+ 5 Real Food vs Supplements
Had an interesting chat with a couple of youngsters in the gym this morning. Haven't been in as much as my usual 6 days/week as I can only train legs after shoulder surgery 4 weeks ago. As a result, there's a few new faces appeared that I don't know, these couple of lads being in that category.
Politely enough, one of these lads asks me, "can I ask your advice. How many protein shakes do I need to drink every day to end up your size". "None, I answered". He looked at me very confused. His friend then joined in and said I drink 4 shakes per day, the original lad the same amount. Both of them had some definition, early twenties, 6ft and 165-170lb sort of size. So we started talking diet.....
I very quickly realised that in excess of half of the protein these lads were consuming were from shakes and they were eating only a couple of meals per day. No decent carbs, lacking in greenery and fibre and basically just falling into the trap of supplements supplements supplements.
Don't get me wrong, I believe whey and casein has it's place and I use it albeit to a limited extent, but it ISNT A REPLACEMENT FOR FOOD, neither are weight gainers. Increasingly I see people writing things on these boards like "I'm in week 6 of x amount of multiple compounds and I'm not making gains, the gear is bunk". I get pm's from people saying the same. One in particular recently springs to mind, similar story, the only difference being he was running the same gear from the same supplier as I was running. And I was growing. Something was wrong, it was his diet. It usually is.
To cut a long story short, I've gave these lads some diet advice and my email address and said I'd help them out. I told them what I'd already eaten for breakfast, and what I'd eat for the rest of the day. It was like a revelation to them, unlocking something magical. This game isn't rocket science, but from what I see a huge percentage of people get this aspect wrong. I don't care how much gear you're taking, if half of your protein is coming in powdered form, YOU'RE NOT MAXIMISING YOUR RESULTS.
I'm no pro but after 20+ years of training I'm always happy to help people out with what I believe to be one of the most important areas in bodybuilding.
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So true, lots of good info here. Im going to send a FR, if you dont mind me picking your brain a bit
No problem.
I agree with what you say for sure. I tend to drink more shakes when I'm bulking tho because my appetite isn't always strong enough for me to eat as many calories I need. When I'm dieting I won't drink a shake at all if its possible. Lol. But it rarely is when you have a busy schedule.
This is so true SDM. I've recently found for myself that consuming supplementary protein through out the day is a waste of my money and gains. The only time I do protein shakes and carb supplements is right after workout for recovery, then I eat a good meal as soon as I get home. I make sure I get all my marcos from whole foods now and it makes no comparison to supplements, its like night and day.
This is precisely what I mean, the gains from food versus shakes are incomparable IMO. I have whey on my way out of the gym, but I eat about 20 minutes later as well. I then use casein at night. That's it for shakes, everything else is food.
Boom! Gains are made in the kitchen
Anonif ab's are made in the kitchen....
then why don't all women have them :-/
Lol!
valhallas bestso true..
Such a good post! I couldn't agree more, when I am deployed I have to rely on more supplements in order to get the nutrition I need. It does not even compare to eating righteous meals at home, hence the word supplement. The gains I make with hardly any supplements and well balanced meals made in the kitchen are not comparable.
On a side note I believe even a grouchy SDM is more polite and kind then the best of men when they are at their best. That has been proven by your responses over and over. Just hanging around SDM makes me feel like a uncaring mean prick lmaooo! +2
I've got a feeling some of my staff at work would disagree with you there Pank!!!
Thanks for your kind words.
RustyhookerKeep teachin bro! It's like watering flowers then watchin em grow!
SDM - you are very kind! I gave up helping people in the Gym as 99% of them turn around, ignore what youve said and continue doing what they did....why? As it didnt sound like what they wanted to hear!
So Kudos to you!
I prefer my new miserable headphones hoodie on approach in winter...so noone talks or disturbs me. Cant tell you how many times Ive spared in the gym trying to help people.....probably count on one hand the number of people that looked like they were listening with intent.
Maybe Im getting old...thats what it is!
Lol, "very kind", not that often these days mate. I was a temporary blip in my usual obnoxious nature.
So many people fail to realize the anabolic importance of carbohydrates. It is absolutely true that the building of muscle tissues requires proteins. But, that's only part of the equation. Just like with exercise, all metabolic processes require energy. Carbs are the desired source of energy to the body.
In terms of stimulating the muscles building processes (protein synthesis), most everyone knows that you gotta tear down those muscles thru training. In doing so, it makes sense that you're going to expend energy during the process. But, here's what a lot of people don't know:
When there is a demand for energy, that demand takes priority over every other cellular process. The energy needed is ultimately synthesized from glucose, since it is only a few metabolic steps away from becoming ATP.
Although glucose is the desired source to the body, it can be synthesized from other macros - proteins and fats. When the demand is present but insufficient blood glucose is available the metabolic pathways shift, and the body begins looking for an alternate source. Proteins are much easier to breakdown than fats, so it is the second option.
Proteins do, however, require a good amount of metabolic reactions in order to yield glucose for ATP synthesis. The first stage of this process is called deamination, which literally means to remove the amino group in the molecular chain. The end result is a by product chemically identical to ammonia and a molecule or two of glucose.
Now we have glucose available for energy production. But think about this: if we're training our muscles to stimulate the build up of them, then the demand for energy comes from those muscles. Correct? But of we have insufficient dietary carbs and proteins begin being used in its place, where do those proteins come from? The answer is Two places:
1) the blood stream
2) the muscles where the demand is present
Dietary proteins make the difference between using body proteins for energy or saving them. But outside of that, the energy used up in the workout absolutely must be replaced before the protein synthesis process can begin. This is why post workout carbs are so important. Even if dietary proteins are consumed post workout in the place of carbs, they will eventually contribute to energy replacement but the process is entirely too slow to meet the immediate demands. That means, if these guys don't eat and just drink protein, tissue breakdown is inevitable. They will def lean out and become more vascular but they will never grow beyond a certain point.
(I prolly could've summed that up a bit...)
Eat carbs - more carbs than proteins and you'll grow. Lol.
That was very well explained. a good read +1
Hit the nail on the fucking head. I wish I had more karma to rep the shit out of this post. It's crazy to see how many people over do protein and neglect carbs and even fats to an extent. Guys weighing 200 pounds talking about eating 400+ grams of protein a day etc. your body doesn't need any where near as much of that for that weight to grow optimally. It just becomes an excess and causes more problems that can be easily avoided. Too many people are all about protein protein protein and then you see monsters like Kai Greene admitting they only eat 300 grams a day.
In terms of supplements I think they are very useful. But they are just that, supplements to a complete diet. Having said that the quality of some protein powders etc around today are pretty amazing.
Ooooh now heres a topic we could get in to a big debate about! :-)
One for another day!...but I dont beleive carbs are that important to the extent many people think....outside of Pre and Post there use is minimal and the key organs get the substrate they require from the means available.
That's a true statement of yours. But keeping in context here, we're talking about guys that are wanting to bulk. In terms of physiology, you only limit your gains by restricting carbs. You absolutely have to go above basal needs to do this. 50-60% of the calories consumed should always be from carbs. You increase calories, you increase carbs proportionately.
AnonYes its funny, almost like the cartoon "the Jetsons" where they ate their meal in the form of a pill.
I dont believe there will ever be a pill that can match broccoli, eggs, chicken, spinach etc etc. Besides foods like that are a great pleasure to eat, why give that up.
Concrete advice! Diets aint easy for some, I couldn't manage any protein/carb shakes when I was on cycle due to the amount of food I ate. They'd make me feel sick as I tried to drink em. There wasnt space.
Now off cycle with a decreased hunger they help me with my calorie needs, dont have the desire to eat everything so they now fill that less food gap up.