I never thought of this before. I think protein is beneficial, of course, but whether it is from powder or food sources I am not sure that the powder has any special benefit. But when I was doing a lot of p57, I really didn't know much about barre or TA's exercise philosophy, etc. I had taken dance classes in the past and it resembled some of the conditioning and I knew my legs respond well to that type of training so among my first dvds were the volume 1 set of p57. Well, I pretty much followed the guidance for lifting weights, I had no clue people approach barre different. I only did barre 3 or 4 times a week (on alternate days), I still did daily cardio, I used the heaviest weights I could (for me 5, 8, 10 at that time and I dropped down when it was too much with all the reps), and I had a protein smoothie right after my p57 workout. I think I had really good fitness gains and some inch loss and my legs looked their best. But my diet wasn't great, I was probably eating too much for real weight loss results and I suspect the protein smoothie was contributing to the extra calories. I stayed about the same in weight or just lost a small amount, but I did get stronger compared to where I started (never could do a straight legged pushup before) and lost an inch from my thighs, and a little from my arms and waist so I had some fat loss.
I never really thought of whether protein had anything to do with it though. I don't use protein powder very much now but I have some on hand in case I want a smoothie. I prefer the unflavored, unsweetened kinds just because I find them more versatile for mixing into things.
Last edited by slysam; 07-10-12 at 01:47 PM.
Reason: typos!
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