On OldFwoosh there were several of us (at least) that work out regularly and chatted about it a bit here and there. Lookin' for those fellows now, as I need some advice.
Protein shakes. I have one every day about 30-40 minutes before my work-out. I'm not big on fruity flavors or chocolate, so I found my two favorites were (Bio-X) strawberry vanilla and regular vanilla. I've mostly started mixing the two because I think it knocks back the strength of the plain vanilla a little bit, but I still also go straight one or the other sometimes.
I blend it with a little creatine, ice, a frozen chunk of banana, and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Sometimes chia seeds or I'll toss in a strawberry. I don't know if my taste buds have changed or what, but lately I'm struggling to finish my shake because it tastes SO sweet. Almost makes me sick. And I LOVE sweets, so that's really odd.
Anyone have this issue before? What did you change or what's your recipe? I'm -thinking- I might change to a plain oat milk, as maybe the vanilla almond is adding too much sweetness. Or maybe a big spoonful of unflavored yogurt?
Also - how many reps/sets do you let yourself get to before you feel like you should move up in weight? I'm more interested in muscle endurance/leanness than bulk, so part of me thinks I need to just stay on my weight and crank the reps/sets, but I also don't want to be curling all damn day because I'm doing 5 sets of 20. Have you guys found a good balance here?
I just feel like I'm wasting too much time that I don't really have when the whole first 5-8 reps of a set do basically nothing until like the third set. But I do want that muscle endurance so maybe I've just gotta live with it.
I was pleased to see this thread started as I am old and fat and trying to work on that more. I have little to offer in terms of knowledge about protein shakes or exercise regimen, I'm still only about 5 years into having had to learn to walk again and the last five years have been rough on a lot of other fronts but mostly just here to lend some positivity and encouragement.
My favorite protein shake brands are Quest, Ghost, and PEScience. I use Optimum Nutrition for casein and for the Serious Mass shake, too.
For reps, it depends on your goals. The optimum muscle-building range is 5-20 reps (maybe up to 30). The optimum strength range is 3-6 reps, with some single reps.
Many good programs will undulate, either within a week or within a 6+ week cycle— having cycles dedicated to muscle building with higher reps, and then cycles dedicated to strength with lower reps, then peaking strength before deloading, and then repeating.
I prefer lower reps with heavier weight for more sets for big compound movements—squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press, weighted pull-ups. And more reps for accessories like curls, Larsen bench press, regular pull-ups, lateral raises, etc. So kind of a blend of rep ranges.
Lots of great info online. In particular look up Renaissance Periodization by Dr. Mike Israetel on YouTube.
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