Posts Tagged ‘protein shakes’

Body Builders: Buy Protein Shakes And Benefit

Posted in Nutrition on July 6th, 2010 by Jim – Comments Off

Protein Benefits

The benefits of protein on the body have been known for a long time. Protein is essential for healthy bones, muscles, cartilage, skin and blood and your body uses protein to build and repair tissues.

Protein is also important for muscle growth and repair which is why body builders will drink a high protein shake just after a workout. This speeds up the repair of muscle fibre which is damaged during intensive resistance training.

Amino-acids

Amino-acids are the building blocks of protein and muscle tissue. The body breaks down protein into amino acids during exercise and exercise in turn increases demand for these amino acids. If you do not supply your body with amino acids just after exercise the body will break down muscle mass for energy – a process called muscle catabolism. By drinking a protein drink containing the essential amino acids, muscle catabolism is prevented and the body can use these amino acids to create muscle mass.

Whey Protein and Bodybuilding

The top three proteins for building new muscle are Whey protein, Soy protein and Casein protein. Of all these proteins Whey protein has the most health benefits and is the best for building muscles.

Whey protein contains all the important branch chain amino acids required for muscle growth and plays an essential role as an anti-oxidant and helping to maintain a healthy immune system. It is a favourite amongst body builders who often consume Whey protein shakes just before and after exercise to maintain high levels of essential amino acids. It is fast absorbing so it can quickly feed muscles just after a workout. You can buy protein shakes that contain a mixture of whey, soy and casein protein. A serious bodybuilder you will burn a lot of calories during exercise so a Whey protein intake of between 100g and 150g is advised.

Hydration

In order to get the most out of protein supplement drinks it is important to keep the body hydrated. This facilitates synthesis of proteins from amino acids. During prolonged exercise it is possible to loose significant amounts of water. Muscle is 75% water so it is important to prevent dehydration as a dehydrated muscle will take longer to repair then one that is sufficiently hydrated.