Muscle Milk Is a Sham (Lolz JK)

It sounded like a whisper.  I needed clarification.

“Wait, what did you say?”

“Oh, I was just saying that Muscle Milk is a sham.”

A college-aged bro at the gym enthusiastically bobbed his head as he said it.

90 seconds before that, the newest trainer at the gym had just finished a training session with a young, eager high school student.  The boy was excited to train and ecstatic to see progress, and educated well enough to know that protein intake can be a big deal when it comes to training progress.  An educated consumer?  Awesome.

Romeo asked me about what was sold in the building, and I told him and his enthusiastic client that they only had Muscle Milk, but that I wasn’t the biggest fan; there are other (read: better) protein powders out there with more protein per serving, less carbs, less fat, other desirable goodies, or less undesirable nasties.

The RTD (Ready to drink) works very well in a bind, but I prefer other protein powders when you can get your hands on them.  Problem is, our friendly Bro, who was proudly tricep-kickbacking in rhythm to “old school” Skrillex meant that all supplements are a sham.  And it showed.

 

Annddd that’s how you do an ad hominem attack.

The declaration that [supplements] don’t work is ignorant, especially in an age where we publish research on a regular basis that shows that many of them do, in fact, have benefits to performance or health.  There are plenty of supplements that are we’re not 100% sure about because of differing results from studies, or because their impact is insubstantial.  (Seriously, you’re paying that much for what amounts to a 1% difference?)  Protein is not one of them.

The industry as an educated whole is looking at one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight as a goal to shoot for, and if you’re like most of us, you’re under-proteined and over-caloried throughout the day.  We have a two-fold dilemma in that we’re not eating enough protein to help us recover from exercise or build muscle, but we’re eating so many other things that we don’t want to or feel uncomfortable from eating so much protein.

If you’re already stuffed full from your meal, are you going to want to eat more solid protein sources?  Does anybody like feeling that they’re absolutely stuffed?  I didn’t think so.  If stuffing your face doesn’t make you feel all that sexy, then supplementation in the whey of shakes can be a fantastic idea.  Look at that, I even made a pun.

If you personally abstain from protein or supplement consumption, that’s weak your call, but to tell others not to do so?

While the RTD Muscle Milk may not be your best option, seeing as it’s not exactly the best recipe in the industry, keeping several on hand for when you’re in a jam is not the worst idea in the world.  Get some HERE.

My preferences in the past have been for Optimum Nutrition’s Natural Whey in Vanilla, Carnivore’s Chocolate protein, and True Nutrition’s CinnaBun Trutein blend.  I have some peanut butter whey on the… way as well.

Ideally, we’re going to consume quality vegetables and fruits throughout the day, healthy fats, and copious amounts of healthy protein in the form of eggs, fish, poultry, red meat; the good stuff.  You may be in a rush, and you might just not want to be constantly eating to hit your protein goals or calorie goals within your regular eating schedule.

That’s fine.  Seriously, it’s okay.

Supplemental protein is a great idea for you.  It’s not a sham.  It’s not cheating.  It’s not a steroid.  It’s pretty damn smart.

Next time you’re wrapping up a training session and you need to protein-up and peace out, grab that handy ready to drink shake, sip on the one that you packed with you, and remember that the use of tricep kickbacks are directly related to low-protein diets, whimpering puppies, and Santa leaving coal in your stocking.