I was asked a common question the other day. A young lad came up to me and asked if he should be having a protein drink like he sees all his friends having. He trains once or twice a week and when I asked, he said he had no specific goals. He seemed the perfect example of the average lad doing recreational exercise for general health. This was an easy one to answer…
No. He shouldn’t have a protein drink. I’ve mentioned these before (click here) and i still stand by what I said. Protein drinks are there for a specific purpose. They help your body recover after a tough training session and get ready for the next tough training session that is just round the corner. If you don’t take part in tough training sessions, and if the next tough training session that you wont be taking part in is up to a week away, it won’t have any noticeable effect on you. If you are genuinely asking from a health point of view, you will be far better advised to go home and eat your greens and lay off the junk food. But if you are asking because you want to fit in with your mates swigging back on bright pink protein shakes….I’m the wrong person to ask (I don’t have any mates!) If we want to emulate high level athletes who will benefit from supplements like this, I suggest the first thing we should try to emulate is their work ethic and focus. They tend to know what they want from their training and tend to put in the years of training needed to achieve their goal. But that is a very difficult thing to do and it is much easier to put style before substance. I know this because I do it myself every day…but I’m trying to change. If you need help putting substance before style and doing some quality training, contact me and maybe I can help.