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Shake It Up Baby: Protein Powder in America

Wall of protein

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The Science of Protein Powder

The exercise routines that athletes would put themselves through also changed drastically over the second half of the twentieth century. While science was vastly changing the way we understood our bodies, it lead to an evolution in our exercise routines. Primarily the way we utilize the overload principle and how that concept has changed the athletes workout routines over time. With protein powder acting as a staple ingredient to every bodybuilders diet, people like Bob Hoffman and Irvin Johnson created the foundations for a multi million dollar nutritional supplement and fitness industry. For awhile I used to practice the overload principle, obviously not to the extreme of any modern day bodybuilders, but at the level of a college football player. I was only a punter but during my playing days, and even now, I use protein shakes in my everyday life. As a punter you have defensive linemen that are typically six foot three inches tall, they weigh in at 265, have a six pack and run a 4.9 second 40 yard dash. Your going to do everything you can to make sure that your in the best physical shape you can get yourself in for your own safety, no matter what position you play. This was no different to athletes in the second half of the twentieth century, because as baseball, basketball, and football became mainstream and popular sports in American Culture, those athletes would use protein powder to help recover after training. Protein powder has become a staple ingredient for athletes because of its nutritional value, and the versatility of the powder substance. In the late part of the 1950s protein powder was mainly something that was to be drunk, into something that can replace your breakfast, or your lunch if you're on the go. As scientists have come to discover throughout the second half of the twentieth century, protein is essential to the functions of the human body as a primary building block in the muscle building process. Implementing this vitamin into drinks and powder was a pivotal step in the evolution of the fitness industry in america.

As the video details our bodies needs protein in order to function properly. Throughout the decades, properly nourishing and fueling our bodies has become increasingly important to our competitors. As research and development of protein powder viability has increased over the past 60 years, the effectiveness of the substance has shown signs of increase as well. With the use of rapid digestion and consumption of a clean high quality protein, athletes have been able to ramp up the intensity of their workouts and competition. Everyday we learn more and more about how our bodies operate, and what food give our bodies the best nutrition. By attaining knowledge about our bodily functions, we can learn how to care for it properly. As athletes in the 1970s and 80s found out, there can be some very detrimental effects to a life of lifting heavy, yet some very amazing results.The science involved in the manufacturing of protein powder has rapidly increased, as better technology has been developed.
As the technology in science has given us a better understanding of how our bodies work, people in the fitness world have applied that science to the art of perfecting one's appearance from adult athletes down to our youth in America. Our ability to push our body to the extreme has only recently been working hand in hand with science. Protein powder was a result of scientific research and development in the hopes of understanding how to better fuel the human body. Research and development was thus being focused on how to make the best possible nutritional supplements to fuel our athletes, because a healthy well nourished athlete was more beneficial to their sports team. As science and technology improved over the later part of the twentieth century so too has the science that goes behind creating a multi functional protein powder.