Muscle tissue in your body requires a steady stream of protein in order to recover from tough workouts and spurn new muscle growth. While standard food is the primary source of protein you should be using, there is a great deal of benefit you can provide to the muscle growth process by consuming whey protein. The mixture of 40 grams (2 scoops) of whey along with 2 cups of cold water is perfect for delivering the maximum amount of protein your body can consume on a given day. Ideally, if you wish to garner the best possible effect from the consumption of whey protein, you will need to drink whey four times per day. Here are some additional details.
Dosage
As mentioned, you should be consuming two scoops of a high quality whey protein powder, mixed with cold water. Select a high quality whey isolate powder and keep it in a dark pantry. Never leave your whey in a hot vehicle for hours, which can destroy some of the protein content and make the whey taste stale.
Preparation
Two of these shakes will be consumed in very close proximity to the bathroom. For this reason, you should have a large bowl, cooler, or other container in your bathroom which contains a few bottled waters and some ice. Reading on, you will see how this will save you a great deal of time and ensure you actually follow through with your scheduled whey protein consumption.
Whey #1
Immediately upon waking up in the morning, you need to drink a cup of whey protein mixed with water. This doesn’t mean you should do it after you’ve shaved, showered, checked your email, and driven to work. This means that upon waking in the morning, you should walk to the bathroom, urinate, turn on the shower water to get hot, then immediately mix up a shake and drink it. Whey is a very fast-acting protein, and it will be replenishing your low protein blood levels within minutes.
Whey #2
Immediately following your workout – no matter what time of the day it is – you need to consume a whey protein shake.
Whey #3
At some arbitrary time in the evening between dinner and bedtime, you should enjoy daily shake number three.
Whey #4
Upon waking in the middle of the night to urinate, you should immediately mix and drink a whey shake before returning to bed. You’ll have the mixer cup and cold water waiting next to the sink. All you have to do is urinate, wash your hands, mix, drink, rinse your mouth out, and fall back into bed. While this may seem complex at first, rest assured that many bodybuilders – in particular Jay Cutler during his early mass-gaining years – have used this technique with great effectiveness. You get used to it very quickly!
If you don’t have a tendency to awaken during the night, you can always set your alarm clock (or cell phone alarm or timer) to alert you. This practice will become second nature in just a week or two, and you’ll wake up craving whey shakes – and the growth they provide!