How many times do you eat a day? Do you eat carbs after 3pm? Post-workout protein shake?
Such are the questions faced by the modern day strength enthusiast. Are we overthinking the way we eat? In a world faced with a growing obesity epidemic and continuous production of low quality foods the answer may appear no. If we dig deeper however we may begin to question why we stick to rigid diet tips by people supposedly in the know. Where should we turn for diet advice? The muscle mags are one place, yet one often has to traverse through forty pages of advertisements before stumbling upon anything remotely sane.
What about the strongmen of yore? What about Eugen Sandow? How did he eat and why?
Before beginning, I have to thank a series of individuals for their help in devising this article. The good folks at DavidGentle.com and Ironhistory.com helped point me in the right direction for the earlier history of the shaker. Likewise Ron Campbell’s Bodybuilding Books and Magazines group on Facebook which provided several leads which helped sharpen out the later history of today’s post. Finally Dr. Ben Pollack and Paul Becker from the Rheo H. Blair website were incredibly giving in their time and knowledge.
With that in mind, I’m now going to undoubtedly bastardise and misinterpret all the information garnered from the above individuals but hey, such is life! Today’s post is possibly the most innocuous but to my mind fascinating one yet. It is the history of the protein shaker, that plastic bottle currently fermenting your last whey protein shake in the bottom of your gym bag. Now the reasons for this are simple. Protein shakers have become increasingly popular over the last decade in particular. When I began working out drinking from a protein shaker was a universal announcement that you were a dumb meathead. Nowadays on my morning commute I see office workers, mothers, children and everyone else in between sipping water and a cacophony of drinks from their shakers. So shakers have become cool, and as is our nature on the site, we want to know more about the pre-history.
So with that in mind we’re going to trace the history of the protein shaker, from the early iterations to the modern day bottle. In doing so, it’ll become clear that the shaker is a fascinating symbol of the fitness industry’s acceptance within mainstream culture over the past several decades. It is the Trojan Horse for meatheads seeking acceptability.
In recent years, the amount of people taking supplements for fitness purposes has risen tenfold. They can increase strength, energy and focus during your workouts. Some can even support muscle growth, enhance the immune system and improve joints. So it’s not hard to see why they have become so popular. But when all supplements claim to help us reach our fitness goals, how do we know we are buying the best?
Like most things, some supplements work more effectively than others. So the more knowledge you have before you buy, the more informed your decision will be. If you’re interested in buying a supplement to aid your workouts, here are some things you need to do first.
Type protein and bodybuilding into Google and chances are you’ll be told your not eating enough protein to build muscle. The bodybuilding and health industry have themselves up around the twin pillars of marketing and selling. The key claim for advertisers is that you need protein and you’re not getting enough as is. Nowadays the health enthusiast is bombarded with advertisements for protein powders, bars and cookies. Many of these products are simply sugared candies with a scoop of protein added in but we as consumers buy the message that protein is the be all and end all of muscle building.
How have we ended up here in a world where diets recommending upwards of 300 grams of protein are the norm?
How many times do you eat a day? Do you eat carbs after 3pm? Post-workout protein shake?
Such are the questions faced by the modern day strength enthusiast. Are we overthinking the way we eat? In a world faced with a growing obesity epidemic and continuous production of low quality foods the answer may appear no. If we dig deeper however we may begin to question why we stick to rigid diet tips by people supposedly in the know. Where should we turn for diet advice? The muscle mags are one place, yet one often has to traverse through forty pages of advertisements before stumbling upon anything remotely sane.
What about the strongmen of yore? What about Eugen Sandow? How did he eat and why?
