Whey protein, creatine and caffeine before every workout are all supplements that, taken individually pretraining, have been proven in numerous studies to boost workout performance, including muscle strength, endurance and workout intensity. Also well known are the musclebuilding effects of whey and creatine. A recent study shows that these three supplements stacked together postworkout can boost your results.
THE STUDY
Researchers from the University of Oklahoma (Norman) had subjects take either a whey, creatine and caffeine combo or a placebo before they ran on a treadmill for as fast as they could for as long as they could.
THE RESULTS
They reported in a 2010 issue of the journal Nutrition Research that when the subjects drank the whey/ creatine/caffeine combo, they were able to run about 10% longer at their “all-out” pace. Since this was running at an all-out pace, which they could only maintain for a couple of minutes, this is more equivalent to weight lifting than it is to cardio. In other words, taking a combination of whey protein, creatine and caffeine before workouts can help you get more reps with a given weight. And that can lead to greater muscle growth.
THE DOSAGE
As we regularly recommend, go with 20 grams of whey protein, 2-5 g of creatine and 200-400 milligrams of caffeine within 30 minutes before workouts.
