Protein Powder for 15 Year Old Boy

Hi

I'm asking for advice on protein powder for my 15 year old son. He is of quite a slim build and would like to put on some more muscle mass.He currently been going to a local gym up to 5 times a week.
It seems a lot of his peers are using protein powder supplements and pre workout supplements. Their is always a concern about what goes into these products.
Just wondering if anyone has experience with the following products i have been recommended and where is the best place to purchase from bearing in mind I reside in Perth.

Rule 1 - R1 Whey Blend

https://www.ruleoneproteins.com/products/r1-whey-blend

180 Nutrition - Super food protein blend whey - natural whey protein powder

https://180nutrition.com.au/product/superfood-protein-blend-…

Thanks for any advice

Comments

  • +21

    Well there's a post that's masking a whole heap of neuroses…

    He is of quite a slim build

    Yeah. That's what 15 year old boys should look like.

    They grow later. It's called being patient and realistic.

    He currently been going to a local gym up to 5 times a week.

    5 times a week at the gym at age 15? Why?
    What exactly is he doing while he's there and how much time does he spend per session?

    Unless he's a child prodigy literally training for a lifelong career as an athlete that is excessive bordering on body dysmorphia or some kind of mental illness.
    It's also not recommended to start serious weight/resistance training until you've definitely finished puberty.

    I'd wager he's spending way too much time consuming BS social media/YouTube content about dEm gAiNzZzZ from fitness influencer retards and not enough time actually trying to educate himself and/or building healthy and worthwhile goals/aspirations other than "getting huge" and "bulk gains brah" so he can look like the roided-up meatheads he idolises.

    By all means, encourage him to maintain a good level of physical fitness but don't encourage him to prioritise his physicality at such a young age over other, more crucially important lifelong skills he needs to master.

    You're his parent. Your job isn't to blindly enable any of his unhealthy obsessions that he develops at the expense of everything else, it's also to temper his desires with rational and sensible criticisms.

    • -6

      Spaghetti armed bike rider?

      • +8

        Was that word association or did you pass out on your keyboard?

        Thanks for your worthless comment, I was in the middle of editing my post above to include the below:

        Any parent that takes their child's interest in their peer pressure-induced obsessions at face value and without any hint of scrutiny automatically loses respect as a parent in my eyes.

        Who cares if their friends are all taking protein powder ffs?

        You need to better police the influences that are shaping his impressionable and naive mind; teenagers are going to follow anything and everything that stimulates their underdeveloped brains until they're taught better.

        Your son sounds like he's lacking a lot of guidance and direction at home and he's seeking it elsewhere through misguided and substandard substitutes for real parenting.

    • +5

      Summed it up pretty much perfectly.

      Edit - additional comment included.

    • +4

      Well said, including additional.

      I have a 16 yr old who has tried this on with me. His mates, some 2-3 years older, ll hit the gym and take supplements. It takes a lot to combat the socials and to get them to understand that a 16 yr old body vs 18 vs 25 vs 35 are not the same, for good reasons.

      Encouraging these diets and relationships with exercise as well as giving weight to influencers and peers is liable to set them up for a life of poor self esteem and poor relationship with food.

      A parents job is to be a gatekeeper. And when that is no longer possible, it is to offer sound advice. It is not to be a mate or enabler.

    • 5 times a week at the gym at age 15? Why?

      It's 100% body dysmorphia coupled with unrealistic expectations worsened by social media. I didn't graduate from school that long ago (late oughts), but the only people I remember going to the gym were either rowers or on the rugby team. Now, every gym is packed with teenagers. My current one always has 5 Ninebot scooters charging in the foyer because they're not old enough to drive, and ride in after school. They stay pretty late, too. Manager put up posters to say minors aren't allowed after hours access. Maybe I'm just a grandpa millennial, but it seems sad that kids are spending 5 days a week at the gym and drinking protein shakes to chase the Instagram body.

  • +3

    He needs to focus on his weightlifting form, food, water intake and getting enough sleep. There is no need for supplements at this stage.

  • complex weight gainer
    or buy a good blender, do a banana some oats, milk, full cream & peanut butter + any cheap ass protein powda you can find

  • Powder is a cheap source of protein, can't hurt to take it. Cheaper than chicken or beef.

    I couldn't digest whey properly back when I gave a damn what I looked like, so I used a blend of pea protein and rice protein, which between the two has all the amino acids you need or whatever. I probably should have stuck with gym, looking at old photos I actually looked pretty good. Compared to now anyway.

  • -1

    Protein powder is better than anabolic steroids which is what his mates are probably really doing.

  • +7

    So many issues, so little time.

    The child should merely eat a well balanced diet and partake in regular exercise.

    I suggest banning the IG and discord gym feeds.

  • I wish I'd been a slim build at 15. I was just a fat little f……..

  • Don't get advice here.
    Do have a discussion about the lifelong chronic injuries sport can cause. There can be pressure and temptation to push limits, when you don't really understand what pain and disability is.
    Do have him use a personal trainer to get his form correct to help avoid above point
    Nothing wrong with extra protein when growing like a puppy even if he wasn't training. Can help control appetite and avoid developing junk food habits. It's gonna be healthier than Pizza and HJs.
    Suggest just looking at the ingredients, whey is likely to be less toxic than most packaged foods. Just avoid caffeine and green teas and stimulant stuff a 15 year old has no business with that stuff.
    try https://www.youtube.com/@athleanx
    if you're in SW Syd I can recommend a trainer

  • +6

    I bet not one of these commentators would say anything if your son did soccer or tennis practice 5 days a week. I used to do that and people praised me for being active…for some people lifting weights is their form of exercise. It’s not a mental issue.

    Just buy Aminoz or Bulk Nutrients online, whichever is the cheapest. Both are quality. WPC is fine. Chocolate tastes the best.

    Yes you can eat the protein. Whole foods are better. BBlah blah, people who don’t lift always say it.

    • +1

      if your son did soccer or tennis practice 5 days a week.

      There's a rather huge difference between team sports for children and weight lifting.

      Team sports are predominantly aerobic exercise, which is fine for developing bodies to engage in even when done 5 times a week, and kids are building cooperative/team work skills, improving their social/communication skills, learning planning/strategy, learning how to delay gratification and work towards a rewarding goal, playing outside in the sunshine, getting plenty of Vitamin D exposure and all of that good stuff.

      It's quite different from being indoors, usually by yourself, staring at a mirror while you do the same repetitive movements and develop an intensely unhealthy preoccupation with your physical appearance (and that of others) that sets you up for a lifetime of narcissistic personality disorder and other mental illnesses.

      I'd also recommend BJJ, Muay Thai or other martial arts over weightlifting any day of the week, as they're all infinitely more useful for kids, especially when it comes to developing confidence and learning respect and while they're not team sports per se they are far more social than weightlifting and foster strong friendships very easily.

      In theory, weight lifting is a perfectly valid form of exercise. It's everything else associated with the subculture of modern-day weight lifting and bodybuilding that's the issue here. The aforementioned unhinged narcissism, the self-esteem issues, the incredibly common usage of both recreational drugs and PEDs amongst that demographic, the alcoholism and party lifestyle that goes hand-in-hand with it, the antisocial attitudes that pervade some gyms and the incredibly toxic online communities that this subculture is associated with.

      The other key issue that weightlifters seem to have in abundance is a lack of moderation and poor impulse control. Especially for those that become enamoured with it at a young age, it tends to override so many other priorities in their life to the point of self-detriment and rather than instilling discipline in young men, it just becomes an addiction like many others that costs them opportunities and precious time.

      That's not to say that all competitive sports don't have a darker side when the pursuit of success is taken to an unhealthy degree but bodybuilding is even more prone to it than other kinds of athletic competition because it's an entirely self-centred endeavour and it's not even about athletic performance, it's predominantly about the perception of conforming to an idealised physique. It's entirely subjective peacocking that's not defined by any quantifiable metrics and it's entirely dependant on being judged by others and validating yourself through the opinions of others, which is absolute low T, beta-male behaviour to use those retarded terms that guys who lift love to use.

      BBlah blah, people who don’t lift always say it.

      I do lift… bro.

      It's just not the core part of my identity like it is for so many lost and disillusioned guys today who don't have any sense of purpose in life and desperately overcompensate for mental/physical inadequacies and psychological traumas through the medium of muscular growth. The amount of sub-6" foot manlets who weren't dealt a favourable hand by genetics but with comically-ballooned Popeye arms at the typical gym says everything about why they're there in the first place (as does their entire image and presentation, which is usually stuck at a teenage level of development).

      The sport attracts guys with raging Napoleon complexes who start from a position of inferiority, self-loathing and feelings of inadequacy, who don't handle criticism well and those are absolutely not the qualities to impress upon a 15 year old boy (as evidenced by the people in this thread who get incredibly defensive when others point out the well-known problems with weightlifting and ironically, start behaving like 15 year old boys).

      It's also an enormously time-consuming hobby that demands an intense micromanagement of your entire life, if you want to maintain a seriously impressive physique and the moment you don't train for a week or two and stop eating stupendous amounts of food, you've basically gone back to being an average Joe who has to go through an uphill battle to regain that look.

      The older you get, as testosterone production naturally declines and it becomes exponentially harder to maintain your gains, the less and less sense it makes to spend that much time on bodybuilding when other forms of self-improvement can last a lifetime and don't require mind-numbing levels of repetition to master.

      • The horror stories I've heard about team sports for older teenagers (from their mothers), I would strong discourage any kid of mine going anywhere near them. ie, Ultra competitiveness, aggressiveness, toxic behavior, deliberately injuring others, and lifelong joint and ligament damage etc. And sure there's tools that pump, but mostly I've met supporting dudes just trying to keep in shape, more of a hobby than a overwhelming lifestyle. You can find those same tools in a dojo. You just gotta pick the right place.

        • Agreed. Moderation and associating with the right people is key.

          Anything you're doing 5 times per week has the potential to become an unhealthy obsession and have a disproportionate influence over your life, especially when there's peer pressure and really ugly personalities involved.

          There's definitely a lot of toxic team sports clubs/communities out there and there's definitely a lot of good ones too.

          Weightlifting injuries are arguably easier to produce, especially for teenagers that have zero concept of knowing their limits and proper recovery/self-care.
          So many young guys at the gym never get instruction on proper form/technique and just go up in weight/resistance way too quickly and overtrain their bodies.

          Like you, I've only gone to gyms that are mostly frequented by normal guys who clearly don't have an all-consuming obsession with weight lifting but I've also known a lot of friends or acquaintances who were at the opposite end of the spectrum at one point in their lives (usually in their younger days).

          • @Miami Mall Alien: I'm assuming the 5 days a week is just because teens tend to hang out somewhere five days a week, and maybe they've picked up that ole, 5 on / 2 off legs, arms, back etc routine somewhere. I've been trained by some of the 'big boys', and seen a couple of the really big boys training. And I'd definitely prefer a kid getting influenced by them than say the randoms at a local skate park or even the footy lads on day release from the local pub.
            I'd say Bodybuilding is one of the very few sports in Australia that wasn't really about alcohol.
            Best advice would be try and get them in a natty gym if possible, make sure they know dehydration kills people, most injuries are forever and max type training is unnecessary, toxic friends are not better than no friends, flex with your biceps and not your fists and maybe that way too much bulk can shorten your lifespan (But what's the odds they're gonna get Olympia level obsessed).

  • Some people in here probably never stepped into a gym and saying it's bad, it's tiktok influencer shiz.

    If that is what your son is into good for you for supporting him.

    The best way to support him is to get some more education for yourself to ensure he stays on a healthy path.

    This will include a balanced diet, with appropriate nutrients, calories, proteins etc.

    Protein supplements can help but I would stay away from pre-work out or anything else at that age.

    As for recommendations for protein - Bulk Nutrients, Aminoz, Gold Standard Musashi.
    I personally would get recovery not bulk at that age, bulk will come with time and proper workouts.

  • +2

    I see heaps of young folks in the gym, it’s quite common & getting exercise is better than sitting at a computer screen. Just encourage him to eat well…no point taking protein powders and bulkers if the rest of the diet is chips or junk food!

  • PS: When i started at the GYM, Protein Powder wasn't invented.

    This was a Post Workout Shake.

    1 tub of Strawberry Yoghurt
    1 Banana
    2 whole eggs
    2 scoops of Coronation Skim Milk Powder
    Drizzle of Strawberry Topping
    Blend and Chugg really fast.

  • -1

    i don't recommend weightlifting at 15 years old, but if you have to here are my tips:

    best protein is in food. eggs, chicken, pork, beef, etc…

    if he is trying to get size, he needs bulk up.
    best to bulk up size, then shred. eat like crazy, eat everything. lift heavy, max out. then after he gets big, then have a caloric deficit and shred. low weights, high reps. this is the fastest way to put on size. being 15 he probably has a super fast metabolism, and he needs to eat a lot to beat what he burns naturally.

    5 days is good, depending on his splits. recovery and repair of muscles is what makes it grow. hitting it everyday isn't going to help you, and probably will injure you.
    probably best to do
    M - push
    Tu - pull
    W - legs
    Th -push
    Fr -pull

    why is he working out? for sport? to look sexy and get chicks?

  • At that age and weight he probably doesn't need protein to get around 100g a day and get the results that he wants. But if he does want to supplement protein powdre … Bulk Nutrients - domestic supplier and they were able to provide me with a certified heavy metals inspection of their protein which was apparently one of the lowest in the industry…

  • +3

    Amazing, in an environment where teenagers are stealing cars and baiting cops for vids or gaming 24/7. People are bagging on kids that want to hang at the gym, exercise and get fit.

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