Benefits of Whey Protein: How Whey Protein Can Help You Gain Lean Muscle

Athletes, body builders, or fitness fanatics are spending hours in the gym a week in order to build muscle. However many of them are not receiving enough protein in their diet to receive the maximum benefits from there training. The benefits of whey protein in the form of shakes or bars is that it provides a convenient way to consume the amount of protein that your body needs to recover. Protein powder specifically whey protein isolates can give your body the protein it requires after an intense work out.

After heavy training a persons body is in a catabolic state (meaning that your body is trying to reduce muscle mass). To fight this you need to ingest fast acting carbs (i.e. dextrose or maltose, Gatorade works great), and fast acting protein such as whey. To receive maximum benefits of whey protein one should use a protein powder that contains whey protein isolates because they are fast acting and your body absorbs them quickly. Whey protein isolates are the highest quality, purest protein powder, and they do not have added fats or carbohydrates.

One of the great benefits of whey protein is that it has an abundant amount of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) which provide fuel to working muscles and stimulate protein synthesis. Studies have shown that those who consume whey or milk protein have a larger amount of lean muscle mass. Other studies have shown that one of the benefits of whey protein could be that it helps fight free radical damage and defend against toxins, due to the amount of antioxidants that it provides.

Another one of the benefits of whey protein is that it can be consumed in the morning immediately after waking up. In the morning your body as gone several hours with out food and it is important to provide it with the proper nutrients.This is another time that your body is in a catabolic state, your body is starving for nutrients especially protein. Again this is especially important for those who are doing strength training.

The amount of protein that a person requires depends on their activity level. For those people who do spend a lot of time in the gym or training for a sport they require more protein to feed there muscles. A good rule of thumb to follow is one should consume 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. As stated before many people who do heavy training to do not receive the proper amount of protein. Protein shakes with whey powder are a great way to get all of the protein that your body NEEDS after heavy work outs.

If you do decide start taking a protein supplement it is very important that you are drinking plenty of water. High protein diets can be hard on the kidneys so it is important to continuously flush out your system. To recap the main Benefits of whey protein are that it is convenient, it is fast absorbing and helps increase in size/strength.