368% Increase in Women Using Protein Products in UK

April 13, 2011 - PRLog -- Whilst protein supplements and products have long been associated with the male bodybuilding world, new site statistics released by Europe’s leading online sports nutrition brand have revealed their increasing popularity amongst women in the UK.

According to site statistics from www.Myprotein.com, there has been a 368% increase in women ordering protein products from the site in the past 12 months alone. In addition, a supporting study conducted by the website has revealed that over a fifth, 22%, of women now claim to ‘regularly’ use protein products to support their fitness regimes.

Myprotein.com regularly monitors usage of its website, keeping track of trends and common requests of customers in order to keep on top of user needs. Having noticed the 368% increase in protein product orders from women in the past 12 months, the site subsequently decided to conduct a study to find out more about how women in the UK use protein-based products; with 1,721 women aged 18 and over taking part.

Respondents to the study, who were all ‘frequent’ exercisers, were initially asked: “How often do you use protein products to support your fitness regime?” A fifth, 22%, of the women taking part answered “regularly,” whilst the majority, 46%, stated that they did so ‘occasionally.’ The remaining 32% of respondents claimed that they ‘never’ used protein products to support their fitness regime.

The respondents who admitted to using protein products either ‘regularly’ or ‘occasionally’ were then asked how they came to first use the products. Over half, 51%, claimed that a male partner or friend had introduced them to protein products to accompany their fitness regimes, whilst a third, 29%, admitted that they had first come across the products at their gym.

Furthermore, just under a fifth, 18%, claimed that they had come across the protein products having heard that female celebrities were using them to aid their fitness. When asked to state who these female celebrities were, the majority, 61%, labelled the model ‘Adriana Lima’; whilst 14% stated ‘Mariah Carey.’

These respondents were also asked to outline the main reason why they used protein products alongside their exercise regime.  The top three reasons were as follows:
1) To aid weight-loss – 34%
2) To aid muscle- gain – 28%
3) Aid muscle repair – 17%

Furthermore, 16% of the women who took part in the study admitted that they had previously used their male partner’s protein products, instead of buying their own.

Mark Coxhead, head of marketing at myprotein.com, had the following to say about the results:

“We were really surprised to see such a drastic increase in women buying protein products from the website over the past year, so conducted the study to look more into why this may be happening. It seems that the majority of women have indeed been introduced to protein products by a male friend or partner, with most using them in order to aid weight-loss.”

He continued:

“Increasing protein intake alongside a healthy diet and exercise regime can certainly aid weight-loss. So long as your diet is healthy and balanced, protein products can above all help your body and muscles to recover after exercise sessions. This can really help you to shape your body, as well as tone-up; but the hard work has to be put in in the first place, in order for the products to really do their thing!”

ENDS

LINK: http://www.myprotein.com

For more information please contact Emma Kent of 10 Yetis Public Relations Agency on 01452348211, or emmak@10yetis.co.uk.

About Myprotein.com
Myprotein is Europe’s leading online sports nutrition brand. Established in 2004 by Oliver Cookson, the company has expanded at an incredible rate, and was recently ranked 21st in the Sunday Times Fast-Track 100 list. With a number of awards behind it, including the CBI Growing Business of the Year 2007 and National Business Awards 2009 Regional Winner, Myprotein has firmly established itself as a market leader in the world of sports nutrition.
Buying in bulk, manufacturing in-house and selling direct online to consumers allows Myprotein to offer the lowest prices in Europe guaranteed.  Using only the finest quality ingredients and the latest production processes (certified to ISO9001:2008 by SGS, a UKAS accredited company), ensures the finest product quality is maintained.