Mmmmm, protein shakes...ok, ok, they are not that nice, although some are better than others, but I'm sure, that to most people they sound horrible. However, if you are at all into fitness, or weights, these shakes can really make a difference in helping your muscles repair, and grow.

I have been going to the gym for a couple of years now, and after a while I started taking a few supplements like protein shakes to see if they made any difference. At first, I simply mixed up some milk and whey powder in a measuring jug, and whisked it up...for ages, and no matter how hard i whisked, there would still be lumps that I couldn't get rid of. Next I tried using a hand blender, which worked far better, but it was a bit of a pain having to wash it so often.

At some point, I decided to buy a protein shaker, and I picked up one of these Maximuscle ones in the supermarket, simply because it was the only brand that ASDA seemed to have at the time. It cost me about £4, and was a bit of an impulse buy (it's kind of sad when your impulse buying is reduced to plastic beakers...), but you can pick them up for £3 from Amazon.

The shaker consists of a 700ml beaker, with embossed measurements up the side, to help judge how much liquid you need, a lid with an odd shaped spout, with a flip-top cap, and a thin plastic mesh disc that fits inside the beaker to help mix the ingredients.

All the parts feel pretty solid and sturdy, and the shaker can certainly withstand rumbling about in a bag full of sports gear without getting damaged. Al the parts clean easily, just make sure you give the mesh disc a good scrub. Despite often daily use and cleaning, after a year it still looks in pretty good nick. I can't comment on dishwasher cleaning, since I don't have one I'm afraid :(

The shaker works by simply adding your ingredients into the cup, placing the mesh disc over the top, the sealing the screw-down lid over the top. Make sure the flip-top lid it also sealed, then shake it...and keep shaking it. I found that using the shaker, with its mesh disc, was by far the most effective method I have tried for mixing up these drinks. It can take a while, and I still get a few lumps, but far less than I used to get with a whisk or fork.

The most important thing to do before you start shaking all the liquid about is to make sure its properly sealed, otherwise it starts to leak at the seal between the cup, and the lid. It shouldn't burst out in a spray, but if you are shaking vigorously, and it leaks, it will cover you in drops of shake! This happened to me the first couple of times I used it, but once you learn the knack of sealing it, it seems to work fine. The other thing I tend to do is to keep my thumb over the cap on the spout, in case it pops of mid-shake. This has never happened, but would prove messy if it did.

The spout, although kind of odd looking, is easy to drink out of, and doesn't tend to drip. One thing I would say is, never fill this beaker up, and then put it in your bag, as the flip top on the spout is only designed to seal whilst shaking, not for storage: it will come loose if knocked.

One other thing you can do, is fill this shaker up with Chocolate Brownie Frijj Milkshake, and drink it whilst hanging around the outside of a gym, and pretend you are really fit...

Overall, I found this shaker cup worked well for its purpose. It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but it is sturdily made, and will last for a fair while. The leaking can be messy and annoying, so always make sure you seal it properly.