By Christian Thibaudeau 

Joe came into the gym one night with a shiny tub under his arm, the kind plastered with pictures of guys who looked like they’d been built in a lab. He slammed it down on the bench like he’d just smuggled in contraband. 

“Coach,” he said, half proud and half embarrassed, “I bought a protein powder. Some guy at the store said it’ll make me grow faster. Is this stuff legit, or am I just buying expensive milk powder?” 

Big Mike squatted the bar back into the rack and came over, eyeing the tub. “Looks like vanilla ice cream,” he said. “You planning to bake cookies with it?” 

Skinny Pete perked up from the dumbbell rack. “That’s the good stuff, Joe. I read on a forum it’ll pack on twenty pounds in a month.” 

Charles walked in right about then, carrying his usual grocery bag with half a cow inside. He looked at the tub, then at Joe, then back at the tub. “Back in my day,” he grumbled, “if you wanted protein, you ate steak. Or drank milk until you mooed. Didn’t need no powder.”  

The Confusion 

Joe threw up his hands. “That’s what I’m asking! Do I really need this? I’m already eating more — meat, eggs, milk, all that. But the guy at the store swore this is the secret sauce. Said it spikes growth or something.” 

I sat down beside the tub and tapped the label. “Well, Joe, the truth is somewhere in the middle. No powder in the world will turn you into Hercules overnight. But a good whey protein, especially one rich in leucine, can give your muscles the nudge they need after training.” 

Joe frowned. “Leucine? What’s that, some kind of chemical?” 

Charles snorted. “It’s an amino acid, Joe. The spark plug that flips the switch for muscle growth. You don’t get enough of it, your muscles won’t grow worth beans.” 

I nodded. “Exactly. Think of leucine as the key that starts the engine. Training stimulates the muscles to grow. Protein builds it. But leucine is the signal that tells your body to start construction. Without the signal, the workers don’t show up.”  

Timing the Signal 

Mike grabbed the tub and turned it over like he was inspecting contraband. “So the idea,” he said, “is you slam one of these shakes right after training, when your muscles are screaming for repair.” 

Big Mike added “But don’t go with that basic whey protein, the one by EWS, Anabolic Protein, has added leucine in it, it packs a much bigger anabolic punch”. 

“Right,” I said. “The faster you get the leucine into your system after you lift, the faster you flip the growth switch. For the specific purpose of starting the growth process after a workout Wwhole food don't work as well, it takes too much time to digest. Whey protein digests fast — twenty, thirty minutes and it’s in your bloodstream. That’s why it works so well post-workout.” 

Joe’s eyes lit up. “So I just drink this after I train and I’ll grow faster?” 

Charles pointed a thick finger at him. “Careful, kid. The shake’s a tool, not a magic potion. It works best on top of a solid diet. You skip your eggs and steak thinking this’ll save you, and you’ll stay small. But you add this on top of eating right? That’s where it shines.”  

Pete’s Shortcut 

Skinny Pete bounced back into the conversation, flexing his biceps like a mosquito flexing its wings. “See? I told you it’s the secret. I drink two shakes a day, sometimes three!” 

Charles looked him up and down.  

“And it’s working wonders, ain’t it, Pete?” 

The whole gym laughed. Pete turned red and went back to his curls.  

Putting it Together 

I leaned closer to Joe. “Here’s what you’ll do. Keep eating the way we told you — three square meals with protein in every one. Milk, eggs, meat, potatoes or rice, the whole works. But right after training, mix yourself an Anabolic Protein shake. One scoop, twenty-eight grams of protein, plenty of leucine. You’ll be giving your muscles exactly what they need, exactly when they need it.” 

Mike nodded. “Think of it like patching the hole before the roof leaks. You finish a hard squat session, your muscles are cracked wide open. You feed them fast, they rebuild stronger. You wait too long, the repair crew shows up late.” 

Joe nodded, finally starting to get it.  

Charles’ Final Word 

Charles picked up the empty steak bone from his bag and waved it like a baton. 

 “Remember this, Joe: no powder replaces food. You can’t build a house with nails alone — you need bricks too. Your meals are the bricks. This shake is just the nails that hold them together. Eat big, train hard, then use the shake to finish the job.” 

Joe looked at the tub again, this time with a mix of respect and relief. “So it’s not magic, but it helps.” 

“Exactly,” I said. 

Mike grinned. “Now mix one up, Joe. You’ve got squats tonight, and you’ll need all the help you can get.” 

Joe smiled, cracked open the tub, and for the first time in his lifting life, he was about to give his muscles the signal they’d been waiting for. 

The plates clanged, the radio hissed, Pete’s salad wilted in the corner, and Joe’s education in the finer points of iron — both on the bar and in the shaker — took another step forward. 

Food was iron too, but now Joe was learning: sometimes, the fastest iron comes in a scoop.