Shake it!

Shaker cups, anyone who works out regularly has a cupboard full of these. Often orders placed online will have a complimentary one thrown in guaranteed to give you a smooth shake – at least that’s the claim. Over the years I have had many cups, some good and some very bad. If you have also left one in your gym bag for a few days you will also know how smelly they can get.

So I’ve currently 5 different shakers in my cupboard which I will run through now.

The Core 150

Available at http://www.core150.com
Price £12.99 each

This is one of my favourite shakers as it has 3 compartments that fit inside the shaker. You can have your pre, intra and post workout powders or capsules in the shaker. It holds up to a litre of liquid – great for weight gain shakes. I use this cup daily to monitor my water intake. I know to drink about 4 litres of water a day and this does it for me. It is big and bulky but a great shaker.

The Vortex 2.0 Kickstarter Version

Backed $100.00
The Vortex Original
£18.99 Amazon.co.uk
Upgrade kit £16.99 Amazon.co.uk

If you want a smooth shake this is the daddy of silky smooth shakes. I had the original and was very impressed so I joined the Kickstarter campaign for the 2.0 version that included a rechargeable battery, side measurements for liquids and a nutripod to hold your powder or capsule supplements. Any protein shakes I’ve had in it mixed very well and is very handy now with the pod and measurement markings – can’t understand why the original never had this as its pretty basic and simple to put markings up the side. There are 2 gripes about this one the cost, even the original is probably the most expensive I’ve ever seen and secondly the rechargeable battery connector – really should be micro usb like the majority of mobile phone chargers. Other than that it’s a very durable and unique shaker, if I was at the gym this would be great for me. Even at home it can be used to mix drinks (without the ice), eggs etc.

SmartShake

£varies – Original £7.99 Amazon.co.uk

Prior to the Core150 this was my go to shaker. 3 compartments (including the shaker) separate dividers for capsules if necessary was the big point for me. Huge variety of colours and colour combinations available. The capacity is 600ml although there are now larger versions 800ml and smaller 400ml. Nice fitting shaker for smaller bags on the go.

Blender Bottle

£varies

Have to say this is a shaker I’m not impressed with. I get the concept with the ball whisk. It just doesn’t seem to do the job well, shakes can be lumpy and is very very poor and with thick weight gain shakes. It comes in a variety of colours and there are a variety of bottle sizes, combinations and features. I will be honest I have had many accidents with this bottle – it comes from ensuring the cap is pressed down firmly and clicked into place. I have arm workouts where I can barely lift my arms (I’m looking at you V Sculpt as the most recent culprit) and didn’t click the lid on properly, started to shake and ended up with a post workout shake around me – what a waste. It’s a minor gripe but a messy one and more down to user error lol.

The Basic Shaker

£- Free -varies

This bad boy is the freebie added in with orders and is the original shaker cup, the most basic and arguably the best. Shakes are not super smooth but do you need them to be? This does the job and for many starting out or who don’t fancy spending nearly £20 on a shaker. There’s no shame in this shaker and would definitely rate it over the blender bottle; if you have small Tupperware boxes for protein you won’t even need a Smartshaker or the Core150 just use them with this shaker.

Like nutritional supplements there are so many varieties of shaker bottle on the market and it keeps expanding.  I do prefer the Core150 as I use it beyond workouts but I’d be equally happy with the basic original shaker cup – effective and cheap.

Yours in fitness & health

LLAP

Tony Mac