Increase Gains With This Shake 36/84

There really aren't very many true "secrets" in the fitness industry. I don't care what magazines or the internet tells you, there's only a few basic things that you need to get really good at to get and maintain the body and health that you want. That being said, the closet thing I have to a secret that I tell my clients about is an intra-workout shake. This shake is a combination of carbs and protein that you sip on during your workout then finish once your done. In my opinion, this is extremely important and anyone should use whether you're trying to build muscle or lose fat.

Intra-workout shakes are something that I've been messing with since undergrad at Ball State. A professor mentioned during that class protein and carbs together can results in better muscle and strength gains than either one on their own. At this point, I started adding Gatorade to my protein powder and I've pretty much never looked back.

The reason that adding carbs to your protein works so well is because of that little hormone called insulin. Whenever you consume carbs, insulin is released to shuttle the carbs to where the body needs them. This could be muscle or it could be fat. During and after your works out, insulin will shuttle much, much more of it into starving muscles. So here's the trick, the insulin doesn't just take the carbs with it. If you have protein waiting there as well, the insulin will shuttle both of them into the muscle super quick. This means that your muscles are never at a loss for protein and you have it waiting right there when it needs it to heal itself and make the muscle bigger. This will also guarantee that you prevent any muscle loss during exercise, which is why it's just as important during a Cut as it is during a Mass.

At this point, some people may be asking about BCAAs and thinking that they can do the same. People usually use BCAAs for that same reason, to prevent muscle loss and make sure you have amino acids floating around waiting to be used. There are a couple reasons why I don't like this when compared to protein and carbs. One reason is that there are no carbs to release insulin and increase absorption rate. This makes it less effective for recovery than when you do have carbs. The second reason is more on personal preference, I would rather spend less money on whey protein, which includes all of the BCAAs in it, then spend more money on just a BCAAs supplement.  All in all, I'm not a huge fan or BCAAs and think they're one of the more overrated supplements on the market. Right now, the major data says they results in around a 1-3% benefit over the span on the year. For most people, I don't think that's worth the cash.

Personally, my shake went through different iterations over the years, but for the last year and a half it's been about the same. It started with a scoop of protein with a bottle of Gatorade, then when to one scoop of protein with a carb supplement from 1st Phorm, and how has become 2 scoops of protein with 1-2 scoops of Gatorade powder. This latest shake is a result of the recommendations from Renaissance Periodization from my I got my first template from them. Like I said, I have been doing this for about a year and a half and I swear by it now. You can use any powder that has sugar in it like Gatorade, Tang, Nesquik, a dextrose supplement, or whatever else you want. Now this part is important... DON'T WORRY THAT THIS IS MADE WITH SUGAR, THAT IS THE ENTIRE POINT! You need the sugar to create the best insulin response, and not only will this not make you fat and kill you, it will make you bigger, stronger, and healthier.

Try adding this to your routine and I think you'll be surprised. For women, start with 1 scoop of protein and 1/2-1 scoop of Gatorade. For men, do 1-2 scoops of protein with 1-2 scoops of Gatorade. I usually do 1 scoop during a Cut and 2 scoops during a Mass. Sip 1/2 of the shake during your workout then drink the other 1/2 once your done!