Do y’all drink protein shakes on days you don’t work out?

[solitaryman]

@jerryfont I use them whenever I need to hit my goals in a pinch

 

[thequietone]

@jerryfont Yeah. Otherwise I won’t get enough protein.

 

[patriciapapa]

@jerryfont Yes. Protein is important every day of the week, not just on workout days.

 

[alexiscurious]

@jerryfont No only because I swap it out for vitamin ones. But if you mean vitamin/protein shake then I drink those and possibly addicted to the flavor

 

[theadmiral]

@jerryfont It depends if I need the shake to get enough protein

Your question could also be asked as "do you eat food with protein on days you don't work out", protein shakes are just a high protein food. Clearly you need to fuel your body every day, not just days you train

 

[roscop]

@jerryfont Still a recovery period. Still need protein.

 

[stchristopher]

@jerryfont I try to target about 180-190g protein daily, so I usually drink two shakes to get the job done. One of them I mix creatine and almond milk, the other one is store bought. On days I workout I drink the creatine one after workout. But yes everyday you should drink them if you can’t hit protein without it. It doesn’t matter as much when you consume protein as long as you are getting the amount you need daily.

 

[kevingil]

@jerryfont Depends on how much protein you are getting from real food. But for most people, yes.

 

[chgz]

@jerryfont Yes, I drink protein shakes with NaturalNut peanut butter everyday and I burn the calories in my gym time.

 

[katbraden]

@jerryfont Theres nothing magic about protein powder, it’s food. Calories and protein. Just convenient. Chicken is just as good.

 

[bencrewson]

@jerryfont It would actually be MORE important to have them on days you don’t workout.
Your real strength and muscle gains come during recovery.

 

[pixeloriousspriteson]

@jerryfont I would tell you to just stop drinking protein shakes until you know what they are for. Protein shakes supplement protein, no magic, no big secret you’re making out to be some sort of magic potion

 

[jvcnit20131]

@jerryfont Its bad for the Kidneys, use cautiously.

 

[jrepenning]

@jerryfont No I fast on days I don't workoit.

 

[asperd]

@jerryfont It depends on what the rest of your meals look like in the day. Gym rats tend to overconsume protein needlessly (the infamous 1g/lb. Grams are a metric measurement and lbs are imperial. That's how you know its broscience). The bulk of your gains are going to come from training hard close to failure with good form, slow eccentric, eating carbs before and after your workout and eating in a calorie surplus. Protein is the most expensive macronutrient. Carbs and fats are cheap. So if you're going to invest in a high protein diet, it better deliver results. Or else you're just wasting your money and eating lean bland proteins for nothing when you can be eating fattier tastier proteins instead like pork and 20% fat ground beef and eat tasty carbs and fats. I eat about 1.6-1.8g/kg now and I feel like even that is too much. I used to eat 1.8-2.2+ g/kg, I was doing 1g+/lb back in like October/November 2022, but my training sucked because I was greener and really confused by a lot of the advice online. So I set that money on fire and sacrificed all those chickens to look mid.

You likely don't need as many amino acids as you think you do to build muscle mass. Do you think prisoners are weighing their food on a kitchen scale and counting their macros on MyFitnessPal? And they're jacked. Natural Hypertrophy on Youtube eats about 100g protein/day on upper body days and he's 6' 215-220 and jacked. Basement Bodybuilding on YouTube rarely eats meat and doesn't eat a whole lot of protein. And he's jacked. Gym rats online like to follow training and diet advice from pro bodybuilders. And the training advice pro bodybuilders give is often solid. But the diet advice is not really applicable to people who don't compete in bodybuilding.

Just eat enough food. Make sure that protein is like 1/4-1/3 of your plate most meals. 1/4-1/3 carbs. 1/3-1/2 veggies (when bulking, make that 1/3-1/2 carbs, 1/4-1/3 veggies). Basic guideline stuff like that. If you have a low protein meal during the day like breakfast cereal, Pancakes, oatmeal, etc. Then yes I think it's reasonable to have a scoop of protein powder. But unless your diet is really deficient in protein, you don't need 2+ scoops. Also make sure you don't dip below 0.8g/kg no matter what. That's the government RDA. But I don't think you need to be tripling the RDA or even doubling it to make gains.