Short answer, no.
You don’t have to take protein powder if you are exercising and weight lifting. Protein powder is a tool you can use to enhance your nutrition and ensure you are hitting your protein goals. If you struggle with reaching your protein intake across your day or you are vegetarian/vegan, you will benefit from having a protein supplement.
Every person requires a particular intake of protein across the day. If you have a higher muscle mass, you will need a higher protein intake, but the overall intake of protein is determined by your body weight. It is recommended that you be intaking between 1.4-2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. The higher scale is for people who are exercising vigorously or have high levels of muscle mass, and the lower scale is for vegetarians or anyone who struggles to consume protein.
There is many protein powders, whey, casein, plant-based, collagen, and many more. The type of protein you take is dependent on what you prefer, whey has been around the longest and you can find many brands/formulas which have many decades of research behind them. When choosing a protein powder ensure you are getting over 20 grams of protein per serving, read the label of the product. If you a wanting a protein powder, it should have small amounts of fats and carbohydrates. Some brands have around 0.5-5 grams of these macronutrients per serving. You don’t want to be having a ‘protein’ shake that has a high amount of carbohydrates.
With a balanced diet, you don’t need to have protein powder. But it’s a great tool to work towards better protein intake across your day. You don’t have to take it after a workout, or only on days you are going to the gym, timing is not important.
If you want a good quality protein powder, my tops picks are:
Rule 1
International Protein
You can use my code ‘Nicola10’ at Supplement Mart for a cheeky discount.
Are you working from home? And probably working out at home. I have a few tips for you. Read more here.
