Protein shakes and supplements are all the rage nowadays! Have they suddenly become trendy and mainstream or is it just that I'm more aware of them since I bought my first ever 4 kg bucket of whey protein?

Nevertheless, after reading various blogs and articles about the benefits of protein supplements and after hearing recommendations from fitness trainers at the gym, it all makes rather a lot of sense to me.

I had serious issues with the natural (or flavour-free) whey protein powder. A normal shake from that literally made me gag. It's tastes absolutely disgusting. I tried various things to disguise the taste, including mix it vigourously with peanut butter. It worked, but it's quite a lot of hassle. Then, one day, I met a friend at the gym and we got to discussing the fact that it tasted so horrible and after the class she made me a shake from chocolate flavoured whey protein which had been sweetened with Stevia (that's a whole other story). It was delicious!!

I more or less went straight home and ordered a big bucket for myself, whereas my fiancé sticks to the natural-flavoured stuff, occasionally 'borrowing' the chocolate one ;)

The whey protein I use is made in Sweden and is called SELF 100% Micro Whey Active (no harm in a little product placement ;)). So far, I'd highly recommend it in terms of value for money, flavour, and product quality. I genuinely feel like it has helped my recovery, even after only a week of using it. I feel stronger and muscles ache less!

All Photo Rights belong to Self Omninutrition

I'm keen to hear what you guys think!

Do you use protein shakes? What kind and why? Have you noticed a difference in your recovery after training and subsequent performance as a result? Are you totally against supplements in any way, shape or form? Why?

*Please note, taking this protein does not make you a body-builder and does not equate to using steroids or any other ridiculous notions :)

It's a fair question. If you still care to remember, I started my blog very vigourously indeed back in January, posting new content every couple of days and then all of a sudden, I stopped. Life got in the way :)

This spring turned out to be quite eventful. Since I last shared stuff with you quite a few pretty big things happened to me. I was proposed to , I passed the Finnish Language test, started a new job, travelled to Italy and ate like a horse, did a professional "Happy Couple" photo shoot and began organising our small slim Scottish-Russian wedding ;)

Everything is under control. Wow, and summer is here. Life is beautiful.

I started cycling to work and back a few days a week, which is an 19km round trip. It's exhilerating and liberating to feel the wind in your face (except when things fly into and get stuck in your eye) and to know that you are free and rely purely on yourself to get to where you need to go.

I started baking bread. This is a great recipe for sundried tomato soda bread baps. I typically make a batch and it does me every morning for nearly a week for breakfast. Yum.

I got BodyBalance back into my fitness routine as I know that stretching (a core benefit of that class, in addition to building strength and felxibility) is something I'm really bad at doing on a regular basis.

We bought ourselves a food processor and it has been the absolute best investment ever. We churn out smoothies from it all the time and use it for making the bread dough and slicing/chopping/whisking and all that good stuff. Love it.

I will be getting back into my blog, so please stay tuned. Peace to one and all.

I'm trying to get my head around the whole endurance aspect. I compared my last 4 Spinning workouts (below, date order from right to left) to see if I'm getting any closer to the target range of 65-75% of maximum heart rate. Apparently not!

I have the real-time heart rate measurements on my wrist, so why is it hard to keep within the defined range? 

1. I want to sweat like crazy and feel like I've had the best workout of the week so I push it hard and my heart rate responds accordingly :) 
2. I get lost in the music and just forget to check the watch
3. I would just feel lame sitting on the bike keeping my heart rate down while everyone else is running or hill-climbing! 

I'm wondering if I'll eventually just get fitter aerobically and then my heart won't work as hard to do the same thing. Is it just a matter of time, or do I need to be really anal about checking my heart rate constantly and adjusting my effort appropriately?