Shaivy Choubey

Hello Ziddis! Summer has started, and many of you may have noticed that the taste of your protein powder now seems slightly different. But are you just imagining it, or are the flavours actually changing? The way we perceive flavours is influenced by several factors like temperature, humidity and your taste sensitivity which shifts with the seasons. Even the ingredients in your protein powder react differently to heat and cold and that can change the overall experience of consuming protein powder. Here is how your protein powder feels and tastes different in summer.

Protein Powder Taste Change

The taste of your protein powder may seem to change for multiple reasons like some ingredients in your protein powder react differently to the warmer temperature. Warmer temperatures tend to enhance the sweetness and make flavours stronger. In colder days of winter, certain taste receptors become dull making the same protein powder seem tasteless or milder.

The humidity of a place plays a role in affecting the ingredient stability. This also determines how well the powder mixes when added to liquids.

Why Does Protein Powder Taste Different?

There are many reasons why protein powder might taste different now that summer has started.

1. Taste Sensitivity Changes Across Seasons

Our perception of taste is not consistent. It changes throughout the year. In summer with the higher temperatures, we crave lighter but more refreshing flavours. This increases our sensitivity to sweetness. But during the winter, our taste buds seem dull and make us crave richer and more intense flavours.

2. Temperature’s Effect on Flavor Release

When something is cold, our taste buds don’t pick up on sweetness and aroma as effectively. This is why ice cream is loaded with sugar, unlike other room-temperature desserts. It compensates for the reduced perception of sweetness. When protein powders are mixed with warm water you can actually taste the flavour and it tastes different than when protein powder is mixed with ice-cold water.

3. Ingredient Stability & Mixability

Protein powders contain many different ingredients including flavouring agents, stabilizers, emulsifiers and more. All these react differently to environmental changes.

For example, in high humidity, your protein powder can start to clump or get into a rather off-putting texture. This also alters the nature of its flavours making it stale bland, muted or stale.

Some protein ingredients like natural sweeteners and flavour enhancers can react by oxidizing in heat and lead to subtle changes in flavour.

Protein Powder in Hot Weather

Have you ever left your protein powder in a warm kitchen? Did you notice any difference in the taste or texture? Next time observe it. This change is because heat accelerates ingredients to degrade. The flavour compounds in flavoured protein powders can break down or change in properties. This makes them taste slightly different than they were earlier.

If you stay in humid areas, storing your protein in an airtight container can help maintain its original taste and consistency.

Protein Powder and Temperature

There is a relationship between protein powder and temperature. When you mix your protein powder in a liquid, the result of its taste depends more on the liquid now.

• Cold water or milk can mute the flavour making the protein shake taste less sweet. But this can create a great refreshing power booster for summer.
• Room temperature or moderate temperature can make the flavours easily perceived.
• Warm or hot liquids enhance sweetness and aroma. But this is at the risk of clumping or altering the protein structure making it useless.

Read Also: Whey Protein Recipes Beyond the Regular Shake

Takeaway

if your protein shake has started to taste different, do not blame the protein powder, blame the weather. Warmer weather can add to the sweetness of the protein powder. Storing your protein powder, fit foods and oat protein in airtight containers is important if you stay in a humid area.

So next time your shake tastes a little off just tweak how you mix it, and you might find the perfect balance for any season!

Hello Ziddis! Have you ever considered which type of workout is better for fat loss and improved athletic performance? When it comes to fat loss and athletic performance, cardio is often a hot topic. Some think long steady-state sessions work better while others swear by high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Do you have a side to pick too? Let us understand the science behind both and which could be your best bet.

Fat Loss Strength Training

Cardio alone is never enough as the ultimate fat loss solution. Strength training also plays an important role here. This is how a combination could work for you:

• Muscle burns more calories even at rest. So the more muscle you build, the higher your resting metabolic rate will be. This would highly assist in fat loss.
• Strength training can help with insulin sensitivity. This will eventually help better fat utilization and prevent unnecessary fat storage.
• Lighting weights can preserve lean mass. Only doing cardio for fat loss will not only make you loss fat but also muscle.

A combination of steady-state and HIIT along with strength training can make up for the most effective fat-burning plan.

Strength Training for Weight Loss

While cardio helps with burning calories, if you add resistance training it can ensure that the lost weight is from fats, not muscle and help for a more sustainable weight loss. A few key approaches are:

• Compound movement exercises like squats, deadlifts and bench presses can help engage multiple muscle groups and maximize the calorie burn.
• Progressive overload is where you gradually increase the weights during your strength training. This keeps the body adapting and leads to more fat loss and muscle building.
• Metabolic resistance training can help you by combining strength and cardio in a circuit which can increase calorie burn while building muscle.
• Adding resistance training to your fat loss plan can help you lock in sustainable results rather than just temporary weight loss.

Resistance Training for Weight Loss: HIIT vs. Steady-State

Resistance training plays a bigger role than you imagine in weight loss. Both HIIT and steady-state cardio have their advantages but is there one you should be prioritizing? Let us check what each offers and according to your fitness goal, you can make your pick.

Pros of HIIT:

• Burns more calories in less time
• Increases post-exercise calorie burn aka EPOC effect
• Improves athletic performance
• Help build more endurance.

Pros of Steady-State:

• Easier to recover from
• More sustainable
• Uses fat as a primary fuel source
• Low impact so reduces the risk of injury.

In our opinion, a mix of both would do wonders for your fitness goal. Adding steady-state for endurance and recovery days and using HIIT for intense workouts can help maximize fat loss without burnout. This way your resistance training can reap the benefits of weight loss consistently and sustainably.

Fat Burning Weight Lifting: The Best Approach

Strength training is not just about building muscle but it is in fact an effective tool in burning fat. Here’s how you can maximize your weightlifting session for fat loss:

• Shorter rest periods for about 30 to 45 seconds can maintain a higher heart rate and increase calorie burn.
• Higher reps with moderate weights are better than heavier weights with less reps. Lifting in the 8 to 15 range of reps can help keep the intensity high and build more muscle.
• Pairing supersets and circuits or performing them in continuous sequence can increase your fat-burning rate.

When paired with HIIT and steady-state cardio, strength training becomes the foundation for a lean and athletic physique.

Read Also: HIIT May Not Be Right for You. Here’s Why

Takeaway For Your Strength Training and Weight Loss

Fat loss and athletic performance aren’t about choosing between steady-state and HIIT. It is about understanding how you can leverage the advantages of both to make a compiling and sustainable fat loss plan.

Summing it up, always remember this:

• Steady-state cardio for fat oxidation and recovery
• HIIT workouts for a metabolic boost
• Resistance training to build muscles and aid fat burning.

Along with this, make sure you fuel up before your workouts with some healthy snacks. If you want a cleaner healthier option for those, MuscleBlaze has a range of fit foods to help you with healthy snacking and oats protein to fuel your muscle-building journey.

Sustainable fitness isn’t about extremes. It is about balance. Mix it up, stay consistent, and let your results speak for themselves!

Hello Ziddis! Supplements are an important part of many people’s health and fitness routines. Whether it is pre-workout powder like bodybuilding supplements or a daily dose of multivitamins, supplements are a part of our everyday lives. In this case, sometimes supplement consumption can go beyond fitness and become a habit which could also turn into an addiction. Is it really possible to get attached and addicted to supplements? Let us understand the psychology of supplementation phenomenon better.

Psychology of Supplementation

Taking supplements can be a physical act but a lot of times it is also a mental practice. People often think of progress, discipline, and success when they think of supplementation in relation to their health and fitness goals. The mind instantly forms a psychological association between taking supplements and seeing results no matter whether it is real or just a placebo effect.

Studies have shown that people who take supplements may experience a placebo effect where they feel stronger, more energized and more focused by simply taking supplements because they believe that the supplement is working for their best benefit. The marketing promises that BCAAs, fat burners, and other supplements form a space in one’s mind.

Supplementation also at times can create a sense of control and routine. Many individuals start taking supplements as a quick fix for nutritional gaps to deal with potential health issues or improve physical performance. While this can be beneficial in most cases, it can also make one overly reliant on these supplements rather than actually working on themselves and focusing on a balanced diet along with exercising.

What Is Supplement Addiction?

While supplement addiction is not recognized by the masses yet either as a medical condition, there are no support groups like in the case of other addictions but this habitual supplement condition can sometimes resemble addictive behaviours. This can be seen clearly when a person feels uneasy or anxious about skipping a dose and starts to believe they can not perform well without their supplements.

Signs of supplement dependency may look like:

• Feeling stressed or worried if a supplement is not available.
• Increasing dosages without medical guidance.
• Spending excessive amounts of money on supplements without evaluating their actual necessity.
• Relying on supplements as a substitute for proper nutrition or training.

How to Build a Healthy Daily Supplement Habit

If you enjoy taking supplements but want to ensure that your habits remain beneficial rather than obsessive, here is how to build a healthy daily supplement habit:

• Understand the necessity of taking any supplement
• Focus on filling the nutrition gaps with the right food instead of relying on supplements and multivitamins.
• Avoid consuming every supplement in the market. Make sure you realize what you actually need from what you just want to try.
• If possible, cycle the supplements which means take a break from certain supplements so that you can understand if you actually need them and if they contribute to your goals.
• More is not always better. Stick to the recommended dosage.
• Stay informed about the scientific research and evidence to understand the effectiveness of the supplement. Be sure to check for third-party testing and quality certifications.

Supplement Rituals to Start

If you want to start with a supplement ritual, here are a few ways in which you can mindfully and responsibly include supplements in your daily life:

• If you take vitamins or health-boosting supplements, pair them with a morning habit like drinking water, having breakfast, stretching, or meditation.
• Instead of relying entirely on pre-workout supplements, make for a pre-workout ritual of hydrating, warm up, and mental visualization.
• If you use protein supplements, add them to your post-workout routine like breakfast or a meal.

Pair supplements with healthy habits so that you can build a lifestyle instead of replacing a healthy lifestyle with quick fixes.

Read Also: Protein vs. Creatine Showdown: Decoding MuscleBlaze Supplementation

Takeaway

Supplements can be extremely helpful in your fitness and health journey but understanding when to stop could be even more helpful. Understand your body’s actual needs. Recognize the signs of supplement addiction and stop you right there.

The secret is not replacing but complimenting supplements with a healthy lifestyle for that extra push.

Hello Ziddis! Running is often a test of endurance and stamina. It is a sport purely reliant on how you project and use your strength while also being extremely light on your feet. Many gymgoers think that lifting makes them bulking and heavier so they avoid taking the benefits of running seriously. Little do they know that weightlifting can make you faster and run without worry of injury. Whether you are training for a marathon or just having a fun outing, strength training can help you become faster, stronger and less prone to injuries. Let us understand how.

Weightlifting: More Than Just Muscle Building

Many runners hesitate to lift weights and many weight lifters hesitate to run. It is time to break the myth now.

Runners feel that if they lift weights, they would end up becoming bulky and slow but the truth is different. Strength training improves endurance. It establishes control of your breathing as well. This improves your muscle efficiency, coordination and overall power output. This means that every time you run, you use less energy allowing you to run longer distances, faster and without fatigue.

Weightlifting also strengthens your bones and leg muscles to endure more. This reduces the chances of ligament, bone or tendon injuries. Efficiently it can help avoid calf muscle cramping and risk of stress fractures or other common injuries during running. By building the body’s structure to be stronger, weightlifting makes running safe and better as opposed to myths and invalid popular beliefs.

Weight Training: The Foundation of a Strong Runner

Weight training is a foundation for becoming a stronger runner. It isn’t just about lifting heavy weights but about training smarter. Runners should focus on a balanced approach that includes compound movements like squats, deadlifts, lunges and core exercises. This helps the runner in the long run. Very Literally. These movements mimic our everyday movements of running and hence establish a certain stability, strength and endurance in your stride.

Here’s how strength training can help runners:

• Exercises in weight training like squats and lunges build stronger quads, calf muscles and hamstrings making it easier to run without putting strain on the knees.
• Core training is an important part of weight training and that helps a strong core to help with better posture which can help prevent injuries.
• Strength training helps in developing fast-twitch muscle fibres that lead to increasing your speed and sprinting ability.
• Stronger muscles rarely tire. Stronger muscles do not fatigue easily which means you can maintain your pace for longer distances with less effort.

Weight Lifting Machines: A Good Addition or a Waste of Time?

While free weights are usually preferred for building functional strength, weight-lifting machines can feel safer if you are a beginner or want to focus less on building muscles. Machines provide controlled movement that reduces the risk of injury while isolating muscle groups. This is great for a safer and comparatively lighter workout session.

Machines like leg press, hamstring curl and seated row can complement a runner’s training routine by working out the muscle groups of importance. Strengthening and stabilizing these muscles can make the runners feel more confident and stronger. Whatever you choose between a weight lifting machine or free weights depends on your skills, comfort and the level of strain you are ready to endure.

Read More: Pilates v/s Weight training: Which one is for you?

Takeaway: Strength Training is a Runner’s Best Friend

If you read it till here, you know that being a runner you will need to focus on strength training and weight training too. Weight training is not about becoming bulky or replacing running but complementing and enhancing it. What is essential for becoming a better runner is a great and fulfilling workout routine, your trusted training joggers, a shaker bottle to sip on your supplements and unwavering willingness. Your body and your race time will thank you for all the weight training you invest your time in.

Hello Ziddis! We know Creatine is a gym-goer’s bestie. It is the most researched and trusted supplements for muscle growth. But as summer approaches many start thinking about whether they should press the brakes on this friendship. The most common concerns regarding using creatine are water retention and dehydration, as well as whether creatine could make you feel bloated or sluggish in the heat. So should you stop taking your daily dose of creatine in summer? Let us understand the answer to this on a deeper level.

Creatine: Water Retention and Heat

One of the biggest myths in the gym world is that creatine could cause excessive water retention making you feel puffy, dehydrated and sluggish. But the truth is: that creatine pulls water into your muscles, not under your skin. The basic work of creatine is to keep the muscles healthy and hydrated. this means that the water weight you gain is actually pretty beneficial for you and improves your muscular function and endurance.

Now how does the summer heat come into the picture? This is because even though aware of the working of creatine, some people fear that because creatine increases water retention in muscle it can cause dehydration. However, studies show that does not happen. Creatine does not cause dehydration. If anything, it improves hydration levels in muscles by enhancing water absorption. One needs to only be mindful that one should drink enough water throughout the day.

Another thing to note is that some people may feel temporary bloating when they first start taking creatine. Think of this as your body adjusting to a new thing. This is usually because of the initial increase in muscle hydration that should usually subside in a couple of weeks. It is not the same as the water retention caused by excess sodium or poor diet choices.

Water Retention

Water retention or fluid retention usually occurs when our body holds onto excess water leading to swelling or puffiness. This is usually spotted in the hands, feet or face. This happens usually due to high sodium intake, hormonal fluctuation or even prolonged exposure to the same activity as sitting or standing. These types of water retention are unhealthy because they can lead to dehydration.

However, when creatine causes water retention it is directed to the muscles to help them stay healthy and grow bigger. Water retention caused by creatine is so that your muscles have enough nutrition to grow in size. This process helps in hydrating the muscles. Instead of accumulating water under the skin leading to bloating and puffiness, creatine only draws the water into muscle cells which increases intracellular hydration. This helps with muscle performance endurance and recovery rather than causing bloating or discomfort.

If you notice puffiness or swelling when you use creatine, there could be underlying issues like diet, too much sodium or too little potassium or even lower hydration throughout the day.

Water Retention Treatment

If you are dealing with excessive water retention, here are some ways in which you can manage it:

• Reduce your sodium intake
• Reduce highly processed foods
• Cutting back on salt
• Increase your potassium intake to balance fluid levels
• Include green leafy veggies, avocados or bananas in your diet.
• Stay active with regular movement every day like walking, swimming or lifting.
• Drink more water not only for hydration but also to flush out excess sodium and reduce fluid retention.

When it comes to creatine-induced water retention it’s usually not something that requires treatment because that is the purpose of creatine to help your muscles. If you are consuming enough water and maintaining a balanced diet, your body will regulate itself naturally.

Water Retention Remedies

For those who are looking for natural remedies for unwanted water retention, some of these tips and tricks could work magic for you.

• Drink herbal teas, especially dandelion tea known for its diuretic properties which help flush out excess fluids.
• Manage your stress levels.
• Let electrolytes help you with hydration along with mineral enrichment for your body.
• Indulge in activities that reduce your cortisol levels like meditation or deep breathing.

If you’re taking creatine and feel like you’re experiencing unnecessary bloating, check your overall diet and hydration first before assuming the supplement is the issue.

Read Also: Beyond the Scoop: Unconventional Ways to Boost Creatine Absorption

Takeaway

Should you stop taking creatine in the summer? Most definitely not! We can safely conclude that creatine is to no blame for your summer dehydration or bloating issues. Making it a culprit and stopping its consumption would not be fair for your fitness goals. The key is to stay hydrated and have the right food. Healthy food be it green leafy veggies, oats protein or fit food is going to be your biggest support in this journey. There is no replacement for hydration so be on top of your hydration game as well.

So ziddis, do not ditch your creatine just because the temperature is rising and myths are flying. Fuel yourself right.