NikoFit: Don't Waste Your Workout!

I've had a few people ask about recommended protein intake, so here is a not-so-quick overview:

Lifting weights causes microscopic tears in your muscle fiber. This "damage" is a good thing - as long as you are ingesting enough protein to rebuild. Following a workout, you feel various changes as a result of the body's immune response to the work you've done. Increased blood flow to the area gives you that pumped feeling, while also removing damaged or dead fibers and cells. This leaves small fissures in your muscles ready to filled back up with the help of protein. The consistent breakdown and rebuilding of those muscle fibers is what causes your muscles to get bigger (hypertrophy) and ultimately stronger, but in order to rebuild you must feed them!

If nothing else, take this immediately after your workout. If you wait more than an hour, your window has closed and you just wasted your workout.

Casein is a slow-digesting protein that stays in your body for about 8 hours as it breaks down. This is beneficial so your body has something to feed on during periods without food (overnight, mornings that you don't "break the fast" right away, afternoons waiting for that late dinner, etc).

Soy Protein gets a bad rap from bodybuilders because some study, way-back-when, said it raises estrogen levels. They see "estrogen" and think "bitch tits". Don't worry, unless you're drinking 5 gallons of it a day while taking your girlfriend's prenatal vitamins, go ahead and enjoy your soy milk. It works like whey, just digests slower.

Add it to your pre/post workout Whey Protein shake. The slower digestion rate prolongs the benefits.
Take it if whey gives you bubble-guts.

Your body can process between 35-45 grams of protein at a time, so don't go loading up your shake with 5 scoops because you'll just shit out the extra. Your best bet is about 40 grams in your post-workout shake and 25 grams in other shakes throughout the day.
The total amount of protein per day depends on what your goals are, and includes ALL sources - shakes, eggs, meat, veggies, etc. Since we are all active adults who workout several times a week, refer to the following formulas (listed as grams of protein per pound of bodyweight):

The highest-quality protein supplements are >90% protein. The easiest way to tell this is by looking at the nutritional label; divide the grams of protein per serving by the total grams per serving and you'll have your answer.

+90% protein powders are very expensive, so I try to stay with medium-quality ones between 80-85% which are a LOT cheaper. With the amount of protein you should be taking in everyday, you'll be spending a small fortune if you go top of the line.
As far as brands go, they'll sort themselves out once you start looking at the labels and calculating protein content per serving. The cheap ones usually have a ton of fillers and sit at less than 70%.

An easy way to help budget how much you're spending on protein is calculating the price per gram you're paying. This will take some basic math skills, so be warned and pull up the calculator app on your phone. To do this:

Divide the price by the number of grams and you'll have how much you're paying per gram.

Anything below 4 cents per gram is usually a good deal BUT make sure that the protein content isn't shit (below 70%). No point in buying a bunch of cheap protein and getting a ton of filler with it.

Niko Countouriotis
Fireman (NOT a doctor)

NikoFit