2 Important Proteins and Which One is Better For Building Muscle Fast

Protein is probably on of the most popular and most widely used supplements for building muscle. Protein is one of the most important building blocks of muscle and it’s only logical that if you want bigger muscles then you need more protein. The problem is that there are so many protein products on the body building market that picking one can be a real nightmare.

No doubt about it that supplement companies are over-hyping protein powders and protein bars with big promises. With all the hype and advertising aside, protein is still one of the most important aspects of your muscle building diet. Getting a sufficient amount of the right protein into your daily diet can be a challenge.

As a general rule of thumb you need 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass. Getting that amount of protein into your daily diet with food alone is virtually impossible. The side effect of eating that much to cover your protein intake can add a lot of fat and unwanted carbohydrates to your diet.

With protein powder we can eliminate that and only get the protein we need. It’s cheaper, quicker and more concentrated. There are many different types of protein and all of them play a part in building muscle. Not all protein is good protein and a lot of the effectiveness in building muscle lies in when you take the protein. Let’s look at the 2 most important types of protein and when you need to take them for maximum muscle growth.

1. Whey Protein

Whey protein is the most widely used protein in gyms simply because of it’s rapid digestion. When your body is in an anabolic state it needs the most energy and if you take whey protein before, during or after your workout you can get the best assistance from it. Whey is an excellent protein and makes up about 20% of the total protein in milk. It has a high amino acid profile and the variety of peptides makes it ideal as a workout protein.

2. Casein Protein

While whey protein is known for it’s rapid absorption, casein is known for the exact opposite. It digest slowly which makes it ideal as “meal replacement” protein and a lot less desirable as a workout protein. During workouts you need a rapid release of energy and that’s why whey is so good. Casein on the other hand can take hours to be released into your blood stream. Nonetheless, casein is very important muscle building protein and is best taken as a meal supplement outside of training hours.

These days you won’t really find too many protein powders that are purely whey or casein. Most of the time protein powders and protein bars are blend of different types of protein. With the different absorption rates in kind, you need to make sure that the blend you are using is suitable for it’s purpose. Some blends are designed to be taken before, during or after workouts while others are specifically designed as meal replacements.

Do your homework on specific products and don’t just blindly buy protein powders. They have different functions and can have a huge effect on how your body builds muscle.