THE BEST PROTEIN SHAKES

Protein shakes are a necessity for anyone interested in  Muscle building or simply just exercising. This is mainly because protein is the building block of muscles and global diets are often lacking in the amount of protein needed to keep the body in fat burning mode as against fat storing mode. For fat burning, the percentage of protein has to be the highest in your meal whereas for muscle building, you might want to maintain a balance between your carbs and protein. Your carbs would provide energy for the weight and strength training, while the protein taken before and after workout would help with the muscle building.

Before workouts, protein shake would help to burn up your energy reserves and after workouts, the protein shake would help repair and build the muscle. While setting up your home gym, you should also  set aside some money for protein shakes.

The amount of protein daily requirement for men and women is between 0.5 to 0.8 grams to each pound of body weight.

Protein calculator

 Meaning, say you are 77kg in weight or about 180 pounds, you would be required to take 90 to 144 grams of protein daily. For a regular guy with little or moderate exercise routine, 0.5grams to one pound would be okay, while an intense body weight lifter might want to take up 0.8 grams.

Contrary to popular opinion, 1 gram to one pound of body weight is too much for the body and the body would simply convert the excess protein to fat. A lot of times, you would come across these body builders in the gym with the bouncer kind of look, which makes it impossible to tell if the guy is really pumping iron or just licking butter. A lot of times, these guys workout a lot and then go the route that Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Mackie went in preparing for their roles in Pain and Gain 

The Rock is the only one with actual muscle right here

. They take too much protein and they became bulky as against having proper muscle definition and being ripped. Of course, genetics also has a major role to play in how your muscles are formed and shaped , but back to protein shakes.

To effectively measure the amount of protein you consume per day and ensuring that you don’t overdo it, it is important to have a little food weighing scale. Rounding up grams and pounds in your head while you eat is synonymous to filing your taxes in your head.

Now we know why flo rida looks like this.

The RDA for men and women of 77kg is about 61 grams, so with your workout you are taking a little above the recommended amount. Remember this should make up  at least 35% of your calorie intake with carbs and others taking the rest

Why take protein shakes?

Simple.  Most of our foods, the world over, don’t serve enough proteins. At times, when they do,  it comes from animal sources which in most cases comes with its own share of problems. With animal protein such as beef, you now have to start worrying about the state of the cows killed , if they were organic or not, if they were killed because they got sick or if you are a PETA member , why they were killed at all. With animal proteins, especially red meat you have a higher risk of heart disease or cardiovascular disease, kidney stones and even cancer. Protein shakes then come into the mix.

The best protein shakes are the plant based protein shakes, although most of them are usually left in the back burner for whey and casein protein shakes.

What is the difference between whey and casein and which is better?

Whey and Casein are simply biological brothers, with one taking all the shine. WHEY!. Whey digests quicker and comes in handy immediately after workouts as it can be quickly absorbed by the body and has a biological value of 104, casein digests slowly and is not efficiently used by the body , the fact that it stays in the body longer might also be good for curbing appetite. However both whey and casein promote muscle growth with no remarkable difference between them. Protein shakes that combine whey and casein is preferred. In milk , for instance, 80 % of the protein in it is whey (the liquid portion) while the rest is casein (the curd).

The Best Protein Shakes.

11.  True Vitality Plant Protein Shake: 

      This is not by popular opinion, but this plant protein shake is good. It’s comparatively cheap and actually contains protein extracted from plants with digestive enzymes in tow. Okay no BS! It tastes like sawdust and doesn’t mix well without a blender bottle. For me the chocolate flavor is worse, but this protein shake is by far the healthiest and clean especially if you have issues digesting protein.

1b. Amazing Grass Green SuperFood: 

Okay, this is actually not a protein shake , it’s a blend of fruits and a lot of herbs but it goes well with smoothies, revitalizes, alkalizes , detoxes and helps with good skin. 

2  2.  Optimium Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard: 

     This whey protein isn’t as cheap as the others, but is the most recommended by trainers and gym instructors. I personally don’t get the hype though, but it is said to be the best quality of whey protein. It doesn’t taste bad either and mixes instantly. It is however recommended to be taken three times a day. First thing in the morning, pre-workouts and post workouts. There is a truckload of flavors and sizes and every gym junkie would claim to have taken it at one time or the other.

3.   3.   BSN SYNTHA Protein Powder.

If you have a sweet tooth and taste plays a major determinant for putting anything in your buccal cavity, then this protein shake is for you. The peanut butter is one of the sweetest. What you have to know though, is peanut butter is 25% protein and 50% fat, so in addition to your protein a lot of fat is added just to make it taste good for you. It comes in about 9 flavors and several variants and can also be pricey.

4.       4. MUSCLE TECH NITROTECH

Nitrotech is a protein shake that is as good as it sounds, not very soluble but well prepared and remarkable good for muscle growth. Within weeks of taking this, mixed with appropriate diet and exercise, you would see remarkable muscle definition, which is exactly what you wanted in the first place.

5.      .5. MUSCLE PHARM COMBAT POWDER

 

Great tasting protein shake, takes like cookies and cream, it goes a long way in curbing appetite and it is also very easy to blend, with glutamine added to aid muscle recovery. It is one protein shake that give optimum nutrition a run for it’s money. It however seems to live a little after taste.

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SETTING UP A HOME GYM WITH LESS THAN $1000

Setting up a home gym with $1000

The advantages of having home gym equipment is simply numerous. Most gyms are not located close to residential areas and most times, people have to waste time traveling to their gyms , only to get there and wait for guys trying to show off while using the gym equipment wrongly before they are able to use the equipment. In some cases, if you are not working out at a very expensive gym, you are likely to meet every tom, dick and harry in the gym, trying to workout or just be seen in a gym.
Personal home Gymnasium has seen a steady increase with statista.com reporting about 25.4 million in the us, participating in some form of home gym activity.

Setting up a home gym would eliminate travel costs, subscription costs and of course all inconveniences associated with using a public gym
Another very important advantage of setting up a home gym is that gym equipment mostly last forever except you buy a fake, while a gym membership lasts for only the amount of time , it’s paid for.

RELATED: THE BEST PROTEIN SHAKES

Despite all these advantages, it is pertinent to note that you should only set up a home gym if you meet the following criteria.

       1. You are relatively in shape and have used gym equipment before

       2. You are self motivated to exercise everyday and would feel extremely uncomfortable if you didn’t exercise even for a day.

      3. You have a space where gym equipment can be mounted, either a garage, a spare room, somewhere private

Without meeting this criteria, the home gym equipment would just be another prop on the scene in which your life is played, another useless accessory which would end up in a yard sale or ebay , another piece of crap that would remind you of how you have wasted your money and achieved nothing in return.

Gym equipment are relatively expensive, especially when they have some hyped up celebrity endorsement mixed with marketing gimmicks. It is important however to be able to set up a  home gym equipment that would effectively work all muscle groups of your body without breaking your bank.

First before we start churning out names of gym equipment and what they are used for, it is also important to note that you can be your own gym according to Mark Lauren , the author of you are your own gym. Mark teaches how to  use absolutely  no gym equipment to get in shape.  After a little preamble on how to gain lean muscle , shed fat and boast metabolism, he dives into each muscle group exercises, with detailed explanation and pictorial references.

Who needs a barbell when you've got Mark?

You might also consider taking up yoga with Dean Pohlman, the Manflow Yoga, he is the author of Yoga Basics for men. He also runs Yoga Skype training and  has tons of serious Yoga routines  for men and women. In this case all, you would need is  a    yoga mat, in the comfort of your room with dean's sensual voice ripping your muscles to shreds.

This yoga is not for pussies, just look at his chest.

However if you are dead serious about setting up a cheap home gym, then  here is

HOW TO SET UP A HOME GYM  WHILE ON A BUDGET

Chances are when you want to start buying equipment , you have money for just one equipment. In this case you would need to buy one single gym  equipment that you can use to workout all your muscle groups. Always ensure you workout all muscle groups, that would ensure that you are proportional and you don’t suffer from back pain due to body misalignment.  Here is a pictorial representation of the muscle groups of the body.

This picture belongs to bodybuilding.com, it's just borrowed.

EQUIPMENT ONE: BARBELL $489


One single gym equipment to buy  to    kick start your cheap home gym set up is the International Olympic Set (US version weighted in Pounds) for  $489 or Bodymax 145kg Olympic Cast Barbell Kit (UK version weighted in kg) for $355.  Buying brand new is  usually advised for gym equipment but unless it is bent or had experienced a major defect, you might be able to get something cheaper on Craigslist, yard sales, or someone who had just realized he wasted his money buying a barbell because they were never going to use it.

 Now with this barbell you can work all your muscle groups as follows.

 BICEPS:  Barbell Curl , Wide Grip Standing Barbell Curl, Drag Curl

CALVES: Rocking Standing Calve Raise, Standing Barbell Calve Raise

FOREARMS: Palms-Down Wrist Curl Over A Bench, Standing Palms-Up Barbell Behind The Back Wrist Curl

HAMSTRINGS: Clean Deadlift , Hang snatch

QUADRICEPS: BarBell Squat, BarBell Walking Lunge, Clean from Block

TRAPS: Barbell Shrug, Clean Shrug

ABDOMINAL: Landmine 180, Bar Bell Ab Rollout ,

BACK: Deficit Deadlift , one arm long bar roll

CHEST: Barbell Bench Press (you can use a low makeshift table)

GLUTES: Barbell Glute Bridge

LATS: Bent Arm Barbell Pullover

NECK: Lying Face Down Plate Neck Resistance

SHOULDERS: clean and jerk, clean and press

TRICEPS: Floor Press

 EQUIPMENT TWO: Dumb Bells $49.99 (OPTION TO ONE)

This could pass more for sex toys than gym equipment

If $400 dollars is still way above your initial budget to set up a home gym and you missed out on all Craigslist listing of bar bell sets, then you can opt for dumb bells which start at $10 dollars. Dumb bells is  rightfully called because it would be dumb for anyone not to buy the barbell set instead. Alright, they are so called because when they originated,  the weights were from bells without clappers that couldn’t ring hence were called dumb. With a dumb  bell which you would have to keep buying as you get more comfortable with the weights, you can workout all muscle groups with these exercises.

BICEPS: Flexor Incline Dumbbell Curls

CALVES: Standing Dumbbell Calf raise

FOREARMS: Dumbell Lying supination

HAMSTRINGS: Vertical Swing , Stiff Legged dumbbell deadlift

QUADRICEPS: Dumbell Squat, Dumbell rear lunge

TRAPS: Dumbell Shrug

ABDOMINAL: Spell Caster, Dumbell side Bend

BACK: Bent over two dumbell row

CHEST: Dumbbell Bench Press

SHOULDERS: Arnold Dumb bell Press, Dumbbell shoulder press

TRICEPS: Dumbbell Floor Press

GYM EQUIPMENT CAUTION

Don’t buy into the workout resolution frenzy of buying a treadmill or a spin bicycle. Cardio training is one of the commonest forms of aerobic training and aerobic training causes muscle wasting which leads  to muscle loss and endurance over time except of cause, you want to  look like the Kenyan Olympic marathon runners.

These guys don't even have treadmills and they are not on a budget

Instead of treadmills get a skipping rope and skip in your home gym, do jumping jacks or follow this BeFit 90 days fitness video everyday with Samantha. If you want to run, sprints are much more effective than jogging, running as fast as your feet can carry you ,can’t be done on most treadmills

EQUIPMENT THREE: SUSPENSION ROPE $49.95

As the muscles, keep coming, the money keep coming and you start getting hornier, buy a suspension rope , you can use these videos to  know what to do with them.

How to become a Monkey

EQUIPMENT FOUR: WEIGHT BENCH $160

Weight bench

Next on your list should be an adjustable weight bench, with leg developer, costing just about $160.   and to  top up your home gym equipment purchase, get yourself

EQUIPMENT FIVE: POWER RACK $300

.. A power rack that is well made can be used for pull ups and squats. A power rack towering over your home gym is the mark of home gym greatness and  good financial planning.

Okay this one sells for more than $300 and doesn't even come with the guy.

 Now lets arrange  in order of importance

1.       Olympic bar bell set $ 489

2.       Dumb bells / Kettlle bells $50

3.       Suspension ropes $50

4.       Adjustable bench $160

5.       Power rack  $300

To spice up your gym, you might want to buy good speakers to ease your workouts as music has been known to alleviate workout pain and help people find rhythm in their workouts. Posters of a completely ripped model might also serve as a good motivation. A yoga mat for stretches can also be later added in the mix as well as    foam rollers for self massage.

Finally one health equipment that you can indulge yourself with is the Fitbit HR watch or the more accurate Mio Fuse. It tracks exercises, heart rate, quality of sleep and some other health data that might be useful to a gym junkie.

Sometimes we do

Well your home gym is set up, then in a couple of months you should look like me this

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