What Protein to Take When You Start the Gym
The honest first-90-days answer: a 1kg bag of plain whey concentrate, a smaller protein gap than the marketing implies, and a strong case for buying creatine before your second tub. What the evidence actually supports for someone who just started training.
Kevin, founder of WheyWise
Quick answer
Buy a 1kg bag of plain whey concentrate in chocolate or vanilla, and do not spend more than about £15 on it. But the more useful thing to know first is that protein powder does less for you right now than it will in two years: the largest meta-analysis on the subject, Morton 2018 across 49 trials and 1,863 people, found supplementation becomes more effective as training experience grows, so beginners get the smallest effect of anyone. UK adults already average 76g of protein a day, so the gap you are filling may be smaller than the marketing suggests. If money is tight, creatine monohydrate at 3g to 5g a day has stronger evidence per pound spent than a second tub of protein.
What protein should you take when you start the gym?
A 1kg bag of plain whey concentrate, in chocolate or vanilla, costing somewhere between £15 and £20. That is the whole answer, and everything below is either the reasoning or the money you can avoid wasting.
Concentrate rather than isolate because isolate costs roughly double for a benefit that only matters if you are cutting calories hard or avoiding lactose. 1kg rather than 5kg because you have not tasted it yet and a 5kg bag of a flavour you dislike is the most common way beginners waste money on supplements. Chocolate or vanilla because they are the most forgiving flavours in water and in milk.
Do you actually need protein powder yet?
Possibly not. UK adults aged 19 to 64 already eat 76g of protein a day on average, and the British Nutrition Foundation's position is that UK adults on average consume more than enough protein and do not need supplements or added-protein products.
That average is a population figure and not your figure, which is the point: you do not know your gap until you look. If you weigh 80kg and are already eating 100g of protein a day, you need to add about 30g, which is one shake or one extra chicken breast. If you are eating 60g, the gap is bigger and powder is a genuinely convenient way to close it.
The honest framing is that protein powder is a convenience product for hitting a daily number, not a training supplement that does something on its own. It is cheaper per gram of protein than most whole foods and it takes thirty seconds. Those are good reasons. "It builds muscle" is not one, because the protein does that whether it arrives as powder or as dinner.
Practical suggestion: track what you eat for one week before you buy anything. Most people are surprised in one direction or the other, and either answer saves you money.
How much protein do you need per day?
The International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand puts it at 1.4g to 2.0g per kilogram of bodyweight per day for people who train. Morton 2018 found the benefit plateaued at about 1.62g per kg per day across its 49 trials, with supplementation producing an average gain of 2.49kg on one-rep max strength and 0.30kg of fat-free mass.
Tagawa and colleagues in 2021 put a useful shape on the diminishing returns. Below 1.3g per kg per day, each extra 0.1g per kg added about 0.39kg of lean mass. Above that threshold, the same increment added only 0.12kg. Getting from a low intake to a moderate one matters roughly three times as much as getting from a moderate intake to a high one.
| Bodyweight | Daily target at 1.6g/kg | Per meal across four meals | Shakes needed if you eat 90g from food |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60kg | 96g | 24g | 0 |
| 70kg | 112g | 28g | 1 |
| 80kg | 128g | 32g | 1 to 2 |
| 90kg | 144g | 36g | 2 |
Targets from the ISSN position stand and Morton et al. 2018. Per-meal split follows Schoenfeld and Aragon 2018, which recommends 0.4g per kg per meal across at least four meals. Work out your own number with the protein calculator.
On timing: it matters much less than the industry implies. Schoenfeld and colleagues in 2013 found the apparent post-workout timing effect vanished once total daily protein was controlled for, and the ISSN's nutrient timing stand notes that muscle remains sensitised to protein for at least 24 hours after training. Drink it whenever fits your day.
Cheapest sensible first bag
Bulk Basic Whey Protein
1.25kg bag
The value benchmark for a first tub. At about 50p per 25g of protein it costs roughly £15 a month for one shake a day, which is the number to judge everything else against.
or compare all UK prices →Cheapest sensible first bag
Bulk Basic Whey Protein
1.25kg bagPros
- + About 50p per 25g of protein, so a daily shake costs roughly £15 a month
- + 72g of protein per 100g, which is a normal, honest concentrate figure rather than a padded one
- + Plain concentrate with nothing added, which is exactly what a first purchase should be
Cons
- – The good price is on the 2.5kg bag, so buy the smallest size first and size up once you know you like the flavour
- – Plainer flavouring than Optimum Nutrition, and flavour matters more to a beginner than they expect because a tub you dislike gets abandoned
●Nutrition per scoop · 21.6g protein in 30g▼
Protein makes up 72%
of this 30g scoop · 112 kcal total
Easiest to actually drink
Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey
900g bag
Worth the premium only if flavour and mixability are what stops you being consistent. At about £1.10 per 25g of protein it is roughly double the budget tier, and for a beginner that difference is about £18 a month.
Buy Gold Standard 100% Whey →See the price on AmazonEasiest to actually drink
Pros
- + Instantised, so it mixes in a shaker without a blender and without lumps, which is the single most common beginner complaint about cheaper powders
- + 79g of protein per 100g, higher than most concentrates including several dearer ones
- + The most consistent flavour record of any protein sold in the UK, which matters if you are going to drink it daily for months
Cons
- – About £1.10 per 25g of protein, roughly £33 a month against £15 for Bulk Basic Whey
- – The 2.27kg tub costs more per gram than the 896g, so the usual buy-bigger advice does not apply here
●Nutrition per scoop · 23.7g protein in 30g▼
Protein makes up 79%
of this 30g scoop · 112 kcal total
Should you buy creatine before protein?
If your budget stretches to one thing, there is a genuine case that it should be creatine monohydrate.
A 2025 dose-response meta-analysis in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition pooled 61 trials and 1,457 participants and found creatine added 1.39kg of fat-free mass and 0.89kg of body mass. Novices gained 1.23kg against 1.82kg for experienced trainees, a difference that was not statistically significant, so unlike protein supplementation the effect does not obviously favour experienced lifters.
The ISSN position stand describes creatine monohydrate as the most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement available, at 3g to 5g a day, with monohydrate the most studied and effective form. It is also far cheaper per month than protein, because you are taking 3g to 5g rather than 25g to 50g.
None of that makes protein powder a bad purchase. It makes it the second purchase if money is tight. Protein is the flexible one that closes a nutritional gap; creatine is the one with the strongest evidence per pound. We cover dosing in how much creatine per day and current prices on the creatine comparison.
Which type should a first-time buyer choose?
Whey concentrate. Roughly 70g to 75g of protein per 100g, the cheapest form, and the right default for almost everyone starting out.
Whey isolate is 80g to 90g per 100g and costs roughly double per gram of protein. It is worth it if you are lactose intolerant or cutting calories tightly. As a first purchase for a general beginner it is money spent on a difference you will not notice.
Casein digests slowly and is sold for overnight use. It is a refinement, not a starting point.
Plant protein is the right choice if you avoid dairy. Choose soy or a blend rather than single-source pea or rice: soy scores higher than whey on the DIAAS protein-quality scale while pea and rice score well below both. The full comparison is in vegan protein vs whey protein.
Clear whey, diet whey and mass gainers are all formats rather than upgrades, and none of them belongs in a first purchase.
What it should cost you per month
One 25g-of-protein shake a day for 30 days costs about £15 at 50p per 25g of protein, about £22 at 72p, and about £33 at £1.10. That is the entire spread of the mainstream market, and it is worth seeing in pounds per month rather than pence per serving because the pence figure makes a threefold difference sound trivial.
A sensible beginner budget is £15 to £20 a month on protein. If you are spending more than that in your first six months, you are almost certainly buying either a premium brand or a format you do not need yet.
Five things beginners waste money on
1. Mass gainers. The maths is unkind. A 4.05kg mass gainer at £43.99 delivers 15 servings of 54g protein, which is 810g of protein in total, working out at about £1.36 per 25g of protein. That is nearly three times the cost of plain whey, and each serving carries around 173g of carbohydrate. If you want more calories, whey plus oats and peanut butter costs a fraction and you control the ratio.
2. BCAAs. Wolfe showed in 2017 that isolated branched-chain amino acids cannot produce net muscle protein synthesis, because the other essential amino acids have to come from breaking down muscle protein. Jackman in 2017 found 5.6g of BCAAs raised myofibrillar protein synthesis 22% over placebo, roughly half what an equivalent dose of whey achieves. Whey already contains the BCAAs. You are buying a worse version of what is in your other tub.
3. A 5kg bag of an untasted flavour. The per-gram price on a 5kg bag is genuinely better. It is not better if you drink four servings and give up.
4. Isolate, as a first purchase. Roughly double the price for a difference that matters mainly to people cutting hard or avoiding lactose.
5. Anything with a proprietary blend. If a label lists a blend total rather than the amount of each ingredient, you cannot tell what you are buying. Look for protein per 100g on the label, not just per serving, since a per-serving figure can be flattered by a bigger scoop.
When you are ready to compare actual prices, the whey concentrate comparison ranks everything by cost per 25g of protein, the protein finder narrows it to three picks if you would rather answer a few questions, and the protein comparison tool puts any two products side by side. If you want the shortlist rather than the reasoning, see the best protein powders for beginners.
Frequently asked questions
What protein should I take when I start going to the gym?
A plain whey concentrate in a 1kg bag, in chocolate or vanilla. Concentrate is the cheapest form and covers what almost every new trainee needs. Buy 1kg rather than a 2.5kg or 5kg bag so you can find out whether you like the flavour before committing. Checked 21 August 2026, a sensible first bag costs about £15 to £20, and the cost per 25g of protein from a recognised brand runs from about 50p.
Do I need protein powder as a beginner?
Often not immediately. UK adults aged 19 to 64 already average 76g of protein a day, and the British Nutrition Foundation's position is that UK adults on average eat more than enough protein without supplements. Powder is a convenience for closing a gap, not a requirement. Work out your daily target first, track what you actually eat for a week, and buy powder only if there is a real shortfall.
How much protein do I need when starting the gym?
The International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand recommends 1.4g to 2.0g per kg of bodyweight per day for people who train. Morton and colleagues in 2018, pooling 49 trials and 1,863 participants, found the benefit plateaued at about 1.62g per kg per day. For an 80kg person that is roughly 130g of protein daily, spread across at least four meals.
Should I buy creatine or protein first?
If your budget only stretches to one, creatine monohydrate has the stronger evidence per pound spent. A 2025 meta-analysis in JISSN pooling 61 trials and 1,457 participants found creatine added 1.39kg of fat-free mass, and the ISSN describes monohydrate as the most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement available at 3g to 5g a day. It also costs a fraction of what protein does per month. Protein powder is the more flexible purchase; creatine is the better value one.
Does it matter when I take my protein shake?
Much less than people think. Schoenfeld and colleagues in 2013 found the apparent benefit of post-workout timing disappeared once total daily protein was controlled for. The ISSN's nutrient timing position stand notes that muscle stays sensitised to protein for at least 24 hours after training. Hitting your daily total consistently matters far more than drinking a shake within any particular window.
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