I’ve created a low-glycemic load protein bar without compromising on taste. Here’s the nutritional breakdown before we get into the instructions:
- Glycemic Load = 5
- 308 Calories
- 37g carbs
- 32g protein
- 3.5 fat
I’ve already created 2 types of homemade protein bars for you guys to enjoy:
I wanted to create one that would fulfill my GLAD muscle-fueling diet criteria:
- It should be rich in high-quality protein
- All carbs should be low-glycemic and total GL for the bar should be low
- There should be some essential fatty acids in there
This bar fits the bill and tastes better than any other I’ve tried.
Check out the video I made showing how to make it. And please subscribe to my YouTube channel for more. Thanks!
Before we get into the instructions, make sure that if you want to make serious muscle gains, you have downloaded my free THT training package right now. THT is life-changing!
Here’s the ingredients:
- Whey Protein Isolate
(chocolate flavor works best I think)
- Rolled oats
- Ground Flax Seed
- Blue Agave Nectar
The total Glycemic Load for this bar is just 5.
Blue Agave Nectar is your choice of syrup here owing to it’s low glycemic load i.e. GL 2 for a 20g/1 tablespoon serving.
Making it is simple:
- Mix all your dry ingredients thoroughly in a bowl i.e. protein, oats, and flax seed
- Now add your nectar, but don’t mix in yet
- Now mix it all together. Get your hands in there and really mix it well
- Spoon it out of the bowl and shape it into a bar. Let it set for a while in the fridge or chew it down straight away (it will be very gooey if you don’t let it set).
If you want to go completely natural make sure you use a protein powder without any artificial sweeteners.
Take Care,
Mark.
Get Totally Shredded Fast
Get ripped at blistering speed without losing muscle and keep gaining in the gym. Also, you get your abs or you get your money back! That's the power of Mark's Total Six Pack Abs program. More details here.
Buff Baking Anabolic Cookbook
Extremely easy anabolic recipes with simple ingredients that makes fueling muscle growth feel like a cheat meal! Bars, cookies, pizza, ice cream...see pics and recipes here.
Advanced T.H.T. Training
A brand new workout including 9 x advanced "Shock & Awe" hypertrophy techniques to ignite pounds of new gains! It's "Game-Changing" time! Got at least 1yrs training experience? It may be time to go advanced! You've never trained like this before. Get all the details here.
Stay Shredded
Stay shredded all year – no more long cutting cycles. If you’ve ever gotten ripped abs only to lose them a few weeks later, you need to know the secrets of staying shredded without fasting and without giving up cheat meals. I’m ripped all year – you should be too! Details here.
Shoulder Blast Workout
In Jan 2019 a bunch of 'lab rats' tested the New Shoulder Blast Workout and gained up to 2.5 inches in shoulder size in 7-10 days! There is a very specific type of training stress that works uniquely well for the shoulders. You're about to target it...hard! More details here.
The Arm Blast Experiment
Gain up to an inch on your arms over the next week with new "hyper-intense" training techniques that literally force new arm growth. The workout is based on the results of an online study conducted by Mark from MuscleHack. More details here.
Chest Blast Workout
3 Workouts | 7 Days | Up to 3 inches in chest growth! A workout that will fry every muscle fiber in your pecs and literally force new and permanent growth...fast! More details here.
The Leg Blast Workout
An explosive training package for fast leg gains! 1 week | 3 x 90 minute workouts | "hyper-intense" techniques = big & fast leg gains. Up to 3 inches in growth. See more details and testimonials here.
Very Nice. I especially like the new style of video Mark and good choice of music.
Nice recipe! It is kind of hard to get enough calories during school hours, so this will make a very good snack between classes/on the bus. Thanks.
This is an excellent protein bar recipe.
So yummy and easy to make, also cost less then buying them.
The video was very nice too, for those of us who are “cooking” impaired.
Thanks!
I’ve not tried this recipe yet, but it sure looks great! If I pair this with some baby carrots and celery sticks, I should have a breakfast that’s just about perfect! Thanks, Mark!
i just bought gold standard whey(ON) from my local store, the salesman said i should take 1 scoop morning in non-workout days, for workout days take 1 scoop before and after workout!! that is a lot of money… should i take it that way?
@John @Mike @Shay @Marochka_Raduga Thanks! 😀
@noodkia. No you don’t. I take 1 protein shake after a workout and that’s it. On non-workout days, I simply get my protein from food.
Eat a meal before working out but leave it about an hour to digest a bit before hitting the iron. Hope that helps.
Hi, just thought id leave this on here as im abit confused about what diet you think is best for cutting and also bulking?. Is low carb best for cutting but keeping as much muscle as u can (mans) and the low GI diet best for adding the most muscle without getting fat?.
Gareth,
Both GLAD and MANS are bulking diets, the goal being to pack on the muscle without adding fat. However, many have reported back to me with simultaneous muscle gain AND fat loss (see ‘testimonials’ section https://musclehack.com/testimonials/ ).
‘Total Six Pack Abs’, on the other hand, is the full cutting strategy to strip fat while preserving lean muscle. Again, many have reported back with simultaneous muscle gain WHILE they lost fat (see the testimonials on that page https://www.totalsixpackabs.com/ ).
All the best,
Mark.
This is off topic, but I am afraid you won’t see this if I post it in the correct place. So, I noticed that even when you were skinny (first successful cut ever pics) you had a big chest and you said that the chest is one of the easiest body parts to develop in your chest articles. In the flat bench press and incline bench press articles you used a barbell, but I only have dumbbells. I am currently doing 4 sets flat bench press with 30 pound dumbells (1st set about 35 pounds and 8-9 reps), 2 sets incline press with 25 pound dumbbells, flat chest flies with 20 pound dumbbells. My chest is one of only a couple muscles that is growing slowly, and strength gains are slow. I am 16 years old and I weigh about 140 pounds at 9-10% body fat (I can see my abs fairly clearly), and my chest is only about half as big as yours was. By the way, I am using good form and my tempo is the same you recommend. What do you think I should do? Thanks, sorry for long post!
Sweeeet! I’ve been eating those promax bars, dunno what you think about them, but after a while I got really tired of the sugar. This seems like a really good long term bar.
Thanks Mark!
Good start, but Agave syrup is really high in fructose. Fructose is really, really bad. Just because it has a “low glycemic load” doesn’t mean it’s good for you.
Agave syrup is higher in fructose than high-fructose corn syrup, which is generally around 50-55% fructose. Agave is 70-90% fructose.
Seriously, agave syrup is not a healthy food in any sense of the word. Avoid it.
@Mike. Yes my chest was still fairly developed in my ‘skinny’ pics but remember that I had still been working out for a few years at that point. I was doing lots of things incorrectly but over time I was still making small progressions.
You may want to through a set or 2 of dumbbell flies to isolate the pecs, or use a pec deck if available. Overall, if you’re progressing just keep going, you’re moving in the right direction.
hey, mark, buddy!
i have same question with noodkia… i read a book that says u should take 3 protein shakes, 1 immediatly after your workout, 1 about 30 monitues later, 1 about 45 minutes later…should i follow it????
btw can you reupload the lateral raise shoulder exercise;\
@confused. No you certainly don’t need 3 protein shakes a day. Get most of your protein from food and meet your daily requirements. Extra protein won’t build extra muscle, it will be converted to glucose and used for energy, or stored as glycogen (if there is a need) or fat. That book sounds like it was written by, or sponsored by, a supplement company.
I’ll be shooting more vids soon.
Mark
i am taking whey protein of 24g a scoop does that mean that i have to use 2 scoop for a post workout drink?
@walauA. 1.5 – 2 scoops is good.
thx man!!
Thanks for the recipe Mark, I’ll try this the next time I have some chocolate protein powder at hand…
this one looks great i used to eat the mans one a lot but i was wonderting where do oyu get your ground flax and syrup ?
Hey Marc. Can you think of sth. to replace the Agave Nectar while having a comparable effect (I thought of honey, also for the taste but is this actually a good idea??)
Can’t get this Agave stuff around here:/
Would be great to get some suggestions how to modify this protein bar.
Keep going with this blog!
Very inspiring and motivating!!!
@Budgie. I don’t know where you live but I get the flax seed in a shop called SuperValu (Irish franchise) and Tesco do the agave nectar.
@Bas. Honey has a GL of 16 for a tablespoon compared to GL2 for the nectar. To be honest I can’t think of a natural alternative. If you’re in the US, Walden Farms make zero calorie syrups sweetened with splenda.
@Mark: It’s nto the Glycemic Index that’s the issue. Fructose has a lower GI than other sweeteners because it doesn’t cause an insulin release. But fructose is a very damaging sugar–much more so than glucose. It increases triglycerides, increases uric acid (causing hypertension), screws up the liver, etc. The huge rise in fructose consumption over the past coulple of decades is probably the root cause of our obesity problems. Here is a pretty good discussion about the varous sweeteners:
https://tinyurl.com/yf9jg26
Honey is about 50/50 glucose/fructose. Agave nectar can be as high as 90+% fructose. Avoid it. The glycemic index is irrelvant.
Alright, then I guees I’ll have to keep searching since I do not live in the US but in Europe.
Thx anyway!
Good recipe.
I haven’t tried to make a protein bar, but I do make healthy home-made breakfast musli. It consists of different nuts, dried fruit, oat-flakes and everything is fried in honey. Healthy and tasty. You should give it a try.
I’ve read a few articles that say agave nectar is not as healthy as was once thought. Although very low in GL it is very high in fructose, about 85% which is even higher than regular sugar.
Just thought I’d share a recipe that I came up with for a low carb, high fiber, protein bar. That tastes like cookie dough – sort of.
For a batch of 5 bars:
80 grams clean 90% whey
100 grams coconut flour
78 grams ground flax seed
+/-270 ml heavy whipping cream
*cinnamon- to taste (I use 1-2 tablespoons)
* stevia – to taste (I use 2-3 individual packets)
* vanilla extract- to taste
* almond extract- to taste
Mix all dry ingredients, mix all wet ingredients, then combine and mix with a spoon and hands. Form into 5 bars, wrap in wax paper, refrigerate for a while to firm up.
Each bar will be contain roughly 350 calories, 20g protein, 4g net carbs, 13g fiber, and 25g fat.
I have tried many different variations and flavors as well, but this one is my favorite.
@Ikky. Only people that eat a lot of sugary foods or drink a lot of soda need to be concerned about that. Some agave nectar isn’t going to harm anyone. Just like eating some fruit isn’t going to harm anyone.
@Dan. Great recipe! Thanks for sharing 🙂