Not all protein powders are created equal. Many protein powders contain soy, sugar, and other ingredients that can do more harm than good. With the right supplements, one can build a great deal of lean muscle mass. One might gain fat rather than muscle or even reduce their testosterone and ruin their gains if they use inferior powders. Besides soy and sugar, one will find many other unhealthy ingredients in low-quality protein supplements.
Even someone who puts in plenty of effort at the gym can fail to see significant gains while consuming an inadequate amount of protein. Protein is required to build muscle. When one strains their muscles during heavy training, the body rebuilds and strengthens the muscles using amino acids. Without enough protein intake, the body will not be able to produce enough amino acids to rebuild muscle.
While an ordinary person who merely wants to be in reasonably good shape and find enough protein in their diet, a bodybuilder is sure to need protein powder as well. With protein supplements, one can consume a very high amount of protein without too much overall caloric intake. Any of the top 20 protein powders listed here are sure to contain protein from high-quality sources and avoid inferior ingredients.
1) Staunch Whey Isolate
For most bodybuilders, consuming a powder that contains almost pure protein is the best way to go. Some bodybuilders can benefit from powders that also include digestive enzymes, lactose, or even a small amount of carbohydrates. However, nearly pure protein tends to be the best choice. Whey protein isolate is much purer than whey protein concentrate, which contains other ingredients. Scientific studies also prove that whey is particularly suitable for building muscle, compared to other proteins. While pure protein is the best choice if one can easily digest it, many bodybuilders are better off with powders that include digestive enzymes.
2) Animal Whey
Animal Whey is an excellent choice for those who have difficulty fully digesting most other whey proteins. As well as containing high-quality whey protein with all the fat removed, Animal Whey contains highly potent digestive enzymes. Animal Whey is one of the best options if one wants to make sure they fully absorb their protein.
3) Muscle Milk Protein Powder by Cytosport
While Muscle Milk powder is not pure whey protein, it is still a high-quality powder that contains many beneficial ingredients. Those who prefer to get many of their essential vitamins from their protein powder rather than from other supplements will find Muscle Milk powder to be the right choice.
4) Syntha-6
As well as a mix of whey, casein, and egg protein, Syntha-6 also contains ten different amino acids to help a bodybuilder recover quickly. Syntha-6 is noticeably better tasting than most other powders. Syntha-6 is also relatively high in calories. Depending on your metabolism, it may be the right choice for building lean muscle, or it might be better suited for the bulking phase.
5) John’s Killer Protein Nighttime Blend
John’s Killer Protein contains protein sourced entirely from grass-fed dairy cows. The protein is mostly (80%) casein and only 20 percent whey. However, casein does have anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties that arguably make it superior to whey. While the evidence is much in favor of whey being the best choice for lean muscle building, casein also has its advantages.
6) Julian Bakery Paleo Thin Egg White Protein Powder
While whey protein tends to be a lifter’s first choice, it can cause belly bloat for many lifters. A protein powder made entirely out of non-GMO egg whites is particularly unlikely to cause belly bloating.
7) Sunwarrior Classic Plus Protein Powder
Sunwarrior classic is an excellent choice due to the abundant amino acids and the complete lack of sugar. Plant-based powders often contain soy, but that is not the case here. Sunwarrior classic is also free of unnecessary calories and well suited for the cutting rather than the bulking phase.
8) Gold Standard 100% Whey
Gold standard 100% whey is another excellent choice for those looking for a tried and true entirely whey / almost entirely protein powder. Gold Standard has more positive reviews on Amazon than any other powder, with reviewers praising its taste and effectiveness.
9) Dymatize ISO 100
Dymatize protein powder has an enjoyable sweet taste to it in spite of containing very little sugar. Dymatize is easy to digest and unlikely to lead to gas or bloating. Dymatize also mixes easily and can be used to create excellent tasting protein smoothies.
10) Jarrow Formulas
Jarrow formulas protein powder is as unflavored as possible. Such unflavored powder is useful for those who want to create protein smoothies. A protein smoothie containing Jarrow formulas powder will taste like whatever one mixes the powder with.
11) Myotein
Myotein is surprisingly cheap for protein powder of the highest quality. Myotein mixes whey isolate with whey concentrate and casein to achieve the benefits of both sources of protein. Myotein is designed to absorb into the body slowly for improved muscle growth on rest days.
12) Proteinseries 100% Grass-Fed
Proteinseries offers a protein powder with no fat or carbohydrates at all. At 28% protein by weight, this is some of the purest protein powder you can find. Proteinseries powder also contains leucine, which protects muscles from catabolism.
13) Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard Whey
With whey protein as the main ingredient, 100% Gold Standard Whey also offers three different essential amino acids (Leucine, Valine, and Isoleucine) and a few grams of Glutamic Acid per serving. The milk chocolate flavor is particularly good tasting.
14) 612 Protein
612 Protein is specifically for bodybuilders and not for the health and fitness crowd in general. A mix of amino acids and milk protein makes 612 protein ideal for gaining the lean muscle that bodybuilders need to win competitions.
15) Pure Label Grass Fed Whey
Pure Label is another excellent choice is one wants as few ingredients as possible. It contains almost nothing besides whey protein extracted from the milk of grass-fed cows. While other ingredients can help for many people, the best place to start is pure, high-quality whey protein.
16) IsoPure Zero Carb
While carbs, of course, do have their place in bodybuilding, one wants to avoid carbs when they are trying to become as lean as possible. IsoPure Zero Carb is a Keto friendly powder that will help a bodybuilder reach a minimal level of body fat before competitions.
17) MusleTech Platinum BCAA
Those looking for a protein powder very high in BCAAs should give MuscleTech’s products a try. BCAAs have several different effects that help one pack on muscle without gaining body fat. BCAAs increase the amount of nitrogen in the blood to improve performance and are one of the building blocks of muscle as well.
18) Protein Energy
Unlike the vast majority of protein powders, Protein Energy contains caffeine. Caffeine reduces the perception of effort and allows one to lift harder on days in which their motivation is not up to the highest levels. Protein Energy also contains vitamins B6 and B12 (great energy boosters) and vitamin E, which works as an antioxidant.
19) MP Combat 100% Casein
MP Combat 100% Casein offers 28 grams of protein and only 2 grams of carbohydrates per serving. Casein is slowly digested and has its advantages, even if whey is the best for most bodybuilders.
20) PBfit All Natural
As well as being useful for gaining lean muscle, protein derived from peanut butter has the advantage of blending smoothly into protein drinks. Peanut butter protein may work better than protein from any other source for creating smooth protein drinks that lack clumps. Peanut butter protein is superior in taste, as well.
In summing up as a bodybuilder a good protein supplement should be a must have in your dietary plan. There is a protein powder for you whether you are a vegan or meat eater.
Grab you a great protein powder today. My #1 recommendation for the vegan bodybuilder and my #1 recommendation for the meat-eating bodybuilder.
Get the one that suits your body best. Whip one up, chug it down, hit the gym and go into beast mode baby!
IBM
Hi! I have read good reviews about 100% Gold Standard Whey and I have decided to to purchase it. I’ll follow your advice and take the milk chocolate flavor.
I also want to try the PBfit All Natural. I know Peanut butter protein is superior but I’m intrigued about its taste. It must be really nice!
Hi Henry
Yes 100% GSW is good. I haven’t tried the PBfit myself yet. It sounds good and if it has a good peanut butter taste it should be good. Let me know what you think. Thanks for commenting.
All the best
Eric
Hi! I haven’t had a very good experience with Animal Whey so I have decided to go online and search for some alternatives and your post has helped me very much. I have finally made up my mind for choosing Julian Bakery Paleo Thin Egg White Protein Powder. It’s nice to avoid belly bloating. Thanks for this post.
Hi Paolo
Glad I could be of help to you. And you made a great choice. Thanks for sharing.
All the best
Eric
Hi Eric – I enjoyed reading your post on the different protein powders. I’m not a consumer of these protein powders but my son is. I didn’t realize that some of these powders can lead to gaining fat rather than muscle or reduce your testosterone levels…that’s not good. The Protein Energy looks like something I would like to try since it can give me a boost of energy to get in a good workout, especially on those days that I’m feeling tired and no energy to go to the gym. Thanks for the information, I found it interesting and educational. Best wishes!
Hi Jeff
Yep you definately have to the energy to get in a good workout. Also make sure you’re eating enough quality food and getting enough rest. Thanks for sharing.
All the best
Eric
Hello Eric,
I can understand, that soy, sugar, carbs and many other unhealthy ingredients in low-quality protein supplements will cause problems. Having too many carbs will cause excess insulin and rather than creating muscle you will be storing fat during a workout.
I have a body builder friend who only consumes protein.
Protein eventually will stimulate an insulin response, but at a lower rate and you can build muscle. I am not a body builder but I am curious as to what you eat on a daily basis, percent carbs, protein and fat.
How often do you work out? How much of the supplement do you take?
Hi Jimmy
Most seasoned bodybuilders use protein powders sparingly, because they know eating quality food is better. The novice bodybuilder has a tendency to use a lot of protein powders because they think it will make them grow faster.
Protein powders have there place for when you need something when food is not available or you need extra calories when you’re trying to put on a little more weight and you just don’t want to eat anymore food.
As far the questions you asked about me I don’t want to give them away here hahaha I’ll be talking about things like that in upcoming posts. Thanks for sharing.
All the best
Eric
I haven`t tried them myselves but my son is bodybuilding and he uses the 100% GOLD STANDARD WHEY. And I could see that it does through my sons energy and body.
Hi Lydia
That’s a good choice for your son. It seems to be working for him. Thanks for sharing.
All the best
Eric
Great Post.
A friend of mine just started to use some proteins and I was searching just out of curiosity, which ones would be OK. Originally I thought that one could just eat more meat, but I was told that there are not just enough proteins in a steak 🙂
With the amount of exercise he does (and I am about to follow him), there is a need for extra proteins.
I am a bit concerned though if all off these powders can reduce the testosterone. Apparently, that might have a negative effect on sperm. This is an issue especially when the other half wants to have a baby:)
Hi Michal
Thanks. It is better to get good quality protein from food, but when you use a protein supplelement make sure it’s of high quality. Low grade powders full of soy have been known to lower a man’s testosterone level.
But if you’re putting high quality protein in your body you don’t have to worry about that. Thanks for sharing.
All the best
Eric
My gym coach suggested I add protein supplements to my diet. The one I purchased contained no soy, no whey and not many calories. You have shown a lot of possible choices for protein intake. I notice that a lot of them contain whey. What is the advantage/disadvantage of having whey in the powder? Also is it a good thing to have caffeine in a protein supplement?
Hi JJ
Whey protein is considered a complete because it has all of the 9 essential amino acids. Disadvantage for some it cause bloating or cramping.
Taking a protein supplement with caffeine in it would be good if you needed a little extra energy to get you through a workout. Plus caffeine is known to burn a few calories. Thanks for sahring.
All the best
Eric
Thank you for your post. It is informative and useful for me. I love gym and go to gym almost daily. Although the main reason is to keep myself fit, I also would like to see my muscle growth. But I don’t see apparent effects of my exercises on my muscles.
Your article gives me a hint that I need the right supplements to build muscle mass. Even though I do exercises daily, my belly fat is still growing. I have food with high carbohydrates and vegetables, which could be the reason.
I am definitely going to try one of the products you recommend. Right now I use vitamin supplement. “Muscle Milk Protein Powder by Cytosport” could be the ideal one for me. Since it contains essential vitamins, I just need this product and eliminate my daily vitamin pill, a nice one stone with two birds.
It is kind of you sharing this useful information with us.
Hi Anthony
You’re welcome. Play around with your carb intake to match your training. To take in a lot of carbs you should be doing a very high intensisty workout to fuel your muscles.
Also you didn’t mention anything about doing cardio. Throw some cardio in there to help burn excess calories. Make sure you’re getting adequate rest as well. Your muscles don’t grow in the gym they grow during rest. Thanks for sharing.
All the best
Eric
I never even knew what muscle milk was. My son is a big fan of protein supplements. I wonder if he knows all the facts you presented. I doubt it. He’ll love this information! I’m going to share this article with him right now. He loves this kind of read. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Neko
I appreciate your comment and thank you for sharing my post with your son.
All the best
Eric
Hi Eric – r2qding this post is very timely as I’ve been on the hunt for a protein supplement. However, I had no idea that there were so many to choose from. But I’m sure that the ones you’ve featured here are the best quality. I’m learning towards the energy protein because I can always use more of that! I appreciate this info. Thanks!
Hi Nathaniel
You’re welcome. Glad my post was of help to you.
All the best
Eric
Thanks for this review of top 20 protein powders for bodybuilding. What helped me here is what you mentioned that there are supplements that instead of giving muscles they give fats. That’s a very good point anyone has to know and consider in their consumption.
There’s one thing my mind wants to clarify. In bodybuilding is it only good for the physical form or it adds to the body resistance or better health condition?
Hi Abagatan
You’re welcome glad you enjoyed the article. Bodybuilding is not just for looking good it’s very healthy. The average person doesn’t exercise regularly, watch what they eat or care about how their body looks. If you’re trying to get healthy take up bodybuilding. Thanks for sharing.
All the best
Eric