I am currently doing a fairly intrense 3 day a week gym program to build muscle.
I have begun taking protein whey supplements (shakes) to help in this process

however, i still do a good bit of cardio excersice. i try and do one 11 - 13K run a week and a circuit training session.

I would just like to know would you recommend taking the protein supplements on days when im not gym training, but performing cardio excersise such as the running, or would it be any benefit?

and just to let you know before you say it, i am eating quite heathily and am not treating the supplements as a replacement for a good diet!

Hiya

They probably would help for cardio as well, it's still muscle that needs to be built / repaired, so protein's getting used in there somewhere.

I drink mine after a long run to help repair knackered muscles, it tends to work fairly well

Protein is "burnt" maaany times quicker after intense/prolonged exercise.
If you eat a steak 20 minutes after a run most of the protein will go to waste. Eat it 2 or 3 hours later and you will get the full nutritional benefits (and all the rest ) from it.

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“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”

HI there my partner weight trains 4-5 times a week working on the different body parts on sessions. His aim is obviously to build muscle, he drinks a protein drink called nutrisport everyday even on days his not training. He also takes creatine eveyday which he has found has help him while training. This website has a lot of info for you that he uses as well www.bodyactive-online.co.uk hayley

Not sure why people think extra protein will make muscles extra big; seems a bit like putting extra petrol in the car to make it go faster.

I see what you're saying brummydoug... obviously taking protein supplements alone won't build muscle, but when someone is training hard taking enough high quality protein will help to rebuild muscle faster and add bulk. It's not essential but it does help.

Might make sense if your normal diet was rice and more rice, but most of us eat well in excess of our protein requirements.
Excesss protein just overloads the body with nitrogenous waste.

To build muscle you need approx 2grams of protein per kg of body weight. Your muscles don't build when you're at the gym, all you're doing then is breaking down the muscle fibres so that when you feed the body protein, the muscle fibres grow back in slightly larger numbers each time, hence muscle growth. The muscles build when you rest.

I've been weight training for a few years and have fits and starts with my diet, usually when I'm "building" I'll try and take in around 200g protein per day, a little high and as BrummyDoug says, too much is just waste. However, 200g per day is fine for building and I'd recommend a fast release protein such as whey for straight after your workout and then a slow release for just before bed, such as casein. It can run a bit expensive though so you can get protein powders that mix the two.

I'd be eating plenty of brown carbs for energy but not too much after about 8pm and then make sure you get about 30gs protein per meal. I usually have brekkie like eggs and porridge, a shake or tuna wrap around 10am, lunch, banana before gym then protein straight after, dinner on an evening then a shake before bed.

As for creatine, i've tried it with varying success. It's naturally produced by your body anyway so you don't want to be overdoing it, do a course and then have a few weeks off. It's used to aid muscle recovery whilst training which essentially means you'll see yourself lifting more. To be honest, I'm not a fan as I think it gives "false" results and leaves you feeling down when your weights drop again after the course.

One last thing, if you want to build muscle, do between 4 and 6 reps on each set of exercises rather than the standard 10, it "shocks" your muscle into growth and breaks down your fibers more. All that I've written is knowledge I've built over the last few years and my training partner is a body builder so he burns my ear off about it too every day! not saying it's perfect or exactly right but it works for me and a lot of other folk so it's maybe worth looking into.

I get all my supplements from affordablesupplements.co.uk

Sorry for the long post!

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Worked upto average.

www.designpunk.co.uk

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good luck