Posted: 2/22/2007 3:25:02 PM EDT
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ive been taking GNC's protien shakes for a long time now... ( ETA @3 30gram shakes a day + food im 6'1" 210-215 and lift heavy 3 times a week ) as long as i can remember my legs are always weak and sore, no matter if i do leg press, run, or just from work ( tree removal ) ive been loosely diagnosed with CFS ( chronic fatigue syndrome ) i think maybe GNC's chocolate whey protien might not be doing me any good... any opinions? can one protien be better than the next? os is a protien shake just a protien shake no matter what brand? thanks |
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Sleep is my issue, biggest reason I don't recover well. Protein and Glutamine has helped me recover much more quickly than normal food. I know a lot of guys that work out hard, then go out to the bar and drink a bunch of beers. Alcohol also won't let you have a restful sleep. Just thinking of a couple of things. |
i average 6 hours of sleep a night, dont drink during the week and never after a workout. ive used glutamine in the past. i think ill order protien and glutamine from somewhere NEW other than GNC and see what happens... but as i said above the doc says i probably have chronic fatigue syndrome  this problem has gone on for over a year
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Unless you are a 60 year old man, you need to get more sleep. 8hrs is good 10 is optimal. If you can take a nap during the day. Sleep is when your body repairs itself, grows, and releases hormones for growth. Its one of the most important aspects to health and muscle growth. |
most of the time i average 6 hours, but 8 actually is pretty common... even during weeks i dont work ( weather ) i can sleep 10-11 hours and still never feel healed from the workouts... i told my doctor 3 weeks ago that in the last year, theres only been THREE DAYS that i actually woke up and went through my day and said "damn, i feel good... havent felt this rested and healthy in so long" they did all sorts of blood tests, iron, liver, etc etc and just called it CFS i told him i was hoping they would find something wrong with me to give me an answer
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Looks like my sleep issue is being diagnosed as the sleep apnia deal. I knew that I started snoring a while back, turns out I wake up constantly during the night because of it. Always wake up feeling worn out. Working on trying the afternoon nap thing, will probably work out well. Sooner or later I guess i need that littler surgery in the back of the throat to fix it. Not a big fat guy, so that's not the issue. I guess I'm just getting ancient (41). Good thing is that my Gurkhas snore louder than me. PG |
| I am not going to tell you I am a 250 pound ripped body builder becuase I am not. I take my Protien shake after my run of 6 to 20 miles depending on where I am training cycle for my next marathon. They help me recover. I am a solid 185 pounds of lean muscle. Sign up for thier mailing list the send out a mailer with an advertisement and a coupon for 10% off about once a week. |
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I buy 6lb bags of chocolate EAS 100% Whey from Sam's Club for $25. I don't have any complaints about it. I wouldn't be suprised if the different brands all buy their raw material from 1 or 2 main whey suppliers (i.e. cheese factories  ). I don't think there could be much difference in the actual protein between the different brands.
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Have you thought about cutting back on the lifting schedule? When I first started lifting as a 150lb high school sophmore, we worked out full body 3x a week. That worked great. In college we worked out 4x a week, but split into upper day/lower day. Once football was over and I could workout anyway I wanted, I tried going back to the 3x per week and found out there was no way I could recover. 2x per week was pushing it. Now I am practically 30, and if I push it hard and heavy, it will take me about 5-6 days to regain normal strength and lose all soreness. I have found protien supplementation and creatine to help in the recovery time, but I would literally kill myself trying to lift hard 3x per week. |
| I dont think that switching proteins will help you increase your energy levels. I cant think of a time Ive taken a protein drink and then felt energized. I would look at other aspects of your life...how old are you? have you looked at your testosterone levels? maybe suffer from depression?. If you are getting sleep, proper nutrition and are in the gym then there is something else...and cronic fatigue syndrome sounds like your doc doesnt know what the hell he is talking about..go to an endo and get blood work done to find your testosterone levels. |
they just drew 7 of those little bottles of blood from me 3-4 weeks ago. they ran the board with tests.... testosterone, thyroid gland, liver tests, hell even stds, lyme disease, you name it, he tested me for everything that could result in a person being tired. im 24. i just wonder if ive been taking the SAME protien supplement for so long, my body doesnt use it properly anymore... kind of like how you have to switch up your workout routine once in a while. |
Can you post the test and thyroid results here? |
sorry, he didnt give me paperwork with it, i never requested it. he said "Weve checked pretty much everything, youre fine" i replied "damn, i was hoping you found something bad, just so i had an explaination" above poster- i use to take a mulit vitamin, ran out, never really did any good. lately i take vitamin c, and a couple others. |
Get a hard copy for your own records. You might have low test even though they said you dont. The range for normal is huge, some thing like 250-1500. So if you have 251 the doc will say you are fine, but really you have low test. |
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Second on the hard copy. It's yours for the asking. Just had bloodwork done a week and a half ago. Here's some of mine. I'm 57 T-3, total 88..........ref range--60-181 ng/dL T-4, total 1.5.........ref range--0.8-1.8 ng/dL Test, total 544.......ref range--241-827 ng/dL TSH 0.06..............ref range--0.40-5.50 mIU/L had my thyroid gland removed in 1977----cancer, which is why the TSH is almost nonexistent. Triglycerides 37............<150 mg/dL Cholesterol, total 133......<200 mg/dL HDL, cholesterol 67..........> OR = 40 mg/dL LDL, cholesterol 59..........<130 mg/dL (calc) After a lifetime of obesity and sloth, in the last 4 years I've made some fantastic strides. It helps if you can reference your bloodwork results with how you feel at the time of testing, what kind of diet, workout program, etc that corresponds with the numbers. Do that for awhile and you can chart just what works and what doesn't and you can begin to make modifications to your lifestyle that will benifit you. Sure hope you can get a handle on the fatigue. |
| I'm far from an expert on the subject, but if you're trying to get more sustained energy from your protien I learned that whey protien is absorbed and used by the body very quickly compared to other protien sourses. So, for example, if you're drinking one shake in the morning for breakfase and it has nothing but whey in it you'll us it up quickly. I have been using a brand called pro complex that has whey and casien protien and is supposed to provide a longer energy source and give a more complete recovery for your muscles. It mixes very easy and the vinella taste great ( i put whatever flavoring in my shake to make it taste how i want). It aint the cheapest, but I could definately tell a difference, it keeps me full longer. Also try the creatine-glutamint mixture post workout, really helps with recovery. I use creatine surge it has creatine, glutamine and the glucose required to help you absorbe it already mixed in just use water and not fruit juse taste great. Good Luck. |
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I'm really liking Optimum Nutrition's protein powder. EAS is still king in my book, but it's expensive and hard to find sometimes. ON blends up great without clumping and has a solid taste. Add a scoop of ice cream or a spoon of ovaltine and half a bananna..... oooooh, is that tasty. GNC's UltraMega Gold multivitamin is my personal fave as far as that goes. I'm experimenting with others right now and don't feel like I'm missing anything. |