Protein Shakes & Protein Powders

Featured

Posted on December 22, 2010 by admin

Everything you need to know about protein and your workout!

Welcome to Protein Shakes & Protein Powders, our guide to the often rabbit-hole world of Protein Shakes and Protein Powders. Whether you’re looking to gain some major mass in the gym, or looking to repair that lean muscle, the right protein powder could make or break your exercise efforts.
It is our aim to help you make the right decision on which protein shake is best for your efforts. You can browse our pages above, which will take you through several articles pertaining to protein powder and its correct usage, or browse our blog posts below, which we update with topical information regarding your workouts and protein powders.
We hope you find the information you’re looking for on this website, and welcome any feedback. Until then, we’ll see you at the gym!

Controlled Labs White Flood Review

Posted on October 15, 2011 by admin

So over the last few months, there’s been a serious increase in the folks talking about supplements like jack3d and Yok3d as pre-workout enhancers. I’ve been interested to try some out, but to be honest I’ve been turned off pre-supps ever since my terrible experience with Gaspari’s Superpump. And the price of Jack3d didn’t exactly inspire me to give it a go for fear that it would be the same.

But I noticed that in the lot of the forums I was hearing about Controlled Labs’ “White Flood” as a viable alternative, and the price was more in line with me taking another chance. So after a bit more research, I decided to order some from my buds over at bodybuilding.com

So after a month or so with the product, here’s the review:

Consistency: Pretty damn good. Even just with a straight spoon stir it dissolves pretty well, when shaken it’s a dream. Related problem though: the thing comes with like 6 of those silicon “dry packets” in the tub, which I thought was a bit of overkill until 2 weeks after opening the tub. The thing becomes like concrete, despite always having the lid tightly closed. It’s a bit of a bummer, but not a deal breaker.

Taste: Eh. It’s a pre-supp. They all seem to have that same crappy taste. But it’s definitely better than most. I have the raspberry flavour, by the way.

Strength: This is where it falls down a bit, in my opinion. Although it says serving size is one scoop, that probably lasts for… ooh, maybe two weeks before you need to step it up to two. At least. So bear that in mind when the tub says “100 servings”.

Pumps: When you’re on two scoops, White Flood’s pretty good for the price. You certainly can’t go wrong with a 40c serving (although it’s probably going to actually be 80c for most people). But yeah.. I definitely notice more of a pump when I’m on the two scoops with this. No doubt.

Focus: Although most pre-supps push the “focus” aspect of NO, I just don’t get it with White Flood.

Price: Pretty good! A 100 serve tub will set you back $40 at the moment, which is hard to turn down.

Overall Verdict: I’d recommend White Flood, if only for the value aspect of it. Sure, you may need to double up on the serves, but for that price and the pumps, it’s definitely worth it. I’m certainly going to be ordering another batch soon.

Items mentioned in today’s post:

Training with Injuries

Posted on May 13, 2011 by admin

Hardcore Stormies Hit The Gym

This is a bit of a different post today… it’s not really dealing with protein shakes or training supplements, but rather a “training tips” post. This was brought on by an injury I recently suffered, a dislocated shoulder.

The culprit? Dumbbell pullovers. I’m still not 100% sure what happened, but with the weight stepped up perhaps a bit too much, my shoulder popped right out of its socket during one of my sets. Rather than drop the thing on my head, I had to complete the movement with my shoulder grinding out of the socket. Luckily, it popped back in as I sat upright, so things could have been a lot worse. But, regardless, the damage was done, and while surgery wasn’t needed it has required quite a few trips to the physio, and seriously stepping off the gas when it comes to training. So I thought a post could come out of this, and hopefully it helps you if you’re ever injured in the future.

Training with injuries

First tip: Don’t return to training unless you have the go-ahead from your doctor or physio. I can’t emphasise this point enough. Everything else that follows needs to follow from this one point.

Go light

Seriously. Your worst enemy when you’re injured is your ego. When I first went back, I was so tempted to step things up a bit, but the physio had warned me absolutely nothing above 50% of my old weights for a few weeks. It’s hard not to jump back into it (especially when you’re getting strange looks at the low weights you’re on). Don’t give in, and stick with the light weights.

Higher Reps

Along with the above, step up the reps to compensate the lighter weights. Make sure you use keep the reps slow and concentrated, and feel the target muscle… be aware of your injury and keep an eye on it to feel how it is coping with the reps.
By performing frequent, low-intensity exercises, and higher reps, you can activate the injured area and accelerate the healing process by getting the muscles moving. Especially if you do it early on after the injury.

Partial Reps

If it’s just the full range of motion that is painful, then try going with partial reps. This means that you only lift in the strongest range of movement. Normally you’ll need to stick with the machines here instead of the free weights, unless you have a very patient spotter.

Take your time

The problem that you’ll find is once the pain seems to have moved on, you’ll be tempted to jump straight back into it. The reality though is that you will have lost more muscle than you would expect in your weeks off. So the worst thing you can do is step back up to the weights you were lifting before the injury. Your body simply won’t be ready for it, and all you’ll end up doing is reinjuring yourself. Sad, but true.

Use proper form

I’m still working on this one. I’m not sure what happened in my case, but I know my form was obviously slightly out, or this probably wouldn’t have happened.

Anyway, I hope this post helps you in your training. If you like these types of posts, let me know… otherwise I’ll stick with the product reviews

Image Via

Scivation Xtend Review

Posted on April 25, 2011 by admin

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted on here… I hope you’ve all been keeping up with your training. For me, I’ve just joined one of those 24/7 gyms, so I’m still trying to rejig my sessions to a later evening time. Anyway, enough about me, and on to the the reason for this post.

My latest purchase has been Scivation Xtend… which is supposed to promote recovery. First things first… the stores out here are charging RIDICULOUS amounts for this supplement. As I’ve written about before, I buy most of my stuff through bodybuilding.com these days. Even with shipping charges to Australia included, it’s still generally about a 30% saving, no bulldust.

But from bb.com, you can get a 90 serving of this for just AU$27, so really, you can’t beat that.
BUY HERE:
“SciVation Xtend, Refreshing Orange (1260g), 90 Servings”

So here’s the details from the manafacturer:

Xtend is a precise, scientific blend of Energy Aminos consisting of the surmised 2:1:1 ratio of Branched Chain Amino Acids (L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine and L-Valine), Glutamine, Citrulline Malate, and Vitamin B6 that will give you the energy you need to maximize your training while promoting recovery at the same time.* The advanced components in Xtend have been scientifically suggested to help speed recovery and enhance ATP production and promote cell volumization.* Avoid fatigue by blocking entry of fatigue-inducing tryptophan into the brain.* Support protein synthesis, immune function and digestive health.* Promote vasodilation which can lead to better assimilation and absorption of protein.* Elevate growth hormone levels.*

Here’s my review:
Taste: I get the refreshing orange flavour, and this is hands down the best tasting supplement I have ever had. I could drink this stuff non-stop. Beautiful.
Energy: Absolutely awesome on this stuff. It’s not specifically meant as a pre-workout boost, but I use it as an intra-workout drink (just sipping on it) and then down what I have left at the end of the session… and it keeps my energy levels up the whole workout.
Gains: Whether it’s the growth hormone levels being upped, or just the protein synthesis, I’m not sure, but when I’m taking this stuff, my gains are much more noticeable. And it’s that nice kind of lean gains, no fluff around the bits here.
Recovery: Super awesome. My fatigue levels are down, and my bounce back levels way up.

If this sounds like a glowing review, that’s because it is. I generally find I’m let down by a lot of stuff that’s built up as much as Scivation Xtend, but I’ve been so happy with this stuff I’m now on my third order of it.

So if you’re looking for something to add to your existing stack, consider giving Xtend a try. I don’t think you’ll regret it. You can order it using the below link.

Optimum Micronized Creatine Powder Review

Posted on February 16, 2011 by admin

Following on from our recent reviews, I thought I would put up another… this time, taking a look at the Optimum Micronized Creatine Powder that I recently ordered through bodybuilding.com (click here for a discussion about ordering from overseas/domestically).

First off, the details:

Each serving supplies a full 5 grams (5000 mg) of 99.9% pure Creapure(tm) brand Creatine Monohydrate. The patented production method used to produce this Creatine yields a tasteless, odorless powder that mixes easily into water or juice and does not readily settle to the bottom. As a result, the gritty taste or texture you may have experienced with other Creatine powders is not associated with this product.

Now, I have to be honest… the sales pitch is quite right, Optimum definitely has a far less gritty texture than you would expect.
The mix itself is great… mixes easily with water, and it’s micronised so it stays suspended in the solution for longer (less waste left at the bottom of your shaker).

The other MAJOR plus for this creatine is that I’ve experienced minimal bloat with it, unlike other creatine sources I’ve tried in the past.

Pumps are good on it… I’ve definitely noticed strength and size increasing in the month or so that I’ve been using, so would recommend it from that side of things.

And the clincher for me? The price. It’s probably the most cost-effective creatine supplement that actually works that I’ve come across. For example, at the moment you can grab the 1.2kg tub for just AU$28.97 (listed as US$28.99).

So if you’re in the market for some creatine to add to your supplement regime, I’d definitely suggest taking a look. You can click through to bodybuilding.com’s store using the below link.

Where do you get your training supplements from?

Posted on December 27, 2010 by admin

So here’s the thing. I am a diehard Nutrition Warehouse fan. I love the guys at my local store, who are always full of great advice. They have a nice little loyalty scheme going (although I wish your “points” that you accrue with each purchase didn’t expire each year) which keeps me coming back.

But, with the Aussie dollar doing its thing in the last few months, I think I might be switching allegiances to an overseas supplier

But, with the Aussie dollar doing its thing in the last few months, I think I might be switching allegiances to an overseas supplier… namely, Bodybuilding.com. Now, before anyone accuses me of being unpatriotic, let’s look at the facts. First off, we’ll look at shipping (usually the killer when shipping from overseas) and price differences between the actual stores.
So here what bodybuilding.com has to say about their shipping to Australia:

We have worked hard to find the best possible shipping methods to Australia! Our goal has always been to make it easy for people outside of the USA to order from us. We get many e-mails from customers who appreciate our fast and reliable international shipping.

We have experience shipping hundreds of thousands of packages to almost every country in the world! We have found the best possible shipping methods for you.

Australia Post (5-12 Days) – Rates starting at $5 USD: Our Australian customers will receive their packages via the Australian Postal administration. Once packages have shipped out from our warehouses they will arrive at one of the Australian Post sorting facilities within five to twelve days, if not sooner! Most orders down under arrive well within the twelve business day timeframe, so don’t delay, order today! Unfortunately due to the injection of this method into the Postal stream, tracking is NOT available for this shipping option.

FedEx Australia Express Shipping (3-7 Days) – Rates starting at just $17 USD: Australia Express shipping is an exciting new shipping method for our friends down under! Shipping times are incredibly fast, with most orders to Australia delivered within two to five days! Make sure to choose this option if you want quick delivery with en route tracking to Australia at a reasonable price! Look for this option under the “Delivery Method” dropdown menu on the Cart page.

*As long as your order before shipping is less than 1,000$AUD there will be ZERO Customs Duties/Taxes assessed at the border!*

So, shipping sounds pretty good. But here’s where the main difference lies: in the store prices.

Here’s the list of what I’m looking to get:

1. PrimaForce D-Aspartic Acid, 100 Grams
2. Scivation Xtend, 90 servings
3. Optimum Micronized Creatine Powder, 1200 Grams
4. Optimum 100% Whey Protein, 5 Lbs., Chocolate Malt

So let’s look at how much that costs at each respective store. Going to Nutrition Warehouse, each of the items (according to their online store) is as follows:

1. PrimaForce D-Aspartic Acid, 100 Grams – $59.95
2. Scivation Xtend, 90 servings – $99.95
3. Optimum Micronized Creatine Powder, 1200 Grams – $82.95
4. Optimum 100% Whey Protein, 5 Lbs., Chocolate Malt – $89.95

Total: $332.80

Going to Bodybuilding.com, each of the items (according to their online store) is as follows… bear in mind this is in US$, which at current rates today is getting you 99.95 AU$… yes, AU is slightly over US today) :

1. PrimaForce D-Aspartic Acid, 100 Grams – $21.99
2. Scivation Xtend, 90 servings – $49.99
3. Optimum Micronized Creatine Powder, 1200 Grams – $27.99
4. Optimum 100% Whey Protein, 5 Lbs., Chocolate Malt – $43.99

Shipping to Australia: $72.14 (obviously because of the 5lb Whey)

Total: $216.10

So, even INCLUDING international shipping direct to my door, the total savings on just 4 items from bodybuilding.com as opposed to Nutrition Warehouse is $116.70. For a regular shopper, that type of savings will add up to thousands very quickly.

So yes, I know this is turning nto a bit of an advertisement for the bodybuilding.com guys, but I can – with 100% honesty – say that I was amazed by the savings I could have got on my last few supplement purchases… so I thought I would pass it on to you. If you’re interested in browsing the bodybuilding.com store, just click through the below link:

Bodybuilding.com = #1 Online Health and Fitness Supersite!

Items mentioned in today’s post:

Gaspari Superpump 250 Review

Posted on December 17, 2010 by admin

Continuing on with our recent reviews (see our last of Mammoth Anabolix Mass Gainer here), the next product we’ve sampled is the Gaspari Superpump 250. Not a protein shake, we know… but many of our readers no doubt take pre-training supplements, so we thought it might be of interest.

First off, here are the necessary nutrition facts:

o Servings Per Container: 40
o Calories: 32
o Fat Calories: 0
o Total Fat (g) 0
o Sat. Fat (g) 0
o Cholesterol (mg) 0
o Sodium (mg) 180
o Potassium (mg) 90
o Total Carbs (g) 8
o Dietary Fiber (g) 0
o Sugars (g) 0
o Proteins (g) 0
o Vitamin B-6 (mg) 25
o Vitamin B-12 (mcg) 140
o Folic Acid (mcg) 420
o Magnesium (mg) 350
o Phosphorus (mg) 280

SuperPump250 contains: Malic Acid, Maltodextrin, Citric Acid, Potassium Phosphate, Xanthan Gum, Natural Orange Flavor, Magnesium Phosphate, Magnesium Oxide, Sucralose, Beta Carotene.

First up, taste:
I mistakenly ordered the “Fruit Punch” flavour, which was obviously always going to be a mistake. So the Gaspari Superpump gets a raw deal here, as I’ll be blunt: the flavour was terrible. Not sure what it was, but (in the recommended amount of water), it was a really sharp, sugary taste… something you had to chug back quickly, that’s for sure.

Consistency:
Likewise, while it mixed fairly well with water, in the recommended amount of water the consistency was very grainy. Also, a side note here, but the amount that stuck to the sides of the shake bottle was quite surprising.

Here’s where things get difficult… digestibility:
Now, Gaspari Superpump is very clear on one thing: for those who are sensitive to stimulants, you definitely want to start on this by taking no more than half of the recommended amount. That’s 2-3 scoops on training days 30 minutes before your workout, so those sensitive should start on one scoop. Which I did.
Now, I’m not much of a caffeine man, so I knew it was going to be a process that my body needed to get accustomed to. That said, I still cannot believe how much this stuff disagreed with me. Within minutes of consuming, my stomach felt like it was in knots, and – to be honest – it almost had the same effect that feelings of panic have on you. Still, I persevered taking the supplement, but after 3 weeks I had to call it quits. It really was that bad.

To be clear: I generally consider myself to have an iron stomach. I can keep pretty much anything down, and can’t remember the last time I’ve had stomach trouble (even during travels to less salubrious destinations). But I guess this stuff was just my kryptonite.

Effectiveness:
Was it effective though? Sure, I noticed a lift in my pumps from pretty much the first week of use. But the amount of difference it made to my workouts really wasn’t worth that constant nervous feeling in the stomach, for me.

Overall? It could be for you, but I’d suggest sampling someone else’s first (anyone want the rest of mine?) before shelling out for the 800g tub, which normally goes for about $80.

Anyone have a better experience than me?

Anabolix Mammoth Mass Gainer Review

Posted on October 8, 2010 by admin

After spending a couple of months on the BSC Mass Gainer shakes, I decided to switch things up a bit and – on the advice of one of the super friendly dudes at my local protein shop – give the Anabolix Mammoth mass gainer shakes a go.

It’s now been a month and a half, and I think I can now give a balanced review for the Anabolix Mammoth shakes.

So the first thing:
I was told the taste was second to none. We all know that taste in protein shakes can vary hugely; there are those that taste like you’re biting back chalk dust, and those that are sweet to the point of making you feel sick. The Anabolix Mammoth shakes skew more towards the “extremely sweet” end of the scale, but not to the point of sickly sweet. However, on first swig I certainly wouldn’t have put it as the best I’d ever tasted. Perhaps I was just used to the BSC shakes, but this was… too malty, or something.
That said, after over a month on them, I must say that the taste has certainly grown on me.
Taste: A-

Consistency:
It’s a fairly thick shake, but easy enough to chug down fairly quickly. Again, takes a while to get used to, but overall good.
Grade: A

Protein Blend:
As a mass gainer, Anabolix Mammoth is obviously different to drinking a WPI or WPC shake. The blend on Anabolix is a scientifically formulated protein to carbohydrate blend of 50/50. That said, the protein is definitely enough to help repair muscles after a tough workout, although probably not as noticeable as the BSC shakes. But, as a mass gainer, that’s not the point.

Anabolix Mammoth also has a major advantage over the BSC protein shakes in that Anabolix also gives you:

2000mg creatine
5000mg of glutamine*
1000mg Arginine (Nitric Oxide)

This combination exceeds the standards of regular mass gainers and then some. So the selling point on the Anabolix Mammoth is that Mammoth contains the bioactive protein Whey Protein Concentrate with muscle recovery and stimulating amino acids, while also boasting high levels of Glutamine, Arginine and Creatine.

Enough already… how about results:
After just a month and a half using Anabolix Mammoth, I’ve definitely noticed an improved in muscle mass. Strength and endurance seems to be up, although at those levels it’s hard to say whether that’s simply a placebo effect of creatine or whether the creatine is actually ramping it up. There’s probably a slightly above average increase around the old mid-section than there normally is with other mass gainers, but nothing that throwing a bit more cardio into the workout plan won’t solve… and at least it’s clear that you’re being put in a positive nitrous state for maximum muscle growth. Overall, I’ll be sticking with the Anabolix Mammoth Mass Gainer for the rest of this year at least.

For those interested, here’s the nutritional information below.

How much protein do I need?

Posted on August 10, 2010 by admin

The question of “How much protein do I need?” comes up often in conversation, so we thought it best to deal with the issue here on the blog.

(Side note: Hi, by the way.Yes, we’re bringing this blog back from its hiatus of almost two years. Did’ja miss us? We’ll be aiming to update this more regularly from now on, with at least a monthly post, but obviously trying to post even more often than that should time allow).

Ahem… where were we? So, back onto the question of how much protein you should be aiming to get into your diet, provided that you’re following an active lifestyle with at least a few gym sessions throughout the week.

A general rule of thumb is to aim for at least a gram of protein per pound of body weight. So for those of us working on the metric system, as in Australia, we’ll convert that. There are 2.2 pounds to one kilogram, roughly speaking. So if 1 gram of protein per every pound is the goal, then for every kilogram you should be aiming to get about 0.45g of protein daily… and that’s really a minimum. If you’re looking to gain weight or pack on muscle, then really you’ll be looking to up that amount to between 0.75 – 1g at least.

Take me as an example. I’m 85kg at the moment. Going by the bare minimum of 0.45g protein per kg body weight, that means that realistically speaking I should be packing in at LEAST 38g worth of protein into my daily diet. But, of course if I’m looking for a 0.75g dose per kg, then that takes it up to around 64g protein per day.

Looking at that figure, it’s pretty clear that I supplement my daily diet with protein shakes, using different protein powders in order to reach that goal. Generally speaking, most protein powders will supply you with between 20 – 30g of protein per serve, but be sure to read the label to make sure you’re not being gipped.

Any questions?

How to choose the right Protein Powder

Posted on January 4, 2009 by admin

There’s a worthwhile post to read over at the Examiner examining what factors to use when deciding upon the right protein powder for you. It’s just a short post, but echoes many of our own thoughts. For example, the article says:

There are two different types of whey protein: whey protein isolate and whey protein concentrate. Always buy the powder that has whey protein isolate as the first ingredient. This is a better quality protein and is worth every penny. When it comes to price, quality is important.

Yep, we agree there, and say so on our Whey Protein Powders page.

Try to drink a protein shake before and after workouts and before bed to preserve hard-earned muscle.

We might quibble over just how essential it is to consume a protein shake before your workout as well as afterwards (personally, most of us only do the “post-workout” shake, which is of course mandatory), but we’re agreed with the author over the value of a protein-shake prior to bed. It definitely brings some great results.

As we say… worth the few seconds it takes to read the post.