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You've designed what you hope will be the perfect match of a workout program for your needs. You know what type of muscle mass gain you want and you have written out a training guide to get there. You know you will need to ingest the "big" three to avail yourself to proper nutrition. Carbohydrates, fats and PROTEIN. Back to the basics you know that you need to feed a two hundred (200) pound body with about one and one-half (1 1/2) daily grams of protein per body pound. If you are going to ingest up to three hundred or more grams of protein per day you better get to cooking and chewing!

You are set up for a number of small meals throughout the day scheduled to complement your workout and rest periods. Well, get a hold of yourself. Three hundred grams of quality protein equates to about fifty (Yes 50!) medium size eggs. No way? Then grab yourself about three and a half (3 1/2) pounds of cod fillets! One more try? Three hundred grams of roast beef would be about two and one-half (2 1/2) pounds! Might as well throw in the caloric content of the above. Fifty eggs is four thousand five hundred calories! The roast beef? That much cooked cow will give you about seventy five hundred (7500) or great tasting calories.

Think you are set up to eat and work off that much caloric content without turning to a tubby? Ok, where are you going to find the time. Unless you have a cook on call for your six meals then no way you can develop the time to cook that stuff.

Now we are to the supplements. Read labels and you will find that pound for pound and dollar for dollar the powders or drinks will be more cost effective than "food". If you could ingest solely powders you could get your three hundred (300) grams of protein out of about ONE pound of the product which would yield somewhere in the neighborhood of eighteen-hundred (1800) calories. DON'T DO THAT. While cost effective and easy these supplements still are not food and to derive the same nutrients you will be balancing the diet daily. The majority of your dietary protein still should be from chicken, tuna, etc, etc, etc, etc. So if you are on a six meal day then you would probably be OK with about three shakes maximum per day.

So now we know supplements are easily effective for just under half of your meals. There are hundreds if not thousands brands, type and concoctions of protein supplements on the market. We need quality, so it is necessary to READ LABELS! You can easily omit the ones containing fructose, sucrose, rice syrup and other unwanted sweeteners. Now you need to weed out the questionable ingredients such as aspartame and artifical flavors or colors.

Do your homework. Research the company for reliability and reputation. Products filled with crappy ingredients are and will continue to be on the market because we will buy them. Don' simply check out the protein gram marker on the label and grab it up. Safe and nutritious can be found from quality manufactures which have a valid and enduring interest in healthy and functional body building.

Flavor? Just like the protein grams listed on the label you might want to ignore the taste until you investigate what the darn stuff if made of. It might prove necessary to sacrifice flavor for quality. Add a banana. Add another properly nutritious flavor in the form of a favorite fruit. If you have a great product that is easy to mix and deliver to your gut then flavor should be way down on your list of wants.

Your choice of protein type might send you into a research fit. Three types of protein are the usual ones on the shelf. Gee whiz---you are back to realizing your goals and pick the type of protein powder best suited for you.

Whey. This protein makes up about twenty (20%) percent of milk. With am excellent amino acid profile along with a rapid digestion this is a good one. Use it before, during and just after your workout. These are the times of the day your body needs energy the most and rapid digestion just might help out!

Casein is another derivative of milk. Making up about eighty (80%) of milk protein. Having a slow digestion rate along with excellent amino acids and peptides use Casein for the times outside of the pre and post workout windows. MAXIMUM benefit realized then.

And good old Soy protein. Arguments are constantly raging on both sides of this protein battle. Advocates claim a super food with "great magical" powers. The other side cites many many detriments of the soy product. So unless you appreciate the taste of have another good reason for use you might just as well leave this bucket of calories sitting on the store shelf.

And of course, if we have different types of protein you can just imagine the number of blends manufactures put on the market. Well, with a blend you can alter digestion time, alter percent of amino acids and peptides. While you could seek a blend out with great benefits you may have to watch what you ingest just prior and just after workout.

So we actually know supplements are great time and calorie savers as we seek hight volumes of protein. Well, back to limiting yourself to thirty (30% or forty (40%) of your daily intake and you can greatly benefit. Just do not forget the nutrients available in the chicken and tunas that are not in the powder. As long as you do not make the mistake that protein powders are a magical elixir then can become a valuable asset to a muscle mass gaining program.