How to Find the Best Protein Powder to Build Muscle
Out of the thousands of products available for purchase within the industry, protein powders are by far the most popular product. If you want to build muscle effectively, a good quality protein powder in your arsenal will help propel you toward your bulking goals.
Almost every supplement company has a protein powder. Many have multiple protein powders designed for various uses.
One of the most common queries we are asked (both within our supplement store and within our personal training arm) is the following:
“What is the best protein powder to build muscle?”
Put simply, there is no “best” protein powder to fuel muscle growth. Sure, there are varying qualities between brands, differences in popularity, ratings and availability, but none of these in isolation will determine what the best protein powder for building muscle will be.
So let’s narrow the question down a little and I’ll run through some protein powder basics. Dietary considerations aside, and generally speaking, the best type of protein powder is going to be a protein powder derived from milk, of which there are two primary types available in protein powder form:
- Whey Protein
- Casein Protein
Generally speaking, whey protein is a very high quality and faster absorbing protein type. You’ll typically find whey proteins in your pre- and post-workout shakes, which are quite important to facilitate recovery and hence muscle growth.
Caseins are very widely used in night-time proteins due to their slow absorption rate and yet still high quality. Because they are broken down quite slowly, you can be assured of a slow release into the system to prevent muscle breakdown while you’re sleeping.
Of course, there are all different proteins in between these two extremes, often utilised throughout the day, but for the purposes of this article, let’s stick with the best protein at the most important time of the day – before and after your workout.
Whey proteins are broken down into various types. If you’re after the absolute best type of protein to utilise before and after your training session, go for a hydrolysed whey protein isolate. This is the best quality protein with the highest rate of absorption.
There are a number of hydrolysed WPI’s available on the market today, all with varying degrees of hydrolysation. Worth noting, WPI’s are never “fully” hydrolysed. Marketing tags may imply otherwise, but 100% hydrolysed typically refers to 100% of the protein has undergone the hydrolysation process, which results in only a fraction of this protein actually being hydrolysed. (Yes, semantics).
It’s hard for me to recommend a specific brand of product to be the absolute best. This is where your preference comes in with respect to taste, value for money, mixability and so on. What I can recommend are two key products that are extremely popular and highly rated by our customers:
Optimum Hydrowhey: A relatively newer product on the market which is a hydrolysed WPI. In Australia there are limited flavours available (presently only 4) and the product is fairly expensive.
AST Sports Science VP2: Also has four flavours currently available within Australia and has long been respected as a leading quality hydrolysed WPI on the market.
No matter how good the protein powder is, it is imperative to ensure that your nutrition and training strategy supports optimal results. Never rely on a protein powder alone to deliver maximum muscle gains.
