How To Mix Protein Powder

For those of you at the athlete level or if you just do some pretty intense workouts, workout supplements may help you sustain energy, build muscle mass, and speed up recovery time.

I just got myself some 100% Whey Protein from GNC. They have a few different flavors, but I would recommend the chocolate flavor if you've never taken protein before. The taste is pretty similar to chocolate milk, Ovaltine, or a Yoohoo. If you have negative reactions to whey (from milk), then you might want to opt for the Soy Protein or other type instead. I'll go more in dept about protein in a different post, but let's get going with how to mix this baby.

Let's take a look at the standard options for mixing protein powder. The liquid of choice to use for mixing protein is milk, but again if you have a negative reaction to milk, opt for soy or water.

1) Mixing in a glass or cup using a utensil

Pros: A glass and utensil are usually readily available in anyone's kitchen. Clean up is relatively simple.

Cons: Mixing is slow and protein can easily clump up.

Advice: If you plan on mixing in a glass, be sure to add in the protein a little bit at a time. Keep stirring with one hand and gently tap the scoop of protein in against the edge of the glass with the other hand so that a little bit goes in at a time. It's an art in itself! Adding protein in too fast or mixing too slow will cause clumps! Ew!

2) Using a standard blender

Pros: Very smooth mixes. You can add in other ingredients easily to your shake.

Cons: The clean up, enough said. Also, not very portable and requires electricity.

Advice: There are of course some hand powered blending devices or immersion blenders that might be easier to clean up, but nevertheless it's a bit of a hassle. If you're at home and don't mind the clean up, then by all means use it. With protein shakes, I would recommend throwing in a banana (or two) into your shake to give it a delicious texture, not to mention that you'll be getting some much needed potassium too!

3) Shake it up! (Best Choice)

Pros: Fast and portable. You can throw in the protein and liquid and shake it up, then toss it in your gym bag to drink when you're ready. Clean up is relatively easy. Smooth results achieved using using your arm, so you get a little workout while mixing!

Cons: You have to get a bottle that can be fully enclosed.

Advice: Get yourself a good shaker bottle that has a wide opening so that you can easily pour in the protein and liquid of choice. Make sure the bottle can be fully securely sealed because nobody wants to end up with a mess.

Urban Playground Workouts

You've probably seen videos on the internet of insanely muscular people working out on the playground. Their pull-up bar and monkey bar work is quite impressive; throwing in creative ways to use and transition on the bars. Most of their routines are exhibiting awesome upper body work. Here's a fun inspirational video of some kids working out and playing capoeira.

This is from the YouGottaCThis YouTube channel. Looks like the park that they're at is in Brooklyn, NY. These videos really demonstrate creativity and passion for fitness!.

1 Up on the Pull-Up

The pull-up is one of the quintessential exercises that you should have in your workout regimen. In other words, just do it!

I think the pull-up is one of the best single upper body exercises that you can do. Why? Because you're working out a variety of muscle groups at the same time. We're talking fingers, hand, wrists, forearms, biceps, triceps, shoulders, delts, lats, chest, etc. If you're not doing these as part of your regular exercise sets, throw them in!

So what can you do to try to increase your pull-up count? I always seem to talk about the idea that if you add 1 pull-up a week to your set, you'll be doing 52 reps in a year. Ha! Easier said than done. I've actually tried this and got up to about 17. Then the winter holidays hit and pow, you're trying to recover for the next month to get back to that level. Reality is that exercises that are performed with increasing repetition goals will be subject to the plateau effect. That is, it will take longer and longer to increase additional reps.

The idea is pretty motivating though, so if you've done something similar, do share your experiences! The concept is that slow and steady progression will allow your body to adapt. It makes sense and applies to most workouts. In order for it to work, you'll also need to steadily progress the rest of your lifestyle to accompany your progress. The more you work out, the more recovery time you'll need, the more calories you might need to intake, etc.

So go at it! Get up there on that pull-up bar and see how far you can go! Good luck!

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1 Up Fitness was created to share with you essential fitness concepts, innovative workout regimens, and specific exercise and skill how-to's in a way that will help you level up on your fitness goals.

We will cover topics that encompass everything fitness and present them to you in an easy to follow and easy to read format; giving you more time to get out there and start working out!

We're here to inspire and enlighten you to "improve yourself". That will be our motto because we don't want to do do things because a trainer tells you to or because you paid for a membership and feel obligated to go. We want you to learn, practice, and work out to better all aspects of your life.

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