Best protein powders for muscle gain?

granitegardener14 said:Look, this isn't strictly about protein, but it’s definitely about nutrition, so I figured I'd drop it here instead of cluttering up another thread:

- what's the best way to use fructose, when should I take it, and how much am I looking at?

P.S. Please don't rip me apart if this sounds like a rookie question. I'm just starting to wrap my head around all this, and I know there are plenty of experts and geniuses on here, so bear with me...

Everything has probably been hashed out somewhere already, but honestly, I have no clue where to look, so I'll just point you toward this link:
http://www.intense-workout.com/post_workout.html

Everyone seems to be bashing Gainers lately..

I have a buddy who used a Gainer religiously and saw some absolutely phenomenal results—but let’s be clear—I know for a fact he was sweating buckets under a barbell every single day. My take? You should be investing most of your energy into grinding in the gym; everything else is just secondary noise.

By the way, does anyone know what happened to that old bodybuilding forum, Bodybuilding.com? It’s basically a ghost town now... nothing left there..?

velvetfalcon44 said:It’s got: acesulfame potassium
All those types of sweeteners have some pretty sketchy rumors floating around about being carcinogenic, so personally, I’d steer clear of stuff like that for now.
I’d much rather just stick to pure, unflavored protein—zero fat, zero cholesterol, zero sugar, and zero sweeteners. Then I can actually sleep at night! Truth be told, it doesn't taste like a gourmet dessert... and man, they aren't exactly cheap either.

Mmm, true. We're all gonna get cancer anyway, right? lol

fadedrider17 said:Does anyone know what happened to the bodybuilding forums? There's basically nothing happening over there anymore...??

That already happened once before and it only lasted a couple of days.

I have to admit, I’m a massive skeptic when it comes to aspartame too.
Lies—plain and simple. They claim there’s no sugar in products, like those sodas,
but then you see labels claiming things like "aspartame 1.1 MG" or some other nonsense.

I was at the grocery store today actually taking the time to scrutinize the labels—just checking what’s really inside everything. The cashier gave me this incredibly weird look, too. If I come back a second time, she’s going to think I’m a freak because I’ll be standing there for two hours just taking notes.
It’s ridiculous—a person shouldn't have to work this hard just to know what they're actually buying.

fadedrider17 said:I have to admit, I’m pretty skeptical about aspartame myself.
Lies, pure lies. They claim there’s zero sugar—look at any soda bottle.
Then they’ll list something like "aspartame 1.1 MG" or whatever else is hiding in there.

I was actually at the grocery store today just staring at labels, trying to figure out what's actually in my food. The lady working the aisles gave me such a weird look, too. Like, sorry if I make you uncomfortable, but if I come back tomorrow, am I supposed to just stand there for two hours taking notes on every single ingredient?
It shouldn't be this hard just to know what we're putting into our bodies.

Man, you won't buy anything at all if you actually start reading those labels.

I mean, look at me—am I really that gullible?
Take today, for example. I picked up a Tempo sparkling water—checked every single label, read the fine print, verified everything, and still went ahead and drank it anyway. Haha.

But honestly—it’s nearly impossible to find food that actually contains "nothing" at all.

Just one question! Instead of glucose, what else can I pair with my protein after a workout? Are one or two bananas enough, or should I look for something else?

Alex Long8 said:Just one question! Instead of glucose, what can I take with my protein after a workout? Are 1-2 bananas enough, or something else?

Bananas are alright, sure, but raisins might actually be better. Generally, you want to look for foods with a higher glycemic index—you can find all those charts online—plus, ideally, you’re looking for a fast-digesting carb.

I probably missed it somewhere since everything's usually explained here, but I'm still pretty new to this subforum so I wasn't sure if there was already a thread about this...

Edit:

Here you go:

High GI

Glucose 100
Gatorade 91
Baked potato 85
Corn Flakes 84
Rice cakes 82
Graham crackers 74
Honey 73
Watermelon 72
White bread 70
Soda 68
Mars 68
White sugar 65
Raisins 64
Oats 61 (42-75)
Ice cream 61 (36-80)

Medium GI

Orange juice 57
Boiled potato 56
Long grain rice 56
Brown rice 55
Popcorn 55
Corn 55
Banana 52
Green peas 48
Lentil soup 44
Orange 43
Whole grain cereal 42
Spaghetti (plain) 41
Unsweetened apple juice 41

Low GI

Apple 36
Pear 36
Chocolate milk 34
Low-calorie fruit yogurt 33
Yellow peas 32
Skim milk 32
Dried apricots 31
Green beans 30
Unripe banana 30
Lentils 29
Beans 27
Milk 27
Barley 25
Grapefruit 25
Fructose 23

Hmm. I actually have some honey packets lying around from coffee shops, so I could just toss those into a shake along with a banana. Might be a decent combo.

But how many raisins should I throw in per shake? An entire bag, or maybe just half?

Personally, I’d probably split a 200g bag into two or three servings. That puts me at roughly 70-100g per go, which feels right for my weight at about 185 pounds.

Why aren't you just using dextrose?

Jonathan Miller7 said:I’d probably split a 200g bag into two or three servings. That puts me at roughly 70 to 100g per go, which seems about right for my 185-pound frame.

Why aren't you using dextrose?

I don't know. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something feels off. It’s like this nagging sensation that the stuff is spoiled and I'm just going to end up puking. Honestly, that was my first thought when I bought it—that I'd been sold something rotten.

Alright, let me run this by you guys. Since I'm on a pretty tight budget right now and can't just grab every supplement on the shelf, I'm trying to decide which whey to pair with my current setup. I’ve decided to skip the mass gainers for now and just go with a protein, but I'm stuck on one thing:
Between BCAAs or Glutamine, which one do you think is actually worth the money?

Honestly, you might want to just move this over to the supplements thread instead.

Alex Long8 said:Just one quick question! Instead of using glucose, what else can I pair with my protein after a workout? Are one or two bananas enough, or should I look for something else?

Kellogg's Corn Flakes 😁

Steven Cooper65 said:Kellogg's Corn Flakes 😁

🙂

You really think that’s any more practical than carrying a bag of Kellogg's Corn Flakes in your backpack?

Alex Long8 said:🙂

I mean, what’s more convenient than just tossing a bag of Kellogg's Corn Flakes in your gym bag?

Just scoop it out at home and dump it into your shaker along with your whey.🙄

Look, I'm 15 and want to start bodybuilding. I want to hit the gym and pack on some serious muscle. Can anyone give me a recommendation on how many days a week I need to go? I want results as fast as possible.

vividseal8 said:So I'm 15 and I want to start bodybuilding and hit the gym to get jacked. Can anyone give me a recommendation on how many times a week I should go? I want to build muscle as fast as possible.

First off, learn how to write. Fix your spelling before you start worrying about muscles. If you can't tell the difference between basic words, you're gonna have a hard time making any real gains.

You don't need a comma before conjunctions.
"You will be".
Honestly, I'm totally lost when it comes to capitalization... like, I have no clue where to put uppercase letters at the start or end of sentences.
😁

-Joe

velvetfalcon44 said:That gainer is garbage. Even the manufacturer isn't worth anything.
Better to stick with quality options like:
1. Optimum Nutrition supplements
2. Optimum Nutrition supplements
3. Optimum Nutrition supplements
4. MuscleTech
5. Optimum Nutrition supplements
6. Optimum Nutrition supplements
7. Optimum Nutrition supplements

Does anyone actually know this manufacturer? I found some info on other forums, but it looks more like paid ads than actual reviews. I'm torn between this and either MuscleTech or Gold Standard Whey.