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How and when to take Whey Protein
It is quite frequent in the sports context, and specifically within the scope of supplementation, hear about the "Protein" or "Whey Protein". But are correct use guidelines to optimize sports performance? For example, what type of protein, when to take it, how to take it, in what dose, with what objective, etc.
This article will try to clarify all these concepts so that the consumer has all the relevant information in order to use this supplement in the best possible way.
What is Whey protein?
The proteins are Macronutrients With a clear structural function, that is, its role is based on the construction and regeneration of tissues. That is why its consumption is essential for growth, muscle development and tissue repair. All these aspects make protein consumption key to athletes well for the purpose of muscle mass gain or for post -effort recovery.
Normally proteins are consumed through the usual diet of an athlete with eggs, meats, fish, dairy or with plant sources such as peas, nuts, soybeans.
So, if proteins can be ingested with the diet, Why are supplementation with protein preparations resort to? Well for several reasons:
- Because the protein contribution of the diet may not be sufficient in some cases
- To increase the availability of blood amino acids
- For logistics reasons, because in many occasions the athlete may not have access to natural food post training or competition
Or even for all the above circumstances. That is why it is used to eat protein or powdered protein shakes called "Whey Protein." But what really? Well, simply with the translation of English, we would be talking about milk serum protein.
The Whey protein It comes from the milk serum, from cow normally. After an acidification process, the milk serum is separated, from which after firing this liquid, this product is marketed in the form of dust and is what is called Whey protein.
Now, are all Whey protein preparations equal? The answer is no. It will depend on the concentration of proteins it contains, so there will be four types of “protein”:
- Whey protein: It contains between 30-80 % protein
- Whey protein concentrate: guarantees 80 % protein
- Isolated Whey Protein (Iolate): guarantees 90 % protein after an extra elaboration process that eliminates fats and sugars
- Whey hydrolyzed protein: Pre -digested protein for a theoretical better absorption
Basically the difference between them lies in the price, taste and quality of the protein, being recommended to use Whey protein with 75-90% concentration fundamentally.
The quality of these products is based on the inclusion of all essential amino acids, compared to other protein products or products that contain only some types of amino acids such as casein or branched chain amino acids (BCAA).
How to take the Whey protein?
To know how to take the protein the first thing is to know what objective is pursued and What are the needs of protein intake per day, as well as the sports modality that is practiced.
Taking into account all this, the following classification can be done:
Strength sports
They normally seek an increase in muscle mass or maintenance of it. To do this A protein intake is recommended per day of 2-3 grams of protein per kg of body mass.
Resistance sports
In these sports the needs of protein intake is lower, being around 1.5-2 grams of protein per kg of body mass. However, in nutritional and training programs whose objective is the reduction of fat mass or increase in muscle mass, these amounts may vary and increase up to 2-2.5 grams of protein per kg of body mass.
Taking these references into account, and calculating total daily needs, Whey protein can be included within that total protein intake. For example:
- 90 kg force athlete = need for intake of 180-270 grams of protein per day
- 70 kg resistance athlete = need for intake of 105-175 grams of protein per day
Thus, including throughout the day a Whey protein shake with the standard doses, they would take 22 grams of high quality protein and with essential amino acids rich in leucina, and must discount this amount of total protein necessary per day, contributing the rest mainly with the diet.
Normally protein shakes are usually prepared in water, however some athletes prepare these milk shakes, with this it must be taken into account that the nutritional composition of the shake would change, adding calories, fats, carbohydrates and of course more proteins.
The following table compares the composition of a Whey protein shake prepared in water against the same Whey protein shake prepared in 250 ml of half -nacked milk.
| Product | Whey Protein 226ers + 250 ml water | Whey Protein 226ers + 250 ml Semi -cited milk |
| Energy (kcal) | 118 | 225 |
| Protein (g) | 22 | 31 |
| Carbohydrates (G) | 2 | 14 |
| Fats (g) | 2 | 6 |
When to take the Whey protein?
To establish the right time or timing of intake of a Whey protein shake, it is necessary to know 2 issues:
- Recommended protein intake timing
- Specific training needs
Regarding the first, it is important to know that the organism is constantly "repairing and manufacturing" tissues, this means that protein intake must be constantly and regularly in 4-6 hours intervals. This implies that the moments of the day to take protein would be the following:
- Breakfast
- Snack mid -morning / training
- Meal
- Mid -afternoon snack / training
- Dinner
- Pre-Cama
With the examples set forth above, the recommended protein intake timing for an athlete would be as follows:
- 90 kg force athlete = need for intake of 180-270 grams of protein per day
Total intake is distributed in 6 shots, which would imply that each of them should contain a protein contribution of approximately 30-45 grams.
- 70 kg resistance athlete = need for intake of 105-175 grams of protein per day
Total intake is distributed in 5-6 shots, which would imply that each of them should contain a protein contribution of approximately 20-30 grams.
From this point of view, food and dinner would not be adequate moments to add a Whey Protein shake, since it is quite easy to include protein through natural food. Therefore the use of protein shakes, snacks or before going to bed would be relegated.
If you are interested in incorporating Whey Protein in your routine, we invite you
How is the optimal moment decided?
Simple. In the first place, it should be avoided exclusively of protein milkshakes, so It is advisable to limit these products to 1-2 a day and on the other hand, training needs should be taken into account.
The Whey Protein Shakes They can be used to enrich breakfast if with the usual food choice of the athlete the protein needs are not covered, or take a shake before sleeping to favor anabolism and recovery in the intensified weeks of training.
However, it is preferable to give priority to Whey protein shake When training, which is the time where blood amino acid availability speed can be important for the recovery or assimilation of training. Thus, if an athlete performs a morning or afternoon training session, he can take the opportunity to take that Whey protein shake at the end of training, or even during the same if it is a strength training.
Another recommended option to take a protein shake would be in fasting training in order to preserve muscle mass and avoid muscle catabolism.
