Nutrition Questions

There's a bit of an issue with a low carbohydrate diet and those supplements you mentioned.  Low carb diets are designed for users to lose body fat, which I am sure that you've experienced.  It isn't a diet that has been designed to build muscle.  This is because it is a low calorie diet and it is also low in carbohydrates.

If you are seeking to build any substantial amount of muscle mass, I would definitely recommend a post-workout protein shake as I believe that this is a vital element to muscle growth.  However, this will have little to no effect on your progress if the remainder of the diet is not in tact to support your goals.  Since a low carbohydrate diet is not a muscle-building diet, you would be receiving very minimal results (with regards to building muscle), even if you added in a protein shake after your workout.

The same goes for creatine monohydrate.  Basically this supplement allows you to produce more force by increasing the availability of energy within muscle cells.  The theory is that more force contributes to more overload which will result in bigger muscle gains.  Creatine is a very well researched supplement with some solid evidence to back it's effectiveness.  However, as with your protein shake, your muscles will not significantly increase in size if your training and supplementation is not backed by an eating plan to support muscle growth.

When it comes to building muscle, there are four key elements that must all work together in order to produce the desired result:

• Your training regime
• Your diet plan
• Your supplementation plan
• Your recovery

If just one of these factors is not up to scratch, you will not reach your full potential.

Dymatize Energized Xpand, Dymatize Glutamine and Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey are three of our most popular products within our supplement store. They are popular for a reason, because they are highly effective supplements.

The Xpand is a great product to help boost the intensity of your workouts. Consequently, this is best consumed approximately 30 minutes prior to your workout.

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid within skeletal muscle tissue. Supplementation with glutamine has also been shown to have positive benefits on the immune system. Ideally, consume glutamine with both your pre- and post-workout protein shakes as this is when this amino acid will be in greatest demand from your body.

The Optimum Whey is an excellent blend of WPI/WPC protein which tastes great (hence why it's our number one seller at present!). The most important times to consume a protein powder would be both pre- and post-workout, as this is when your body is in greatest need of readily available amino acids. It may also be an idea to have a shake first thing in the morning, considering that you would have gone all night without consuming any protein.

Click here for our top selling casein protein in our supplement store!

Selecting the correct source of protein is very important when following a nutritional regime. Whilst all Australian nutritional labels list "protein", the different types of protein available in foods vary quite significantly and can produce very different results.

Casein based protein takes roughly 7 hours to digest (of course this will vary between individuals). For this reason, it has been suggested as an "anti-catabolic" protein source that is appropriate to consume before bed. It is also for this reason that it is not a good source of protein to consume right after a workout (when your body requires fast acting nutrients).

Dairy products are abundant in casein. Milk, for example is approximately 80% casein protein and 20% whey protein. Whey is a faster absorbing protein source. Cottage cheese contains a similar ratio.

Try checking out different types of protein powders. On the ingredients list, you will see what types of protein are contained within the product. The ingredients are listed in order of abundance, so the ingredient with the highest % will be listed first.

A note with ingredients, if, for example the list is as follows:

Protein mix (whey isolate, calcium cassienate, egg albumen, whey concentrate), soy isolate...

Then there could be more soy isolate than calcium cassienate. This is often used a marketing trick that is employed to make it appear that there is more of an expensive ingredient, when in fact there isn't. In the above example, there may be 10g of "protein mix" and 8g of soy isolate. However the protein mix is comprised of whey isolate, casein, egg and whey concentrate - which could be of magnitude 3g, 3g, 2g, 2g respectively.

Josh wrote a good article on the subject,