Q. I would like to gain more weight and muscle mass. I work out 2-3 days a week at school. My weight training class is 1.5 hours long in the morning and I pretty much tire myself out. I bought a protein powder that has 55 grams per serving. How much protein should I take and when?

You're on the right track by taking a protein supplement, especially judging by how long your workouts are!

The first thing you need to know is that you'll get much better results by cutting back on your actual training time to no more than an hour (45 minutes is better).

I realize that your class is an hour and a half but if you lift hard for that long, you're not going to get any results as your body will be too busy trying to recover from all that to build any muscle.

Use the other time to warm-up, cool-down and stretch out.

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The absolute best time for you take your protein is immediately after your workout. This is the time when your body is primed for muscle growth and will thrive on the extra protein you give it.

Take the full 55 g serving right after. What I do is take an empty vitamin bottle (or some other bottle, put the serving in there dry and bring it with me. Right after the workout, fill it with water and drink it.

The other best time to take protein is first thing in the morning, immediately upon waking. Your body has just been fasting for 8 hours and needs a kick start of protein. This will help wake you up too! Take a half-serving in the morning.

Finally, take another half-serving right before you go to sleep to have some protein available for nighttime muscle repair.

Another trick that I like to use is to premix some before I go to sleep and leave it right beside my bed. If I happen to wake up in the middle of the night, I drink it to give my body a shot of protein. If I don't wake up, I'll just drink it in the morning.

You can take protein every day but if you're on a budget, I would recommend in the morning and after workouts only. This will give you the most bang for your buck.

Click here to read an excellent article on protein. The first part of the article deals with protein for fat loss but the second and third parts will tell you in great detail when and how to take it as well as where you can get it dirt cheap online.