Making The Best Post-Workout Protein Shake?
 

My current shake (which is really good btw) consists of:

1 Scoop Optimum Nutrition Whey Powder; Vanilla
6 Cubes of Ice
1 Banana
4 Blueberries
1 Tablespoon Pure Honey
1 Heaping Tablespoon Plain Yogurt (from skim)
1 Heaping Tablespoon Natural Peanut Butter (w/1000mg Fish Oil added)
1 Tablespoon Wheat Germ
1 Handful of Plain/Raw Oatmeal
8-12 Almonds
Ground Cinnamon; Random amount sprinkled in
Add skim milk until 3/4 of blender full
Blend for 2 min

Once blended its 44+ ozs. I drink it immediately upon returning home from the gym. I usually eat a real meal 2 hours later when hunger returns.

My questions are:

1) What, if anything is missing from this shake?
2) Do you disagree with any of the ingredients?


[b] FWIW: I'm a buck 62 @ 5'9 and in college I was measured @ 165lbs/7% BF... these lame electroscales that calculate bodyfat (which always put me 2-3% higher than calipers did... something about body chemical makeup can alter results of bioelectric blah blah) say that I am ~15% BF right now. Ideally I'd like to reach 170lbs @ 7% BF while I'm still young and chasing ass...

Re: Making The Best Post-Workout Protein Shake?
 

4 measly blueberries????

edit: i make similar stuff to this all the time. i wouldn't bother with the honey because there's enough sugar in there already with the fruit/yogurt, and i'm not a fan of cinnamon

Re: Making The Best Post-Workout Protein Shake?
 

That sounds pretty beastly.

1 Scoop Optimum Nutrition Whey Powder
Plus Water or Milk or whatever.

Re: Making The Best Post-Workout Protein Shake?
 

Creatine supplement additive?

Re: Making The Best Post-Workout Protein Shake?
 

I disagree with a lot of the ingredients. You want very little fat to be in your post-workout (PWO) shake -- that means you'll want to take out the peanut butter and almonds. What's important is to have simple, quick-absorbing carbs in the right ratio to the amount of protein in your shake. Honey, plain yogurt, and oatmeal all have a fairly low GI (glycolic index, the measure of how quickly something can be broken down to glucose) so they are not ideal additions to your PWO shake.

I'm sure your shake is pretty tasty however. I'm also being a bit nitty about the contents of the shake, but hey you asked. It's obviously most important to lift regularly and have a protein shake afterwards than it is to be a bit anal about the macronutrition profile of your shake.

Edit: FWIW, my shake is a scoop of Optimum Whey Vanilla with 1.5 scoops of Dextrose. For me, this is close to the ideal 2:1 ratio of carbs:protein. Also, 5g of creatine monohydrate.

Re: Making The Best Post-Workout Protein Shake?
 

i would take out the almonds, fish oil and peanut butter. fat slows absorbtion in theory. post workout you want fast absorbtion of simple sugars and protein. its prolly not a significant difference unless you are aspiring to be the next mr olympiad or something. so i guess its fine.

Re: Making The Best Post-Workout Protein Shake?
 

[ QUOTE ]
4 measly blueberries????

edit: i make similar stuff to this all the time. i wouldn't bother with the honey because there's enough sugar in there already with the fruit/yogurt, and i'm not a fan of cinnamon

[/ QUOTE ]

Only 4 blueberries (I should have said 4-6) because they do 2 things in higher quantities:

1) overwhelm the taste of everything else
2) turn my shake blue


The cinnamon is in there because its high in anti-oxidants, and good for cholesterol they say these days (I cook lots of turkey/beef dishes).


Honey I just like... and its pure energy heh. I keep it to a small amount because it is so much sugar though.

Re: Making The Best Post-Workout Protein Shake?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Creatine supplement additive?

[/ QUOTE ]

You know, now that Im really getting back into working out for 2007, I ordered some creatine.

It has yet to arrive though, so it isn't included in the mix.

Speaking of creatine, what are your thoughts on this? I havent taken creatine since it was the big thing 10+ years ago when I was in high school and started working out. Effective stuff still? I just ordered some to try it out again really...

Re: Making The Best Post-Workout Protein Shake?
 

Maltodexterin

Re: Making The Best Post-Workout Protein Shake?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I disagree with a lot of the ingredients. You want very little fat to be in your post-workout (PWO) shake -- that means you'll want to take out the peanut butter and almonds. What's important is to have simple, quick-absorbing carbs in the right ratio to the amount of protein in your shake. Honey, plain yogurt, and oatmeal all have a fairly low GI (glycolic index, the measure of how quickly something can be broken down to glucose) so they are not ideal additions to your PWO shake.

I'm sure your shake is pretty tasty however. I'm also being a bit nitty about the contents of the shake, but hey you asked. It's obviously most important to lift regularly and have a protein shake afterwards than it is to be a bit anal about the macronutrition profile of your shake.

Edit: FWIW, my shake is a scoop of Optimum Whey Vanilla with 1.5 scoops of Dextrose. For me, this is close to the ideal 2:1 ratio of carbs:protein. Also, 5g of creatine monohydrate.

[/ QUOTE ]


Lock the thread. Other than making sure that your shake stays inline with your calorie requirements, and you drink it within 30 minutes of leaving the gym, this is the only right answer.