Hi everyone.

I'm planning on starting an exercise program soon and just bought some whey. I was wondering if I should start taking it on day 1 of my program or if I should wait for a couple months or so until I'm over my newbie gains.

The reason to do the latter would be to see how my body responds to exercise and proper nutrition exclusively. And then, after some time of this, I would add the protein supplement and be able to see the effect of this.

Is this stupid? I guess the reason I want to do it this way is that I want to really get to know my body as far as its calorie and protein requirements for building muscle and losing fat are concerned and I feel that if I start with the protein shakes, that might be a complicating factor in getting to know my body well.

Say I start an all-out exercise program with proper nutrition and protein shakes. I won't know if the results I see are from the whey or just from eating clean and I might be tempted to think that it's the protein shake getting me the results.

I realize I may not be getting my point across very clearly or may have misconceptions about protein shakes, but hopefully some of you will get my drift and can clear this up for me or just let me know your thoughts.

Thanks a lot.

Protein shakes have little advantage over other protein sources (lean beef, chicken, tuna, etc.) except that they're more convenient. Your overall day-to-day nutrition, your daily macros, and your per-meal macros mean 1,000 times more than you including or excluding whey protein from your diet.

If you have a job like mine that goes about 100-MPH all day long, having a couple protein shakes in the fridge for those busy days is a good idea. If you have the luxury of being able to stop and eat whole foods 5~7 times per day, that's the optimal route to utilize.

Whey protein is a supplement like any other - you can make your gains with or without it - it won't enhance your ability to develop a great physique - your exercise, nutrition and weight training are what make or break the effort.

-R

As mentioned, it's simply a replacement for normal food, not an enhancement necessarily. It is a high quality protein--better than most vegetable sources, especially--but you can easily make great gains with it, just as you can make crappy gains with it if nothing else is in order. I barely consider whey supplementation "supplementing". I see supplementing as icing on the cake but when it comes to whey I just see it as one of my protein sources, the others being meat, cottage cheese, etc.

If you were talking about creatine I could definitely see where you're coming from but since they're absolutely no reason to ever "cycle off" taking adequate protein you may as well start right now with the whey, as required.

Protein shakes have little advantage over other protein sources (lean beef, chicken, tuna, etc.) except that they're more convenient.


Yes....for the most part....however Whey has been show to offer some additional benefits...

http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org/NationalDairyCouncil/Health/Digest/dcd74-6Page1.htm


Whey protein is a supplement like any other - you can make your gains with or without it - it won't enhance your ability to develop a great physique - your exercise, nutrition and weight training are what make or break the effort.

Totally agree :tucool:

Protein shakes have little advantage over other protein sources (lean beef, chicken, tuna, etc.) except that they're more convenient.


And also (generally) more consistent and accurate. We have to make assumptions about the amount of protein in a cut of meat but processed whey is pretty consistent per measure. It's a fine detail that won't make or break you but if you are rigorous about accurate macros it's helpful.

I also concur with the others that it's not "required".

I actual added it to my Chicken breast or Steak... a scoop of ATW brings it up to 50-60g per meal
it helps me maintain my 250g a day ..