Milk has long been considered as something that bodybuilders regularly drink. This has been made incredibly common in Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength program, which required you to drink a lot of milk every single day. However, many people do not realize the effects that milk can have on weight lifting and it is important that you educate yourself so you know if it is really worth having in your diet.
Benefits of Milk
According to healthscapes.org, milk is rich in protein. A single liter contains around 32g of protein. It is also a good protein, in fact it is one of the best protein sources in existence. The reason for this is that the two different sources for protein in milk is whey and casein. If you haven’t noticed, these are two of the most popular and effective sources for protein powder as well – and there’s a reason for that!
Milk is not just a good protein though. It has a macronutrient breakdown of 50/35/15 – which means 50% carbs, 35% protein, and 15% fat. This makes it an effective food to add into any diet as it is easy to balance your macronutrients according to your needs when adding in this food. A liter also only contains 440 calories, so in smaller levels of consumption it will not throw off your diet at all.
Does Milk Really Mix With Weight Lifting?
Sure, milk is healthy and beneficial to the body – but does it really mix with weight lifting? Of course it does. The benefits stated in this article talk about how it is a good protein, it’s rich in protein, and it is very versatile with other foods for diet purposes. This means that it is a good resource of protein to help with your muscle growth. It is a good implementation into both bulking and cutting diets.
Simply put, milk is a great addition into the diet of a weight lifter. However, there are certain cases where you may want to avoid it. Firstly, this may be true if you are looking to lose weight as it is not necessary and it is relatively high in both fat and calories for someone looking to drop a couple pounds. The type of milk may factor into this though – 1% and 2% milk are what are most often recommended, but you can go lighter if you are worried about the fattiness or calories.
Now, milk is considered as good and effective for weight lifters, does that mean that you can throw in a couple liters or gallons a day? Well, you can argue for doing so if you are following the nutritional program for a training system that requires it. However, it is generally not recommended as there are better resources for all of the macronutrients and even if you just need more calories, you can still find better sources.
With all this in mind, we can conclude that milk is a good protein source and is permissible in any weight lifter’s diet. However, it is important that you still consider your macronutrients for each day and do not create a major excess from your milk intake. In closing, milk and weight lifting do mix as long as you are smart about your intake and work the milk into your diet based on your nutrition goals.