 210g/315g. Will have to tot up what protein I am getting from food and then see how to make up the diff.

What should my fat intake be ? I reckon I am 210lbs right now.

t-ha

Hanley wrote:

eat about 1.8 kcals per lb of bodyweight

I presume that's 18kcals per lb of bodyweight.

Brian I'd take a bit of time to read through the nutrition stickies - it sounds like you're pretty new to this diet stuff so they should be a good bit of help to you.

Other than that, see ^^^.

Edit: what's your bodyfat like? If you're carrying alot then working out your calories & protein requirements based on bodyweight alone can be innaccurate. There is a calculator kicking around for working this stuff out so I'll try and find it.

Edit again: Bleugh can't find the thread. PM me your e-mail addy and I'll send it to you if you want.

Hanley

Ooops... you're on the ball T-ha. Shoulda been 18 alright.

Brianon, the 18kcal/lb and 1.5g of protein/lb are at the opposite end of the spectrum, just wanted you to see how much food you need to be taking in when you're on a serious quest to gain muscle.

You're what, 210lb? You'd probably get away with about 3,200kcal per day and 250g of protein, with maybe 120g fat, and 280g carbs.

Don't expect to see a radical drop in fat, but what will probably happen is that you'll put on muscle so "relatively" you'll be carrying a smaller percentage of bodyfat.

I think that for most guys, instead of worrying about dropping some fat if they concerned themselves with adding some muscle (and I'm not talking Pro bodybuilder muscle) they'd look much better.

brianthebard

Regards the training in the evening thing, if you train at 7, finish at 8ish, your body will still benefit from the protein shake first thing in the morning as it will still be recovering from the evening before. (afaik at least, I'm sure someone else will say yea or nay.)

Hanley

brianthebard wrote:

Regards the training in the evening thing, if you train at 7, finish at 8ish, your body will still benefit from the protein shake first thing in the morning as it will still be recovering from the evening before. (afaik at least, I'm sure someone else will say yea or nay.)

I agree, to an extent.

The fact you're coming out of like an 8 hour fast basically means your body's gonna need protein and carbs to kick start you metabolism and stop any over night catabolism that may occur.

Degsy

brianthebard wrote:

Regards the training in the evening thing, if you train at 7, finish at 8ish, your body will still benefit from the protein shake first thing in the morning as it will still be recovering from the evening before. (afaik at least, I'm sure someone else will say yea or nay.)

I'd say yea..you're body is still working t o repair from the previous night's workout and would be craving protein after your night's sleep.I allways take a shake or aminos in the morning,or in the midddle of the night if you want to be hardcore!

brianthebard

Degsy wrote:

I'd say yea..you're body is still working t o repair from the previous night's workout and would be craving protein after your night's sleep.I allways take a shake or aminos in the morning,or in the midddle of the night if you want to be hardcore!

Hardcore, yeah!

brianon

So assuming I have a protein deficit I want to make up. When would be the optimal time to take it? Morning as you've discussed or before/after a workout ?

What so you guys think ?

Hanley

brianon wrote:

So assuming I have a protein deficit I want to make up. When would be the optimal time to take it? Morning as you've discussed or before/after a workout ?

What so you guys think ?

Just get some protein in with breakfast. I usually have a chicken breast after my special K (how that's hor hardcore?? )

Degsy

Steak and eggs ftw!(not when i'm in a hurry though)!

Dragan

brianon wrote:

So assuming I have a protein deficit I want to make up. When would be the optimal time to take it? Morning as you've discussed or before/after a workout ?

What so you guys think ?

You want to take in a steady stream of protein and other nutrients over the course of the day. This way, you have a consistant stream of amino acids coming into the body and that is sparing muscle and helping it to recover from workouts.

Take your required protein and break it out over 5 to 6 meals a day, then eat accordingly. If it suits you to have a skake with your breakfast then do so, or you can have eggs or chicken and save the shake for later on in the day, when eating wholefood may be a bit more awkward.

brianthebard

brianon wrote:

So assuming I have a protein deficit I want to make up. When would be the optimal time to take it? Morning as you've discussed or before/after a workout ?

What so you guys think ?

Spread it throughout the day?

Diamondmaker

davyjose wrote:

If you want to put on muscle, you need to take a certain amount of protein each day ~1.5g/kilo of bodyweight. Try to get this from food, but if you can't, make up for it using supplements.

Is it not as below 1.5g / lb?