PROTEIN EXPERIMENT: From Powders to Practical Fueling
I grew up in the fitness boom of the 80’s. Big hair, big muscles and loud leotards were ‘in’. Muscle Beach, bodybuilding, and protein powders all promised you could sculpt yourself into a Greek god, or at least look decent in spandex. If you were hard-core, you mixed your powder with water in a shaker after a workout and chugged it like medicine. This was after drinking your raw eggs at 5 a.m. swallowed like a dare, then out the door for a morning run.
Today? The health and fitness industry hypes protein, aminos, and supplements like they hold the secret to eternal youth. Any form of protein you can shove down your throat to build muscle and recover faster. Protein powders. Collagen powders. Trendy add-ins. Performance coffee hacks. The whole polished wellness marketing buffet, and I loaded my plate like it was Thanksgiving.
Well, I tried it. Again. A "protein experiment."
My body still can't handle it.
Here are the results:
After grinding long hours at the office, I started noticing a pattern: Protein shakes and concentrated supplements made me feel like I'd swallowed a bowling ball. Heavy. Sluggish. Just…off. And on high-cardio days? Cramping up mid-run like my calves were tieing themselves in knots. Other days my body simply felt sluggish and heavy. Un-fun. Ok lesson learned, will not do that again.
What I discovered was that my system responds much better to:
Small, distributed inputs
Whole food protein
Steady energy and movement throughout the day
Rather than aggressive nutritional loading, which, let's be honest, is just a fancy way of saying "mainstream doses and hoping for the best."
The Collagen Experiment
Collagen sounded perfect in theory. Joint support. Tendon recovery. Connective tissue repair. Skin health. Basically the Swiss Army knife of supplements. And the science backs it up, collagen peptides are already broken down into smaller peptides, making them "lighter" and easier to digest than most traditional protein powders.
Easy to digest. That's what they said.
My body? It said, "No. Not havin’ it. "
Even small amounts sat in my stomach like I'd swallowed a doorstop. By day two, I backed the dose down. Then backed it down again. Then again. Like negotiating with a toddler who won't eat their vegetables, except I'm the toddler and the vegetables.
Eventually, I landed on roughly 2 grams daily. That's about a quarter teaspoon. A quarter. Teaspoon. The kind of dose you'd accidentally sneeze out of the container. The payoff didn't justify the digestive drama.
Another lesson learned: Your gut doesn't care what's trending on Instagram. Just because a supplement is popular or "healthy" doesn't mean it fits your physiology.
The Core Power Workaround
Next came round two of "let's see what sticks": small amounts of Core Power Protein Shake instead of traditional protein powders.
Now, here's where it gets interesting, or sketchy, depending on how you look at it. Core Power is manufactured by Fairlife LLC, which is owned by Coca-Cola. Yep, the soda people. Normally, that would raise more red flags than a matador convention, because I actually pay attention to ingredients and processing quality.
But I approached it differently: not as a perfect food, but as a controlled tool.
Instead of chugging an entire bottle, I experimented with small portions:
1 oz stirred into my morning coffee with cinnamon – vanilla/cinnamon cappuccino
4–5 oz later in the day along with actual food
Surprisingly? This worked.
I wasn't using it as a meal replacement or performance gimmick. I was using it as a low-friction protein bridge, a small, strategic nudge to my daily intake without wrecking my gut.
The difference wasn't just the product itself. It was the delivery method. The bonus – it’s lactose free and gluten-free…and tastes like a milkshake.
A Major Insight: "Infusion" vs. "Bolus"
One of the biggest breakthroughs from these experiments was realizing that my body prefers steady infusion over large bolus dosing.
“In non-doctor terms: sip it, don't slam it.”
This pattern showed up everywhere:
Protein
Hydration
Fats
Supplements
Even movement
Large inputs create stress in my body. Smaller, strategic inputs create stability.
It's the difference between watering a plant with a gentle daily sprinkle versus hitting it with a fire hose once a week. One keeps it alive. The other drowns it.
Movement and Energy
Around the same time, I noticed something else: my joints and connective tissue didn't improve from more supplements.
They improved from more movement.
After a hill-heavy race left me stiff and feeling like the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz , I realized that sitting at a desk for too long without a break was creating as much wear and tear as my training.
The solution wasn't more powders. It was:
Movement breaks
Circulation
Mobility work
Frequent, low-grade motion throughout the day
Turns out, the body wasn't asking for more bottles. It was asking for more steps. Movement became the oil for the whole system.
Where I Landed
Right now, my approach is simple:
Moderate whole-food protein
Smaller, distributed intake throughout the day
Strategic movement breaks during the workday
Minimal supplements
Careful observation of energy patterns (basically, I took the time to listen to what my body was telling me)
The goal is no longer to chase trends or stack supplements. The goal is sustainable performance.
The Takeaway:
Optimization isn't about forcing more inputs into the body. It's about understanding what your system actually responds to. Then utilize it.
