An Introduction To Protein Powders For Personal Trainers

Introduction

Protein is an essential building block for muscle. Eating a diet high in protein also helps your clients lose fat, preserve muscle mass, and supports healthy weight maintenance.

Interestingly, more and more people are now turning to protein powders for convenience, taste, and affordability. But as a personal trainer, do you understand the full spectrum of benefits that protein powders offer? Do you know how much protein your clients need to see the best results? And do you know what key BCAA you should look out for in powder blends?

Performance nutritionist Ben Coomber explains in this video.

Or, if you’d prefer, you can read what Ben had to say in the article below.

Why are protein powders so popular?

You’re probably already aware that protein is essential for fitness and athletic training, as we explore in this article. However, most of your clients are busy at work, at home, and in the gym. That means they might struggle to find the time to get enough protein in their diet.

Protein supplements help people get a quick protein fix. They are easy, convenient, and prevent your clients from snacking when their blood sugar levels drop too low. They are also very cheap. Most protein shakes cost anywhere between 60p to £1.40 per portion. ‘Ready to drink’ shakes from the supermarket are typically more expensive.

You might also work with a client who struggles to get protein in the morning. They don’t want to cook an omelette or anything savoury. It might be that you get them to put 20-30 grammes of protein in their porridge to make some overnight oats. Or perhaps they could add it to a smoothie recipe that you have given them. You’re enabling them to hit their protein target and improve their body composition while creating convenience.

Sometimes, clients start with something simple like toast with Marmite (which we might not consider an optimal snack). Getting them to add a whey protein shake alongside their Marmite on toast can encourage better protein intake, habits, and overall progress. You can meet your clients in the middle using protein shakes to give them a convenient way to reach their goals. You could then teach your clients how to use it in different kinds of recipes, and generally the different uses it can have in their diet.

How much protein should my clients consume?

When we look at the research and what you are taught in personal training courses, a client is going to need anywhere from 1.4 to 2 grammes of protein per kilogram of body weight in their diet. The size of the person is also going to change their need for protein.

Ideally, most protein powders should contain a good amount of leucine. Leucine is one of the key anabolic amino acids. For someone who is fairly small – 60, 70, or maybe even 80 kilograms – 2.5 grammes of leucine per serving would be sufficient.

For larger individuals, you would be looking for that shake to contain 2.5, 3, maybe 3.5 grammes of leucine. I would not lose too much sleep over this, however. If you can get it, brilliant. If you are working with someone who is really performance-minded, then it might give them an extra 5% benefit. But it is not something I would be walking around the gym floor thinking, “This client must have three grammes of leucine in their shake.”

We are talking about small percentages. The important thing is getting a good amount of broad-spectrum amino acids from any protein source that we have. We obviously want to get protein in the diet first. Supplements definitely have their use and you might find that some clients use protein supplements in their diet simply because it is convenient and cost-effective. Especially in the modern fitness food movement with people making foods like protein pancakes, protein porridge, overnight oats, and cakes with protein powder in them. It allows our clients to have some flexibility and enjoyment in the kitchen.

Recommend a high-quality protein powder

As with any supplement, do your due diligence on the company whose products you recommend. Make sure that you are recommending ethical companies that maintain high standards of quality and flavour. There is nothing worse than sending a client to a company that has a range of poor-tasting products. They buy it and think, “I don’t want to taste that every day,” and all of a sudden what you are asking them to implement becomes much more difficult because you recommended a poor-quality product.

If you are interested in learning more about evidence-based diet and nutrition practices and how these relate to healthy eating, take a look at our range of nutrition courses and qualifications.