otein diet is a must for anyone looking to improve fitness or lose weight. The two goals are closely linked together. When you build muscles, you build metabolism. A higher metabolism helps you to burn fat and lose weight. So the key idea is to build lean muscle and burn fat. When you achieve these two sub-goals, you will lose weight for sure.

How to increase lean muscle mass.

To increase lean muscle mass, you must start by working out. Working out means you must stress your muscles to the point of failure. You know you have achieved muscle failure when you find that you can’t do another repetition in good form. When that happens, stop the exercise. If you continue to force your muscles, you may sustain injury.

Why must you stress your muscles to the point of failure? When you do so, you are sending signals to your muscles that your body will be undergo similar stress in the future. Hence, your muscles starts to respond and grow. After a workout, the repairing process will begin. But a very fascinating thing starts to happen. Your muscles won’t simply grow to its previous state. It will outgrow its previous state in an attempt to prepare for similar stress levels in the future. Hence, you achieve net muscle growth.

Bodybuilders and athletes repeat this “break down and grow” process countless times.

After your workout, you must remember to feed your body so that your muscles can repair and grow. The nutrient for muscle growth is protein. Protein can already be found in our daily diet. You can find it in fish, eggs, poultry, soy beans, and so on.

In my opinion, working out is the easy part. It’s the dieting part that most people fail in. You need to sit down and work out the amount of proteins you need per day. As a general rule, most bodybuilders consume about 1g of protein for every 1 pound of weight. That’s assuming you are working out intensely. For example, if you weight 120 pounds, you should be consuming about 120g of proteins per day.

It’s a balancing act that most people find difficult to handle. You can’t eat too much protein, for the excess protein can be converted into fats. Besides, most foods contain fats besides proteins. So you are eating all that fat together with your proteins, which just cancels out the net growth result you are trying to attain.

There is a simple rule to follow though. Plan for high protein diets, and cut down on sugar and fats. That doesn’t mean your food will become all bland and tasteless. For instance, you can explore new recipes on how to keep the calories to the lowest. Use vegetable oils instead of animal oils for cooking. Or if you lead a busy life, you can always use protein supplements to increase your protein intake without having to worry about calories.

A high protein diet plan can boost your immune system, and improve your general health.

So what do you really need to know about protein supplement powder? As a skinny guy or beginner to the whole bodybuilding scene you simply want to know a few answers. Is protein supplement powder necessary? Does it really work? How much do I need? What kind should I take? What is the best? And finally, will any of these answers make a difference when it comes to getting jacked and attracting the ladies?

This article is not meant for you if you want to learn the science behind the ion-exchanged, cross-mutaed, isotopically labeled protein tracers – blah blah blah. In this article, I will strip away all the hype, science, and confusion that surrounds protein powder. By the time you are through this article and put it to memory, you will become the resident protein supplement powder expert and amaze your friends the next time you visit the sport nutrition store. No more 2-hour shopping trips for protein powder because you don’t really have a clue what to look for!

Does protein powder really work and are they healthy?

However, not all protein powder is created equal. Most protein powder contains an array of questionable ingredients such as aspartame, saccharin, fructose and artificial colors. It’s interesting to note how unhealthy most of these protein powders actually are. Look for a protein supplement powder with natural ingredients rather than products that are sweetened with chemicals and made with ingredients that are certainly not going to create an environment for muscle growth and fat burning.

Also avoid products with refined carbohydrates such as fructose, sucrose or brown rice syrup. Make sure that the product is made from a reputable company that is genuinely interested in good health. Unfortunately supplement manufacturers will continue to meet the demands of bodybuilding consumers with unknown crappy products because we buy it and it is cheaper for them to create. Do your homework by seeking out unbiased reviews, investigating the company’s history, and reputation. And then make a decision and take responsibility!

In the past one of my criteria for a healthy protein product was that it was great tasting and that it should mix easily. Most protein supplement powder mix quite easily, even with a spoon, however I was disappointed to discover that taste will inevitably be sacrificed for a safe and healthy product. I can live with this. You see, once a product is removed of all artificial chemical sweeteners such as aspartame or sucralose, and simple sugars, it is left almost tasteless and sometimes even gross.

Whey Protein Versus Whey Isolate:

Most whey protein powders that stock the supplement shelves are made up of whey concentrate and mixed in with a small portion of whey isolate. Comparing the two, whey protein isolate is more expensive than whey protein concentrate because it has a higher quality (more pure) and a higher BV (biological value). Whey protein isolate contains more protein and less fat and lactose per serving. Most whey protein isolates contain 90-98% protein while whey concentrates contain 70-85% protein.

Whey protein isolate is the highest yield of protein currently available that comes from milk. Because of its chemical properties it is the easiest to absorb into your system. Obviously with its high concentration, it appears that an isolate protein would be the obvious choice instead of a concentrate. However, this is an individual decision because the isolate is more expensive, and just because it is purer does not guarantee that it will help build bigger muscles. Its extra concentration may not justify its extra cost.

SO WHAT IS THE BOTTOM LINE? WHICH SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?

For the Pre-workout and Post-workout phases, as long as whey hydrolysate is the first or second ingredient on the supplement label then there is probably not enough in the product to influence protein synthesis to reap the optimal benefits. As stated, whey isolates are also a extremely high quality whey and for maximal anabolism isolates should be combined with whey hydrolysates for only the pre-workout and post-workout phases of your program. The inclusion of small amounts of whey concentrates will not harm you but this should not be the first ingredient on the tub of protein supplement powder.

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE STRONGEST PROTEIN POWDER TO EXPLOIT YOUR FULL GROWTH POTENTIAL DURING THE GROWTH AND RECOVERY PHASES (ANY TIME OTHER THAN PRE AND POST WORKOUT PERIOD) THEN USE A BLEND.

You will receive the full spectrum of proteins and you will receive varying rates of absorption from the different types of protein. Using a blend will create an anabolic environment from the whey and an anti-catabolic environment from the casein.

So, I hope this article familiarized you with the basics of protein supplement powder and gave you a foundation to work from when deciding on your next order. Don’t get caught up in the hype and start becoming a more educated consumer when you take your next trip to the nutrition store. Now you can tell the sales rep exactly what you are looking for instead of staring blankly at the shelves without a clue!

Oh yeah, protein powder will help you get more jacked and attract the ladies, but it’s not going to do it in a ‘ultra short period of time’ with the simple addition to your diet.

Why creatine supplements and protein shakes? For those who are weight training, bodybuilding, and trying to gain muscle mass, there are thousands of bodybuilding supplements that promise to help you build muscle fast, but which supplements really work?

In reality, there are no quick and easy shortcuts to building muscle: hard work and eating properly are still the keys to getting bigger. However, two supplements have been shown time and time again to help build muscle effectively, efficiently, and quickly: protein and creatine supplements.

Protein is one of the fundamental building blocks of muscle fiber. In fact, without protein, your body would be completely unable to build muscle (or even survive). Anybody who is weight training and hoping to put on muscle needs to eat a diet that is high in protein. However, it can be extremely difficult to get an adequate amount of protein for muscle growth from diet alone.

When weight training, it is recommended to ingest 1 to 1.5 grams of protein for every pound of body weight. If you weigh 150 pounds, that means you should be getting between 150 and 225 grams of protein a day. That’s no easy feat when you are relying exclusively on a diet of lean and healthy foods, which you will want to do if you want to remain healthy and avoid gaining body fat while bulking up those muscles. The solution to this problem is protein supplementation.

Protein supplements, particularly whey protein, are effective, safe, and proven to help you build muscle fast. Still, protein shakes should be used only as a supplement to your healthy, balanced, high protein diet.

Creatine is another extremely effective supplement when it comes to building muscle. Very few bodybuilding supplements ever live up to their hype, but creatine is one of the few that does. Whether you are using creatine ethyl ester or creatine monohydrate, creatine supplements have been proven to stimulate gains in muscle size, strength, endurance, increase energy, and speed recovery from workouts.

Creatine is also one of the most well researched bodybuilding supplements. Creatine should not be used continuously, and you should drink plenty of water while using both creatine and protein supplements to avoid adverse side effects.

If you are looking to build a bigger, more muscular body, remember that there are no easy shortcuts. Proper diet and weigh training are the only ways to achieve your goals. However, protein and creatine supplements, combined with proper diet and workouts, can indeed help you see better results faster.