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Protein Powder for climbing??

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 Rachel Slater 06 Oct 2011
Several of my friends have started using protein powder for getting stronger at climbing and I know others who want to start using it. Does using it have any negative effects at all and do many professional climbers use it regularly? What are your own experiences with it? The people I've seen start using it have gotten a lot stronger yet to me it just seems almost like cheating...
 Boogs 06 Oct 2011
In reply to r fizzle:

I use this stuff ; http://www.hempnatural.com/ after sessions at a wall or local quarry occasionally when I know it could be more than an hour before I get to eat a proper meal . I think its help add a bit of muscle to my shoulders .

I think Ice Solo & others could give you more info & advice though . I tried other brands & didn't get on too well with them as they disagreed with my digestive system .
 05bwardl 06 Oct 2011
In reply to r fizzle: as your probably not trying to put on bulk as it would make your power to weight ratio worse the only benifit it will realy have is to help your body repair quicker,

personaly i take it after i go to the gym because it makes me feel much better the next day compared to if i just leave it, as for negitive effects it changes from brand to brand depending on the content , i have milk and egg whey and its not bad for you , although too much is bad for your kidneys. some makes that are for bulking up just make your muscles retain more water so they apear bigger, those ones have loads of rubbish in thats bad for you.
in conclusion as a recreational climber you can probably get all the protien you need for groth and repair from normal food quite easily, if you feel your not getting enough just snack on tuna or 5-7 times throughout the day and that will do the trick
 05bwardl 06 Oct 2011
also if your not used to a high protien diet or protien shakes they can disagree with you as said above
 BigBrother 06 Oct 2011
In reply to 05bwardl:


> just snack on tuna or 5-7 times throughout the day

Don't forget the rice cakes!

youtube.com/watch?v=uYHAR8Xzsyo&

 Milesy 07 Oct 2011
It's not cheating at all. It's only protein from dairy (assuming whey). Eating meat 6 times a day is just as good if you can afford it. That's the catch. Whey from the right place is a cheap source of protein. I also drink about 5 pints of milk a day.
ice.solo 07 Oct 2011
In reply to r fizzle:

an extra helping of chicken or fish should do.

you gotta do a lot of heavy muscle work to need extra protein, and powders are a second choice to real food.
Woottang 07 Oct 2011
In reply to 05bwardl: Hi, I think when you talk about kidney damage and water retention you are referring to the effects of creatine. As far as I am aware protein doesn't have those effects but there are bulk up powders that contain both.

As others have said though protein needs for climbers could easily and more economically be met through eating fish, chicken etc but it may be more convenient to just have a couple of shakes a day and be done with it. Also directly after training with carbs shakes would really help recovery.
 Ann Davis 07 Oct 2011
In reply to ice.solo:
> (In reply to r fizzle)
>
> an extra helping of chicken or fish should do.
>
> you gotta do a lot of heavy muscle work to need extra protein, and powders are a second choice to real food.

what if you`re vegetarian..I use protein powder to make up for my lack of meat n meat without feet! I lift weights but more annie than arnie
ice.solo 07 Oct 2011
In reply to Ann Davis:

Then sure. Tho soy stuff, beans etc should still do it.
With out serious output 120gms a day will do. And thats not hard to get.

A normal diet will do it unless you want extra mass.
Protein will help with recovery but significant strength gains are related to much mote than mass. Id think recovery before extra protein if staying light is the priority.

Getting strong from powder is the hype, not the reality.

The test is to record your weight. If you are losing mass and strenght without extra then take it.
 agibb 07 Oct 2011
In reply to r fizzle:

I tried using a recovery drink (which is 4:1 carbs to protein by energy) for a while when I was doing lots of indoor climbing. It only served to keep me from losing weight, as I'd got my calorie calculations wrong. Protein drinks are really geared up for helping to build muscle. Now, if you don't have enough muscle, they may be beneficial. This is unlikely (but not impossible) for a climber. (I've noticed that, although the local wall-wads tend to be built like tent poles, the super-stars are often considerably more muscly. Food for thought...)

I've recently started going to the gym instead of some climbing and that's made more of a difference to my strength. Obviously you need to work out what's best for you, but I'd recommend trying to work out what's holding you back, and address that. If it's *really* strength, then perhaps some gym time and thoughtful diet control are what you need.

I began going to the gym for a couple of reasons. One, I wanted to lose weight, and I wanted to do something that would burn more calories than climbing. Two, I thought that I could benefit from more overall fitness. I'm doing a programme at this gym which is very general - not sport specific at all. I've found that more core strength, and a better awareness of which muscles are doing what has helped me in my climbing.

So try different things. Observe what happens, and if they don't work, change them.
 SonyaD 07 Oct 2011
In reply to ice.solo: What do you think of kids having protein powder? Well, a 15yr old, rather than young child.

Climbs pretty hard (7a+) 3-4x a week, runs, plays hockey, goes to gym etc etc etc. VERY active. Still a good bit of growing to do.

She tends to eat some chicken or (lean) ham after climbing, but sometimes no time, so we got her some protein powder.
 Jonny2vests 07 Oct 2011
In reply to r fizzle:

I'm no nutritionist, but I'm reasonably skeptical about this unless you are training pretty hard. And I mean training, not just bimbling about at the wall like most of us do.

If you're not, then surely you'll just gain weight. The full-time climbers I know are all obsessed with dieting and eating well as climbing doesn't really burn that much energy. Broccoli - Ben Moon's superfood!
 Matt Bulmer 07 Oct 2011
In reply to r fizzle: A normal, healthy diet should give you all the protein you need. If you're not eating a normal healthy diet then adding protein powder to it will not solve the fundamental problem. Now, if you were a full-time climber doing lots of intense work on a very frequent basis, you may have some additional needs; however, even then the additional protein requirements would not be as large as some people think. There's quite a lot of decent research out there. Anita Bean's book has reference to a lot of it.
 Milesy 07 Oct 2011
In reply to Matt - BodyPoint:

You are missing the point that not everyone has the money or convenience to eat whole foods all the time. I like to run and cycle and hillwalk as well and if I do not supplement I lose weight too quickly and that is with already having a high intake of whole foods. A good quality powder with whole milk lets me maintain a high calorie output without breaking the bank. I know I certainly could not afford to feed myself without it.
 Matt Bulmer 07 Oct 2011
In reply to Milesy: The OP was in relation to the amount of protein required to build strength (repair muscle.) My simple point was that a healthy diet will usually contain the required amount of protein (unless exercise intensity is very high, very frequently.) It may not contain the required amount of total calories, but that is a separate and different question (I'm mainly a cyclist and frequently use carb drinks to meet my dialy calorific requirements whilst on the bike.) I do take the point, however, that some people may not be able to eat a healthy diet due to financial constraints and the increasing cost of living. I guess that is another debate altogether.

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