Protein shakes

Jaguar_Skills

Do not get Nurishment drinks from the supermarket. I have no idea why Marleyboy recommended them.

Jaguar_Skills

10% off quidco now.

Fluff15

Protein shakes don't add mass, they help recover the muscles from a workout quicker. If he is wanting to bulk out, he will also need to add carbs to his diet - good carbs, such as brown rice, sweet potato, quinoa etc. How your body looks is 70% of the work, so he must make sure he's eating right to see any gains.

Bodybuilding.com has some great resources for plans and nutrition - get your son to look here for beginner male plans.

I recommend The Protein Works whey 80 for a good value, low sugar/carb protein shake. They often run promotions for 20%+ off.

alleycat`

numpy wrote: »

He is 18 and has just joined a gym, he has just had a basic induction at the moment and is not on a programme. I think he has seen all the big guys in there walking about shaking there plastic shake bottles. He is not a very good eater and dose'nt like fish very much.

If he doesn't sort his diet out then drinking "shakes" is not going to make much of a difference other than make him lighter in the wallet.

numpy

Fluff15 wrote: »

Protein shakes don't add mass, they help recover the muscles from a workout quicker. If he is wanting to bulk out, he will also need to add carbs to his diet - good carbs, such as brown rice, sweet potato, quinoa etc. How your body looks is 70% of the work, so he must make sure he's eating right to see any gains.

Bodybuilding.com has some great resources for plans and nutrition - get your son to look here for beginner male plans.

I recommend The Protein Works whey 80 for a good value, low sugar/carb protein shake. They often run promotions for 20%+ off.

I didnt realise that protein shakes just help recover the muscles. I thought and my son thinks the extra protein will add muscle, I am now thinking of saving the money and spending it on extra steak and chicken for him.

stephen77

Aim for about 0.8g of protein per 1lb you weigh.
If your diet is not providing this. Then add some whey protein.

parking_question_chap

numpy wrote: »

I didnt realise that protein shakes just help recover the muscles. I thought and my son thinks the extra protein will add muscle, I am now thinking of saving the money and spending it on extra steak and chicken for him.

Yes, good meats, fish etc should be the foundation of his protein intake.

Supplements are just that - supplements.

Though in fairness, protein power per gram is a hell of a lot cheaper than decent meats and fish.

Fluff15

numpy wrote: »

I didnt realise that protein shakes just help recover the muscles. I thought and my son thinks the extra protein will add muscle, I am now thinking of saving the money and spending it on extra steak and chicken for him.

Yes - they help the recovery time after a workout, so essentially he can work out harder again sooner. It's a common mistake people think they add mass, but actual mass comes from the workouts and his diet. A shake such as BSN True Mass (cookies and cream flavour is lovely) would probably suit him better, as that has a high amount of both carbs and protein which will help see gains.

If you've got the freezer space, try out musclefood.com - they do really good deals on lean meats such as chicken breast and steak. Tuna is good too, tofu, lentils, greek yoghurt (full fat one only if he wants to add mass), cottage cheese, eggs, porkchops, salmon, nuts such as almonds (or peanut/almond butter which is just ground nuts and maybe a little salt, no added oil or sugar, is good), edamame beans, quinoa - all high protein foods.

Porridge or scrambled eggs, bacon and avocado is a good breakfast. Lunch should be a lean meat with say spinach and other vegetables and a low GI carb such as brown rice. Dinner is similar to lunch. Snacks can be things like a mass gaining shake, nuts, cottage cheese and celery (yum), peanut butter and an apple (yum).

He needs to work out his TDEE, which will give him the amount of calories he should be consuming at his assumed weekly activity level. Add 15-20% to that figure to find out how many calories he should be eating to gain mass.

If he is following a programme which requires him to workout 4/5 times a week, he will probably need around 1.5g protein per kg of body weight. 100g of lean chicken breast has around 30g of protein in.

Credit-Crunched

Fluff15 wrote: »

Yes - they help the recovery time after a workout, so essentially he can work out harder again sooner. It's a common mistake people think they add mass, but actual mass comes from the workouts and his diet. A shake such as BSN True Mass (cookies and cream flavour is lovely) would probably suit him better, as that has a high amount of both carbs and protein which will help see gains.

If you've got the freezer space, try out musclefood.com - they do really good deals on lean meats such as chicken breast and steak. Tuna is good too, tofu, lentils, greek yoghurt (full fat one only if he wants to add mass), cottage cheese, eggs, porkchops, salmon, nuts such as almonds (or peanut/almond butter which is just ground nuts and maybe a little salt, no added oil or sugar, is good), edamame beans, quinoa - all high protein foods.

Porridge or scrambled eggs, bacon and avocado is a good breakfast. Lunch should be a lean meat with say spinach and other vegetables and a low GI carb such as brown rice. Dinner is similar to lunch. Snacks can be things like a mass gaining shake, nuts, cottage cheese and celery (yum), peanut butter and an apple (yum).

He needs to work out his TDEE, which will give him the amount of calories he should be consuming at his assumed weekly activity level. Add 15-20% to that figure to find out how many calories he should be eating to gain mass.

If he is following a programme which requires him to workout 4/5 times a week, he will probably need around 1.5g protein per kg of body weight. 100g of lean chicken breast has around 30g of protein in.

What he said!!

There is no quick fix magic solution to hard gainers.

But one thing I can not stress enough, make sure he does a lot of Squats and Deadlifts.

I ran for 3 months a bench press / Deadlift / Squat and chin up only routine, and saw my biggest overall gains ever..

The deadlift IMO is the greatest gainer out there

numpy

Thanks everyone this has become a very knowledgeable thread.