Peanut butter and jelly. Movies and popcorn. Thanksgiving and football.
All three are great combos, as are diet and exercise.
When it comes to building a lean physique worthy of admiration from your peers or developing the power and strength to maximize your game, you’ll need to put in some quality time at the gym. That’s a given.
But, all that hard work will be for nothing if you don’t fuel your muscles with the right building blocks to help them recover. That’s where a high-quality protein supplement can come in as a crucial ally in your sports nutrition stash.
How Much Protein Do We Need?
If you’re serious about your training goals, you’ll need to supply your muscles with key amino acids after each workout and throughout the day to drive the muscle recovery process.1 As for how much protein you need on a daily basis, the International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends an overall daily intake of 1.4 to 2g of protein per kilogram of body weight for most exercising individuals wishing to support lean muscle gains.2 For practical purposes, this works out to about 1g of protein per pound of body weight per day for athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike. So, if you weigh 150 lbs., you should be taking in about 150g of protein daily at a minimum, spread throughout the day.
Unlike the early days of sports nutrition, today there’s a plethora of protein options being marketed as new and innovative offerings. These run the gamut from seemingly unfathomable and unpalatable insect protein powders to lab-grown meat and plant proteins. While there may be some merit to them – since all proteins provide amino acids – there’s currently no definitive body of research to show that any of these esoteric protein sources supersede the raw musclebuilding and recovery power of whey. This dairy-derived protein is a classic staple for many people because it features a complete source of all the essential, dispensable and conditionally essential amino acids that your body can use to maximize recovery and build serious lean muscle gains.2,3 In fact, whey protein is sought after by various athletes, fitness enthusiasts and active lifestyle protein pundits who want the highest caliber amino acid source with the maximum biological value (BV) – a measure of how well a protein is absorbed and assimilated into the body. Indeed, whey protein tips the BV scale with an outstanding score of 104.3
Protein Purity
To make things a little more complex, just as when you go to the gas station to refill your car, you can also find various “octanes” of whey protein on the market today. These are generally categorized by their degree of purity, owing to the amount of processing and refinement applied to the powder to enhance the percentage of the protein content. This is accomplished by reducing the amount of undesirable compounds such as lactose and fat via special membrane filtration systems or ion exchange methods. Whey protein concentrate generally supplies up to 80% protein on a gram-for-gram basis of the crude raw protein powder before inclusion of the flavoring systems. For those looking for a concentration of at least 90% protein before the addition of flavoring systems, a whey isolate product is an attractive proposition. An isolate offers the benefits of whey protein while minimizing carbs, fats, lactose and cholesterol. It’s like buying the highest octane fuel for your luxury car, only this time, you’re the one-of-a-kind exotic sedan that demands the best musclebuilding and recovery fuel!
Isolate Formulas
Admittedly, whey isolate formulas have been on the market for a long time, usually in typical thick milkshake flavors like chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. While these are steadfast favorites for many, perhaps you’re looking for a change – a new “whey” to support your active lifestyle goals. That’s where the MuscleTech research and product development team has you covered. They’ve developed new Iso Whey Clear, a refreshing spin on the mundane whey isolate formula. It’s engineered to be a premium isolate, delivering a light and crisp, flavorful experience. Iso Whey Clear has 22g of protein per serving from an ultra-pure whey isolate that’s chock full of all 9 essential amino acids, including the BCAAs (L-leucine, L-isoleucine and L-valine) needed to support effective recovery from your workouts. And if that’s not enough, the formula also delivers a special enzymatic complex called ProHydrolase® to help break down protein. In a human clinical study, it was shown to improve protein absorption by 20% compared to taking regular whey protein alone. Most experts would think that whey is already so effective that it’s hard to squeeze any more efficiencies from it. But, adding ProHydrolase® is like adding an afterburner to your turbojet engine to maximize thrust and horsepower!
Iso Whey Clear puts a new twist on humdrum whey isolates with its refreshing, light and crisp fruit flavors, as well as its easy mixability. Enhanced with the enzymatic matrix ProHydrolase®, this formula represents a new and innovative class of premium isolate – engineered for the fastest and most efficient delivery of amino acids. It’s easy to see why Iso Whey Clear is by far one of the best ultra-pure protein formulas that you can get today, hands down – and it’s from MuscleTech.
References:
- Kerksick et al., International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Nutrient Timing. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2008; 5:17.
- Jäger et al., International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Protein and Exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2017; 14:20.
- Hoffman, J.R. & Falvo, M.J. Protein – Which is best? Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 2004; 3:118-130.
