Any advantage in taking Protein/Egg White powders?

Trickyupnorth

Again, I'm not sure if this is exactly the right place for this query? But i'll ask anyway

My mate goes to the gym and has started taking some sort of protein powder, as a supplement to his normal meals, in the hope of increasing his muscles. He said that it would be beneficial to me, as a cyclist, to take either a protein or egg white(?) powder to help build up my leg muscles.

Does anyone have any experience of such things? Is it recommended, or best avoided? Will it make a difference?

I don't know much about it, but the googling I've done so far has brought up lots of bodybuilding links/sites etc.

Thanks

Richie

Kléber

Are you missing protein in your diet? If so, eat more of it. But no need to buy fancy powders, you'll probably mess your kidneys up by overloading with proteins.

Besides, if you want to be a good cyclist, to emulate the performances of Valverde, Evans, or Bradley Wiggins, ask yourself, do they have big legs? Answer, no they have the skinniest legs. Cycling is about high cadence pedalling, not leg pressing.

Infamous

Depends, if you eat a lot of protein then you don't need it, if you don't eat enough then they will help you keep/build muscle.

If you don't do a lot of resistance training (or lots of hard climbs etc) then you won't build muscle anyway and wont need much protein.

Whey protein is the one you want, I just got a huge tub from Myprotein.co.uk

Cycling is about high cadence pedalling, not leg pressing.

And chris hoy ?


Even if you don't want to build huge muscles, your muscles still need protein to repair/rebuild after riding. And if you don't get enough, protein powder is the easiest/cheapest way to do that.

Trickyupnorth

Thanks for the reples.

Being a beginner to this I've never heard of Valverde, Evans, Bradley Wiggins or Chris Hoy. But from what I've seen of riders so far, they seem to be skinny as rakes mostly.

I'm prepared to go to the gym and do leg presses if that's what it takes but, likewise, if it's just a case of 'getting the miles in' then I can do that as well. I don't really know what to do to be honest. :?: I've just been pedalling.

With regards to the protein powder I think I'll just hang on a bit then. If it's not something I really need then I see no reason to fork out for it at the minute. Maybe that'll change in time.

Richie

Garry H

As long as you have a healthy, balanced diet (Two parts carb to one part protein is an often quoted figure), then I don't see the need to overload with protein supplements. Your body can only absorb so much of the stuff anyway, any excess is pissed out of the system, so is wasted. As someone else said above, you may not be doing your kidneys any favours either.

Having said all of that, it's sometimes useful to take a recovery "shake" after a long session, especially if you don't always have the time to cook a proper meal.

Trickyupnorth

Thanks.

I'm a long way off a 'long session' I think :oops:

But, would the recovery shake be as well as a proper meal or instead of it?

Richie

Infamous

Your body can only absorb so much of the stuff anyway, any excess is pissed out of the system, so is wasted.

The point is, a "normal" diet might not have a lot of protein in it. And to "overload" on protein would take a high protein diet AND 4 or 5 protein shakes a day. Also, I dont think excess protein is pissed out, the body stores it as glycogen or fat iirc.

As someone else said above, you may not be doing your kidneys any favours either.

Sorry, but that's nonsense. Protein powder is just the same as protein from steak or eggs, would you damage your kidneys from eating a lot of steak and eggs?


In all honesty tricky, I don't think you need it. When you notice that you are struggling to put on muscle or that you are losing it, then you might wanna take it. And forget recovery meals until you are having trouble keeping your energy levels up day to day.

Infamous

Just with a quick google, this is roughly how much protein you need to eat per day:

Weight in kg x 0.8-1.8 gm/kg = protein gm.

Use a lower number if you are in good health and are sedentary. Use a higher number (between 1 and 1.8 ) if you are under stress, are pregnant, are recovering from an illness, or if you are involved in consistent and intense weight or endurance training.

Example: 154 lb male who is a regular exerciser and lifts weights
70kg x 1.5 = 105 gm protein/day

squired

Excess is pissed out, as indicated earlier. The advantage of using protein shakes is that you can make sure your body is getting enough protein. If it needs it then it will use it, if it doesn't it will be dumped by your body. Take it for a month or two and see how your body responds to it. I know a few people who feel that they recover better if they take protein shakes immediately after exercise sessions.

Trickyupnorth

Thanks again.

Judging by the answers I've had so far it would seem that it's not really applicable to me 'at this stage'. As mentioned above, if it gets to the point whereby I think I'd need them then I'll give it a go.

Plus, I have Crohn's Disease so I have to think of the dietary implications as well. Often I don't know if a food is 'suitable' for me until I've tried it. Which isn't always good news

So, to get better and improve is it just a case of keep pedalling and racking up the miles? Then I'll see the improvements?

Richie

Garry H

Infamous wrote:

Your body can only absorb so much of the stuff anyway, any excess is pissed out of the system, so is wasted.

The point is, a "normal" diet might not have a lot of protein in it. And to "overload" on protein would take a high protein diet AND 4 or 5 protein shakes a day. Also, I dont think excess protein is pissed out, the body stores it as glycogen or fat iirc.

As someone else said above, you may not be doing your kidneys any favours either.

Sorry, but that's nonsense. Protein powder is just the same as protein from steak or eggs, would you damage your kidneys from eating a lot of steak and eggs?


In all honesty tricky, I don't think you need it. When you notice that you are struggling to put on muscle or that you are losing it, then you might wanna take it. And forget recovery meals until you are having trouble keeping your energy levels up day to day.

I didn't say "normal" diet, I said a healthy, balanced diet. This by its nature implies an adequate level of protein, otherwise it's neither healthy or balanced. Excess protein is pissed out, as well as some of it metabolizing into fat I believe, but am happy to be corrected. Excess protein can lead to renal overload and dehydration. A Level Biology was such a long time ago

As long as you replace glycogen levels asap after traning, then you should be ok.

Infamous

I think it would take a HUGE amount of protein to cause any kind of kidney damage.

Think how many bodybuilders/athletes take a large amount of protein (from food and powders), you don't hear about any of them with kidney problems, and some of them take ridiculously high amounts for many years.

And if you compare it to alcohol, it would be a miniscule amount of risk imo.

jamesag

It is the process of pissing out the extra protein that causes the damage (lots of extra filtration in the glomeruli, and excess sugar consumption will also do this). Some quick googling would suggest that a small increase in your protein intake won't do any harm (i.e. having a whey shake every evening, and/or a protein based recovery drink after training) unless you already have kidney damage (people with damaged kidneys are put on a low protein diet in some cases). But a massive increase in your protein consumption might have an effect. From my experience (using whey for a couple of months in which I managed to get from 61-68kg, though a a 6 footer this isn't that impressive!) the most important thing is making sure that the protein you use isn't the really cheap stuff, it doesn't work as well, and often contains fewer of the things you do want and more of the things you don't. Go for Maximuscle or something similar and if you use google product search you'll find it for a reasopnable price.
J