Do you need protein and recovery shakes?
I thought I’d talk about this because I saw “YouTube influencer” talk utter cack about protein shakes and It needs straightening out.
So, do you need protein shakes in your diet?
The thing is this is such a depends question. There are reasons why some times they are useful and, there are times where we just don’t need them at all.
Why do we need protein?
Protein is not just for building muscles, its required for creating enzymes, antibodies, hormones, skin cells, hair, ligaments, tendons, increases mitochondrial capacity, bone density and can be used as a fuel.
For us, older cyclists in our 40’s and 50s protein is an important food for us to focus on. That’s because as we get older our muscles develop age-related anabolic resistance. Basically, that means our muscles become resistant to protein so we need to eat more quality protein if we want to get the best bang for our buck after training, recover optimally and hold onto lean muscle mass.
So, how much do you need? What’s optimal?
I’d recommend between 1.6g and 2g per KG of body weight depending on the intensity and volume of your training and as much as 2.2g to 2.5g per KG of body weight from the ages of 40 onwards.
How much protein should you eat over the day? And what should you aim for in each meal.
Each serving should be between 0.3g to as much as 0.5g per kg of body weight in each meal that also has 2.3g to 3.5g of the essential amino acid Leucine.
When it comes to meal timings. The current body of evidence suggests to maximise recovery and training adaptions the sweet spot is between 4 - 6 protein rich meals ideally evenly distributed throughout the day.
Is there a protein timing window?
If you’ve been eating quality protein over 4 main meals then the post-training timing window is less important because you have to consider there is already protein in the muscle, on its way to the muscle or being digested ready to go to the muscle.
However, if you’ve been a bit lacking or your training has been very intense or long in duration it would be prudent to consume high quality, high protein meal soon after training.
Does it need to be a shake? NO!
Are shakes just an easy convenient way to get quality protein in? YES!
Do they have to be whey? NO! There are some great pea and hemp alternatives.
To wrap up. Do we need recovery and protein shakes?
If you spend a lot of sweat points in training trying to get stronger, faster and quicker up hills then surely you’ll want to make sure that you are getting the best from that training right?
I look at it this way. If you’ve not eaten enough protein across the day and you want to optimise your training gains, improve recovery, maintain as much lean muscle as you can, especially as you get older then yeah, they are a handy, cheap, rich protein source.
Thanks for reading
Simon
Performance & Nutrition Director
2 X Winner of Gym Based PT, and founder of VPCC