Published on: 10-May-2023
If you’re into fitness and spend countless hours in the gym, there may come a time when you think that your workout routine is not working anymore. Many people experience it from time to time, which is why they look for things that can make their time in the gym more productive with faster results. And one thing that they often go for is protein shakes.
Protein shakes are made from protein powder that claims to boost your gains, giving you more muscle mass, endurance, and even motivation. It’s also popular, and you might have heard about protein shakes from one of your gym bros. What are protein shakes and their benefits to us as gym goers?
What are Protein Shakes?
As mentioned, protein shakes are made from dry protein powders derived from animal and plant-based protein sources. Usually, they come with flavor to make the shakes more delicious, but the regular ones usually come unflavored. These protein powders can usually be mixed with milk, water, or almost any other liquid to create some kind of smoothie for easier consumption and digestion.
Health enthusiasts often mix them with fruits and veggies to make them healthier for the body. There are several types of protein sources where these powders come from, like casein, creatine, soy, whey, etc. So, what do they do? The general gist of it is that it boosts our muscle gains by supplying more protein to our muscles, helping them grow bigger and stronger after quite some time with regular consumption. Here are some of the benefits:
Helps with Weight-Loss
Eating High-Protein Foods with Few Calories, including protein shakes, can make you feel fuller, faster, and longer after consumption. That said, feeling full after a small consumption of protein-rich food will make you crave food less, meaning you’re eating less with smaller portions.
This can help you lessen your weight or at least help you maintain a lower BMI. This is helpful if you’re trying to lose weight as fast as possible before the summer arrives or at least if you already have a personally acceptable weight and want to maintain it.
Muscle Growth
Muscle growth is probably the most common reason for protein shakes. So why isn’t it the first in this list? No particular reason, but many athletes, bodybuilders, or gym enthusiasts commonly consume protein shakes for more gains and to add athletic abilities to their arsenal.
With a steady supply of protein offered by protein shakes, your muscles will significantly grow bigger and stronger after regular consumption. Not only that but because of bigger gains, you can move on to more intense workouts if you want to go to the next level. Most importantly, however, the result is the same for both men and women, but especially for older people who need to maintain a healthy dose of protein for their bodies.
Faster Recovery
Apart from giving you more gain, it can also help you recover faster. Everyone experiences being sore the next day after a full day of intense workouts. The pain can be so debilitating that it hinders us from doing other activities that require using our muscles, which is practically every activity there is.
But with protein shakes that help with muscle synthesis, your muscles will be remade stronger and faster, which means your downtime in the gym will be much shorter, allowing you to spend more time gaining muscle.
Helpful with Protein Deficiency
Protein is usually consumed from red meats, fish, chicken, etc. Some veggies also have their protein but not as much as meats. That said, there is a recommended daily intake of protein which can be hard to be met by vegans since they can’t eat meat. With protein, however, they can meet this requirement without eating meat.
Boosts Metabolism
Metabolism is an efficient process in our bodies. It involves many activities like fat burning, calorie burning, etc. That said, because you’re using protein shakes to give your muscles fuel for repairing and rebuilding your muscles after an intense workout, your body will start burning more fats during your workouts, which is essential if you’re trying to lose some weight.
With consistent workouts and protein consumption that can increase lean mass, your body will be burning more fats and calories for fuel, which is caused by your increased metabolism. It’s a cycle like a full package of health benefits for your body that you can get just from eating protein.
Final Words
If you regularly go to the gym and haven’t heard of protein shakes yet, then we’ll assume you live in a cave. Nevertheless, suppose you want to make the most of your gym time, increase your muscle mass, and recover faster. In that case, you might consider incorporating protein shakes into your workout routine.
