Whey protein

Potential-Monke

Recently started (as in Thursday) a weight lifting workout, and i am going to stick with it, as unlike cardio exercise i'm enjoying this and it's not boring. I have a mate who has given me a proper regime, and i've started to take whey protein as recommended also: 1 before the workout, 1 after, and one each morning and night i'm not exercising.

I'm overweight, so i intend on this helping me lose weight, and get rid of my gut, and my diet is getting better but still not fantastic (have to really tried hard to start liking the majority of healthy foods which i dislike). Yesterday, i had some muscle pains which i expected. Today however, i'm nearly buckled over in pain. I worked on my triceps, chest and abs on Thursday, nothing too taxing, small weights with higher reps, and i'm expecting pain, but i didn't think it would be this bad.

My question is, and the internet has failed me here with conflicting "experts", but i believe that whey protein is designed to help repair the muscles. Can i have 1 or 2 more shakes a day if necessary? The one i have is "Hardcore Series Precision Engineered Whey Protein Advanced Pure Whey Protein". It's recommending 1 60ml scoop with 125ml water twice a day. Can i take more, or will it have a negative effect?

siochain

when you start a new exercise program we get sore for a few days after, second day after is usually the worst. Hot bath and stretching will help, more whey won't.

You mention you’re over weight, right now with your shakes your just adding more calories and at week 1 of a program I doubt you need any at all. If I were you I won't go near them until our diet is dialled in and your training consistently for several months.

Post up your weekly diet and training plan.

Chancer3001

1g per lb bodyweight is how much protein you need.

whey wont make you lose any weight.

Cleaning your diet and having a calorie deficit will.

Potential-Monke

Cheers for that. Unfortunately, it's hard for me to have an exact plan due to the hours i work and shift patterns, working on a 10 week recurring rota with the good possibility of it changing quite regularly, so it's a "can i do it today" attempt. The intention is to start off with 3 times a week/in 9 days and try and stick to it, working my chest, triceps and abs on the first day, biceps and back on the second day and legs on the third (my mate has the exact plan, i'm still getting used to the amount of different muscles i have!).

As for diet, it's nowhere near what is considered healthy as i dislike most healthy foods, but i am working on it. I've decided that it's at least:

- a bowl of porridge, glass of OJ and a shake every "morning" (my morning could be 3pm)
- Apple and Banana mid-morning
- Brown bread (McCambridge) and soup for lunch
- Chicken/Fish/Red meat with carrotts/turnip & god knows what to replace carbs for dinner
- Shake before bed

The only salad i can eat is onion and sweetcorn, and the only veg i eat is carrots, turnip, potatoes, beans, sometimes parsnips and cabbage only with bacon - all part due to what i'm used to, but some foods give me bad reflux.

Something to note though is that i could work 10 hours and not get a break, so that kinda screws me up a bit, and i can rarely predict this happening. Disaster to start something in, but i'm determined to do it as i'm 29 now, 5'6" and just shy of 15st. I have cut out fizzy drinks, crisps, chocolate et al and i won't go back on that as that's my main problem.

The only reason i'm even taking the whey is because i was told that the muscle pains can be completely off-putting without it (i'm useless against pain, something else i need to work on). I'm the kinda guy fitness and nutrition experts hate to see coming.

Chancer3001

whey doesnt stop pain unfortunately.

it does repair the muscles though. Needed if youre lifting heavy.

If your goal is to lose weight, you just need to up the exercise and cut out the crap.

The fact youve started is great. Really great.

but DONT make excuses. Youre already making excuses with work...

On the days you dont gym, go for a walk.

Mike87

Whey isnt going to help get rid of pain. Whey isnt going to help you lose bodyfat.

For the pain, (if its that bad) try paracetamol.
For the weight, clean up your diet.

Simple as that really.

mufcboy1999

The Pain you are feeling is delayed onset muscle syndrome (DOMS) which is a build up of Latic acid in the muscles which in turn is 100 per cent normal, don't worry about it.

If its too much for you try Introducing stretching into your routine before and after workouts it can help your latic acid threshold levels aswell as other benifits.

If your trying to lose weight and lifting weights make sure your rep range is high and also combine it with cardio, I know you said you don't want to do cardio but it's the best thing for weight loss and also like said to accompany this you'll have to be in a calorie deficit, It's straight foward.

On your diet try minimising the carbs for best results and increase your protein and fat intake but at the end of the day like said concentrate on being in a kcal deficit first and foremost.

karl83

Fair play on wanting to get in shape. It's not going to be easy but with hard work you'll get there. You might want to aim for 4-5 days a week in the gym and hit each body part twice to see results. Try get 10-15 mins of cardio in at a high intensity after your weights session, this will help burn body fat. There's no harm taking the whey but if you can just eat instead starting off would be better. Eat clean, cut out all salt and sugar. Grill or bake meat, (chicken, steak, fish) cut out all processed foods. Eat salads and green vegetables. Some brown rice or pasta if your low on energy, you'll need this for the gym anyway. Snack on nuts instead of fruit as fruit contains a lot of sugars too. Drink plenty of water 2-3 litres per day.
If you try this you'll see big results in a month, expect to drop a stone. It gets tougher after that though.
BSN Cellmass or Kinetica Recovery would help stop the soreness of your muscles if you want.
I work 55hr weeks and late nights too. Most gyms are open 6am-10pm so drag yourself outta bed and go. One last thing, if you really want to get results cut out booze for one month. You'll defiantly get there then.
Best of Luck.

Transform

foam roll

stretch

take fish oils

sort diet out (cut out the wheat and up the good fats)

use a proper program. If you cant do all of whats below then get started on that as it worries me when i hear beginners following a body part split program when they cant yet do press ups, squats, some KB swings, plank etc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kPACReAiXE

Chancer3001

doms aint caused by lactic acid mufc , just by the exercises.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_onset_muscle_soreness

mufcboy1999

For weight loss, Diet is far more than half the battle. I'd imagine 80/20 in terms of Diet/Exercise to lose 'weight' (shape and size for most people).

mufcboy1999 wrote: »

If your trying to lose weight and lifting weights make sure your rep range is high and also combine it with cardio, I know you said you don't want to do cardio but it's the best thing for weight loss and also like said to accompany this you'll have to be in a calorie deficit, It's straight foward.

While that doesn't mean that exercise is irrelevant, it means that the exercise that you do choose to do is important. I think that both of the above statements are contentious to the goal of the OP.

I'd advocate him learning the correct form for compound lifts and bodyweight exercises. Perform low rep, high weight exercise of the compounds (Ensure good form always!), and metcon/circuit style periops of bodyweight and ancillary exercises after these lifts.

What Transform said about "a plan" is really important too. Just because someone is in fantastic shape, doesn't mean that their 'plan' works for anyone else. In fact, it is probably fair to say that unless you are at a very similar level in terms of experience and training as that person, that the 'plan' won't suit your goals at all!

UnknownSpecies

First of all, you must clean up your diet. Don't let work be an excuse. You need to be prepared. This is how I prepare myself and ensure that I can't make excuses to eat unhealthily.

• Each week I buy 5-6 tins of tuna/mackerel and leave them in my fridge to be had when needed
• I go to my butchers and get 10 chicken breasts for €10 to do me a week
• Every 4-5 days I cook ~700g (cooked weight) of brown rice and I keep it in lunchboxes in my fridge mixed with peas and broccoli
• Each week I cook up a big batch of Meat Slop. Honestly, this stuff is amazing, I keep it in 7 lunchboxes in my fridge and take it to work or wherever I may be that I can't get a good dinner
• I calculate how much I need to eat each day and AFTER that's done I see if my protein intake requires whey supplementation (myfitnesspal app)

With these steps taken, I always have a lunchbox of food that I can take with me anywhere. It's nutritious and sometimes I don't even need to take whey to hit my 200g protein target for the day.

Another big factor is the workout you're doing. I'd advise a beginner's program that focuses on strength as a bodybuilder's split routine is often inefficient to a beginner. You need to develop a good overall strength and then once you are closer to your goal weight, start isolating body parts. Here's the program I'm currently doing, Starting Strength. My numbers are flying up on all lifts. I'm starting to slim down and I feel stronger everyday although I'm eating at a small enough deficit to remain the same weight. I'd advise you download the Starting Strength ebook or buy the actual book, it's an absolutely outstanding resource for learning proper barbell lift technique.

Good luck though, I'm still going strong and I know you can do the same. Getting the right frame of mind and a good start are key to this and you look to have the right attitude anyway.

Chancer3001

+1 for starting strength

UnknownSpecies

Chancer3001 wrote: »

+1 for starting strength

Great to see I'm not the only Irish person aware of the program :P I got all my info on it from US forums and reddit. What's been your own experience with it?

dorgasm

dorgasm wrote: »

Great to see I'm not the only Irish person aware of the program :P I got all my info on it from forums and reddit. What's been your own experience with it?

Starting Strength and it's cousin (Stronglifts 5x5) are both spoken about widely on here and in the fitness forums.

They're excellent all-body training regimes. Certainly a great place to start for a beginner too.

(On this note, it is definitely a good idea to have a couple of lessons on form when starting out. A lot easier to learn the lifts correctly than to fix the lifts when the lifter has formed a habit)

UnknownSpecies

Deleted User wrote: »

Starting Strength and it's cousin (Stronglifts 5x5) are both spoken about widely on here and in the fitness forums.

They're excellent all-body training regimes. Certainly a great place to start for a beginner too.

(On this note, it is definitely a good idea to have a couple of lessons on form when starting out. A lot easier to learn the lifts correctly than to fix the lifts when the lifter has formed a habit)

Ah good stuff, I never knew that at all. I'm lucky in that I would have done all the lifts before, I'm a new beginner after a long lay off. The only thing I'm having difficulty with is my power clean but I'm getting there. I'll be moving onto SL 5x5 after ~12 weeks starting strength, looks like a great program too.

scottie pippen

dorgasm wrote: »

• Each week I cook up a big batch of Meat Slop. Honestly, this stuff is amazing, I keep it in 7 lunchboxes in my fridge and take it to work or

.

have you ever frozen meat slop?
I'm into the idea of meat slop, but I usually aim to eat meat within 5 days of cooking it, so & days worth might be a bit much unless it can be frozen.

UnknownSpecies

scottie pippen wrote: »

have you ever frozen meat slop?
I'm into the idea of meat slop, but I usually aim to eat meat within 5 days of cooking it, so & days worth might be a bit much unless it can be frozen.

I've never frozen it so I can't comment. Usually I have it gone in 5-6 days. Might have 2 portions in one day and have one on the day I make it. It's never gone bad on me yet and I'm very relaxed when it comes to that sort of thing, gut of steel :P

scottie pippen

Cool man, Ill probably give it shot & freeze a batch or two and see how it tastes

UnknownSpecies

scottie pippen wrote: »

Cool man, Ill probably give it shot & freeze a batch or two and see how it tastes

I reckon it would be fine. I've frozen chilli con carne and shepherds pie before with no problems and they're pretty similar apart from the cabbage.

Chancer3001

my own experience of 5x5 was the easier 3x5

I got that mainly from Max OT.

I enjoyed it for a long time, but the more and more I learnt, the more I realised I was doing too many things that were a waste of time.

So now I focus on 6 "big lifts" and just do those. Havent quite got back up to my MAX OT numbers, but Im doing 1x8 now and 2x9(-10%).

But yeah, for beginners, starting strength and Gomad are great for gains!

UnknownSpecies

Chancer3001 wrote: »

my own experience of 5x5 was the easier 3x5

I got that mainly from Max OT.

I enjoyed it for a long time, but the more and more I learnt, the more I realised I was doing too many things that were a waste of time.

So now I focus on 6 "big lifts" and just do those. Havent quite got back up to my MAX OT numbers, but Im doing 1x8 now and 2x9(-10%).

But yeah, for beginners, starting strength and Gomad are great for gains!

At 112kg, GOMAD would be a great way for my belly to get gains :P

Chancer3001

haha fair enough.

building muscle while losing weight is tough.

are you still using starting strength or have you moved on?