What, how, and why is WHEY?

[Jujimufu]

What is whey?

The serum or watery part of milk that is separated from the curd inmaking cheese. It's typically powdered and sold as protein supplementation.




So why whey?

Because it's an easy way to ensure you are intaking adequate amounts of protein in the diet and it's the best choice for training scenarios for hard working athletes. Not to mention it's cost effective.

Is whey for me?

Let's see. Do you want peri-training session recovery benefits? Are you a hard working athlete? The right whey product taken during the right times with the right complementary ingredients can spell G-A-I-N-S.

How do I use whey?

Whey is usually mixed in water or shakes. But for more ideas, check the main website article: Jujitoine Kitchen Tricks.

When should I take it?

Whey is best used during and after your training. You can use it as a normal food in your diet as well.

What's a good pre-post workout drink?

Pre workout: A good protocol is to mix about 5-10 grams of whey isolate or hydrolyzed whey isolate or concentrate, or Branched chain amino acids into a sucrose drink (like gatorade) or a juice containing roughly about 20-50 grams of sugar for pre/during training. The resulting amount of solution used is largely based on activity intensity and duration, and your size.

Post workout: A mixture of maltodextrin and dextrose and again, hydrolyzed whey ideally or whey isolate is the gold standard. Maltodextrin and dextrose are fast absorbing sugars, and hydrolyzed whey is fast (partially predigested) absorbing protein. Isolate is a better grade whey than concentrate, not as good post workout as hydrolyzed, but is good enough. Check the back of your product to ensure the first ingredient is a whey isolate or hydrolyzed whey for best results.



Post workout drink amounts: Typically a ratio between 2:1 and 3:1 of carbs/protein is used in the post workout drink. If maltodextrin and dextrose are used the amount is typically split equally between the two. So if I take in 80 carbohydrates post workout with 40 grams of whey / 40 of those sugars are dextrose and 40 are maltodextrin. Again, the size of the post workout drink largely depends on your activity intensity and duration, and your size.

I'd recommend most people reading these forums will benefit best with an amount between 20-50 grams of whey post training. So with that, build your ratio of sugars:protein between 2:1 and 3:1. As an example: I'm 190 pounds and lean, I take 80 grams sugar split between maltodextrin/dextrose post training and 40 grams of whey. I follow this up with a second serving of this mixture, 1/2 the size of the original about an hour later. I do this for my hard training sessions.

Alternative pre and post workout drinks:

What if it's a light training session? Do you really need something to keep you going? In this regard, a little pre-workout snack will probably be enough to stave off dropping energy levels. Maybe the preceding meal alone is enough to get you through. Whatever. Make the judgement here yourself!

And then sometimes, the giant white sugar shake isn't exactly desired or needed, and can be overkill. For alternative post workout shakes try blending a mixture of fruit juices, frozen fruits, and whey. While it doesn't exactly "HIT THE SPOT" for precision post workout nutrition - sometimes you don't need to. It won't kill you to miss perfection every couple workouts; Especially on those days you dragged through just to get it done or those mini workouts you fit in outside your primary training sessions.

However, I'll note that proper workout nutrition is pretty essential for hypertrophy work (muscle building scenarios) - you usually want to hit the perfect Pre/Post workout nutrition scenarios as often as possible for building muscle.

Should I consider a mixed protein powder supplement?

A source containing a mixture of proteins is ideal for non-training scenarios. Like a supplement or meal shake. In these scenarios buying something with powdered caseinates / milk and/or egg protein isolates, etc - are all good for normal meal shakes. Check for something called "MRP" or "Meal Replacement Powder" for information on this type of protein supplement. Oh, and avoid soy.

What kind of quantities will I need to purchase and what brands are best?

Read the description of the product you have or are planning on purchasing, and do the math to figure out how much you will need and how long the purchase will last.

The two most important things that play a role in our purchasing habits is the price and quality. If you are buying solely on lowest price you might be getting garbage. If you are buying solely on quality or highest price you might get shafted or be spending excessive amounts of money on something that will work just as well for you as something of lesser price. You have to try and see for yourself. In my own experience, I've found some protein supplements to be dog shit and others of the highest quality to work just as well as some of the mainstream brands.

Dog shit: Digestive distress, gas, terrible high pricing.
Things to avoid: Expired proteins on discount that are dirt cheap, Nitrotech and all other highly priced CUTTING EDGE proteins with extreme advertising. GNC. Spray dried bovine plasma? PUUUHHH LEAAAZE!?

Decent: Decent price, good digestion, and by making judgement over more than one purchase, results.
Things to look for: Whey isolate or hydrolyzed whey as the leading whey ingredient instead of concentrate for peri-training scenarios, otherwise concentrate is fine. Good product reviews from other average consumers who have tried the product, general product label moratorium (why fix something that isn't broken?)

Will too much whey kill me?

Too much will just be a waste of money, no it won't kill you.

[Jujimufu]

Salvaged.

[Lobo]

Why do you recommend sucrose pre-workout as opposed to maltodextrin/dextrose?

[Jujimufu]

Actually I've been using maltodextrin and dextrose pre-workout for the past 1/2 year now. I still don't think a sucrose mixture (like gatorade) is necessarily a bad a choice at that time though.

[Shin00bi]

It turns out that protein is a bit over-rated. All the long-lived hype surrounding protein and it's assistance with muscle-gain is based off lab-testing of rats. Rats (or other rodents) use up lots more protein than humans.

For muscle gain, it's best to just consume more carbs. In other words, just eat more food.

I read about it in a book, but I found a good article online about this. http://www.formerfatguy.com/articles...s-vs-foods.asp

To me, protein is just another food market hype. Like anti-carbs, anti-fat, and whatever else they're doing.

For me, I just eat a balanced diet, and take vitamins (B1, Potassium, and multivitamin), coupled with exercise. If I'm not lazy about making food, I usually go for making asian dishes, because they tend to contain the most variety (Like all parts of the food pyramid.) I don't really care about portions. I just try to eat tons, and keep being athletic.

I used to consume crap-loads of protein when I was younger, and it didn't make a difference for me in the long run. The protein stuff I drank and ate just amounted to carbs.

[ryanlq]

meh. whey=good

[Antoine]

I get a buzz out of whey.

[TKD_Andy]

for the UK people, get your whey from:

http://www.bulkpowders.co.uk/search....=0&y=0&=Submit

cheapest whey evAr, and no extra flavourings etc.

[Karlnold]

up, up and a whey!

[Trixter]

Whey to go!