Grip & Nutrition?

[sammyg]

Hey,

    I just bought some whey protein, cos i was ready to start a weights program. But then i discovered bodyweight exercises, so i thought they'd be a better choice since i'm scared s***less about stunting my growth. My question is, will eating alot of protein & having a protein shake after my grip workout help my grip strength?? or is nutrition not important when training for grip strength??

Thanx.

[Tou]

Protein is the key ingredient in muscle building. However, grip strength is more a matter of tendons strength than muscles strength. I never bought protein powder. However, I have more than my daily dose of protein. 2 liters of milk everyday, a lot of meat, chicken and fish and the job is done. If I was you, I would save the money for a gripper or a grip article.

[sammyg]

ok, but i've already bought the protein, what should i do with it? just have some after each grip workout???

[AP]

protein powders don't do very much if you have plenty of regular food around. i've bought and used whey for a few years now but mainly to add to my diet when i'm in a rush or dorm food doesn't meet my standards. Mags claim that you should drink it at some special time (or more likely "times")during the day to get max benefit or some such nonsense. you should consume it like you would food- drink some when you're hungry or want extra calories, you probly don't need it more than once a day otherwise you'll just waste money you could have spent on real food, and on some days you don't have to drink it at all... i think whey helps me recover faster from my other strength training but only to a small degree, you may feel that it helps you with your bodyweight excersizes- but it doesn't seem to effect my grip at all.

of course if you can't stand the stuff you may be able to take it back even if it is oppened- i believe GNC offers this policy.

[Guest kINGPIN]

Ok so you already bought it so I will assume now that you are stuck with it.  So here is my advice for this one tub you have.  Stick it in a blender with a couple of bananas and some peanut butter (fats are also very important) and you then ahve a pretty much complete meal before bed, in the morning, before or after a workout.  These are the best times for a 'liquid meal'.

But once the stuff is finished, drop the stuff.  It is important when you start training to learn good habits and only when this has been achieved should you think about bodybuilding supplements as and when you feel you need them.  Eat 5/6 quality meals a day, stop reading the muscle comics as they will only make you feel that supplements are essential to line there own pockets.  Learn what nutrition is.  Get Nancy Clarks book on sports nutrition and learn all you can and then apply it.  I mean this in no way to patronize you but, if you can't eat 5/6 quality meals at your age then you are going to have a #### of a time eating them when you have a full time job and a couple of kids.

Also, it is all too easy to prioritise protien in your diet but do not forget the rest.  The bulk of your diet should be carbs (complex-potatoes, rice, pasta).  This is where the energy for your workouts comes from.

Good luck with your future goals.

[Guest Bane]

sammyg,

        I have nothing much different to add here except my personal experience with protein powder.  I used it for a long time for two reasons: (1) I beleived that lifters needed tons of protein, (2) As an easy way to get extra calories.    Money got tight for awhile and I wasn't able to toss out the extra $35.00 for 3 lbs of powder I was buying. Then it happened!!! I realized there was no change in my lifting and that I was still able to consume about 220-240 grams of protein a day just by eating regular meals (I was in a weight gaining/bulking mode at the time).  I gave up the protein powder and never looked back....all is well. There is no definitive proof that  atheletes need all that protein...maybe they do , maybe they don't but what I do know is that if your body doesn't need it you'll be on the bowl all day!!!!   "IF" I were to bulk again or go on some sort of gaining diet I may add shakes again but only as an easily consumable liquid meal..."extra cals". As for grip work....well....I'm new at it so I'm very very green but an educated guess would have me agree with what someone more experienced (Tou )  mentioned above about grip being more tendons and such. There may also be forearm involved but I wouldn't think that warrents the use of extra protein.  I sometimes think the protein thing is more concerned with gaining muscle size (growth) more than strength anyway.

           Good luck

[Guest JSallee]

I guess I will add my two cents.  

 First you are not going to stunt your growth by taking protein powder.  The only thing that it will stunt the growth of is your savings account.

 

 If you are trying to bulk up, you must consume mass quantities of good food.  Whole milk, peanut butter, whole eggs, and one of my favs Tuna.  Eat as much as you can and then eat more and take a nap.  When I bulk up I usually eat between six and ten thousand calories a day.  And I'm sitting at 205 pounds right now.

   

Remember this:  Train like an animal, Eat like a horse, Sleep like a baby, and Grow like a weed.  --- I don't remember where I heard this, it may have been here, but I really like it.

[sammyg]

thanx mate,

              i'm worried about stunting my growth from doing  heavy weights, not from protein powder.

[Guest Jeff Roark]

Sammy,

Hey! maybe I can offer the same advice these guys have given you and a counter point. I for one don't know if heavy weights can stunt your growth, I doubt it but it could be possible. Whats your age and how big are you now? I wish I was 15 or 16 again and knew then what I know now. I wouldn't be worrying about being ripped or  anything comical right now. Now is the time to bulk up and grow like a weed. Also, you don't need tremendous weights if you are in the teen years to gain! You can probably look at weights and gain if you meet all the other factors for growthin size and strength. I am going to help you as best as I can. First off as a teen I would sleep as much as possible! Nap after school, go to bed early as possible and sleep until you have to finish your meal running for the school bus! sleep all you can because you have the hormones to grow in full abundance! Next eat all good food and a little junk ain't going to kill you at your age. i'll throw you a sample of my diet that I am using to bulk up again, here goes.

Breakfast- 3 eggs, 1 bowl of oatmeal, 1 apple- 1 multi - vitamin, 1 Vit-C, 1 B-complex

snack- 1 cup cottage cheese with 2 slices of pine apple.

Lunch- chicken salad

snack- half of a tuna sandwich

Dinner- whatever my girlfreind cooks and a salad

before bed- rest of my tuna sandwich and maybe a few cookies with milk. 1 multi-vit, 1 vit-c, and 1 vit-e.

**now I also supplement each meal with one cup of my blender concotion which is this:

2 cups of fruit flavored lowfat yoguart

2 scoops of chocolate whey protein

2 cups skim milk powder

2 cups 2% milk

1 banana

2 tbsp of natural peanut butter

2 teaspoon of chocolate powder

here would be an awesome workout to follow without using too heavy of weights, get a good pump, yes pump. Get the blood moving.

Monday-Wednesday-Friday

military press- 2x12

bent rows or chins- 3x15

bench press-3x12

curls-1x12

Breathing squat with pullovers- 2x15 or 1x30***

stiff leg deadlift-1x15

leg raise or situp- 1x25

all the grip work you can stand

*** Do not use over bodyweight on this exercise. Take 3 huge breathes between each rep, this is most important for your growth, and kick starting your metabolism. follow this with one set of 30 reps on light pullovers, no more than 15lbs.

There you go. That will get you going on building a great foundation for hard work lifting and gripping. Follow this for 4 months and report back all the great gains you have made. Take measurements and prove you can do it to yourself.