Protein Rules Of Bodybuilding

[Gone]

March 12, 2014 by Greg Nuckols

The purpose of this article is straightforward and simple – help you reach your fitness or physique goals with three simple, science-backed tips for getting the most from your dietary protein. Protein consumption is such a popular subject that the basics can be lost in all the noise (and supplement company hype), so the goal here is to simplify and get to what’s actually important.

1. Eat enough protein

How much? .82g/lb (1.8g/kg). Rounding up to 1g/lb or 2g/kg may be easier to remember, and getting a little more certainly doesn’t hurt, but the point here is that the crazy recommendations of 2g per pound (or even more) are overkill. As you eat more past that point, rates of protein synthesis and breakdown both increase at essentially the same rate – so again, there’s no problem with erring on the high side, but unless you’re on steroids to further elevate protein synthesis (to make use of extra protein), you hit a point of diminishing returns.

On the flip side, if you’re not getting in this amount regularly, you WILL probably benefit from increasing intake. For some people, .82g/lb may seem like a ludicrously high number. However, if you’re currently under that level of intake, you will accrue benefits as you eat more protein.

As an aside, increasing protein intake above .82g/lb may have benefits if you’re trying to lose weight. Protein is more satiating per gram than either carbohydrate or fat, and in a caloric deficit, erring on the high side to ensure you hold onto as much muscle as possible is wise anyways.

2. Space your protein intake throughout the day

A recent study showed that, on average, 24 hour protein synthesis rates are about 25% higher if you space your protein intake out throughout the day, rather than eating the majority of it in one meal.

Obviously there are implications for intermittent fasting (personal opinion – it can be a useful tool for cutting, but for gaining size, it’s hard to beat eating food all day. Shocking thought), but also for extreme post-workout nutrition protocols.

In a recent meta-analysis, Alan Aragon, Brad Schoenfeld, and James Krieger showed that post-workout nutrition only “worked” insofar as it increased overall protein intake for the day. Essentially, getting enough protein in your diet is the important factor, not bombing huge amounts of protein around your training session.

Maybe there was some wisdom in your parents’ insistence that you eat 3 square meals a day after all (provided they all have a fair amount of protein).

3. Get your protein from high-quality sources

This issue is definitely not as important as the first two, but it’s still worth mentioning.

Whey, in particular, seems to be particularly good at stimulating muscle protein synthesis, leading to hypertrophy. It’s been shown to be superior to both soy and casein for this purpose (and not just acutely, but in training studies showing increased lean mass gains from lifting).

Although all possible protein sources haven’t been compared at this point, obviously, as a general rule of thumb animal sources are better than plant sources for stimulating protein synthesis. When in doubt, though there are a ton of options on the market, it’s hard to beat a plain old whey isolate when you need some more protein and don’t have time to make some meat.

The takeaway:

Get somewhere in the neighborhood of 1g/lb or 2g/kg of protein per day, space your intake out rather than concentrating it all in one period, and prioritize protein sources like whey, meat, and eggs. It sounds so simple, but it’s amazing how often people get sucked in by some exciting new study or fad and forget the basics

 

[BigOiron]

This was a great read.

 

[liftsiron]

I would like to see the study that says N2 retention is higher eating multiple protein meals throughout the day. i have seen a number of peer reviewed studies that show exactly the opposite.

 

[liftsiron]

Some studies referenced below article.






Protein-pulsing-for-muscle
by Mike Roussell, PhD   
Protein-pulsing-for-muscle

Here's what you need to know...

• You don't need to keep blood amino acid levels elevated all day to build muscle.

• Protein pulsing is a great way to keep your body tilted towards anabolism even while eating less frequently.

• All the benefits of fasting can also be achieved by following a very low carbohydrate diet, except one – in terms of muscle protein synthesis, frequent feeding kicks fasting's butt.

Some recent research has forced us to question one of muscle-building nutrition's most sacred cows. In short, the belief that we need to keep blood amino acid levels elevated throughout the day is false.

While this isn't breaking news here at T Nation, science has finally confirmed that the best method is in fact less frequent meals combined with protein pulses. Here's new evidence to support that timing amino acid "injections" or protein pulsing is the optimal approach.

Constantly Infusing Amino Acids

The old-school belief was that if you're constantly taking in amino acids then you're constantly stimulating protein synthesis and building muscle. In other words, if blood amino acids levels are elevated, then protein synthesis will be elevated.

This just isn't the case. Bohé et al. infused amino acids into a group of 30-year-old lifters down in Texas for six hours. They found that nothing much happened in terms of protein synthesis for the first 30 minutes, but then rates rose 2.8 times and stayed that way for two hours before sharply declining – despite amino acid levels remaining elevated past the two-hour point.

So constantly jamming your body with amino acids isn't causing you to grow more. There seems to be a refractory period, a time where your body needs a break from the constant influx of amino acids so it can regroup before it re-initiates protein synthesis.
Protein Synthesis Chart

Amino Acid Effect

Does that mean we're stuck with just a few measly opportunities each day to stimulate protein synthesis? Not necessarily.

Another group of researchers from Galveston sought to hack the system. They wanted to see if pulsing liquid amino acids (along with carbohydrates) between meals elicited more net protein synthesis compared to just eating a few solid meals throughout the day. Over the course of the 16-hour research period, study participants alternated between a whole-food meal and an amino acid/carbohydrate drink every 2.5 hours.

The researchers found that by pulsing the amino acids between meals, they were able to increase protein synthesis without hindering the anabolic effects of the actual meals. So by interspersing or pulsing amino acids between meals you can, at some level, get around the refractory period to further enhance anabolism during the day.

Time Dependent Effects: The Flaw of Fasting

Why take the time to pulse amino acids between meals? Why not just eat more protein when you do eat? People that practice intermittent fasting go long periods without eating and then eat large amounts of protein. That seems to work – or does it?

All the benefits of fasting can also be achieved by following a very low carbohydrate diet, except one – in terms of muscle protein synthesis, frequent feeding kicks fasting's behind.

There's a time dependent ceiling on protein synthesis and you can't just eat more protein later on to make up for not eating protein earlier in the day. This is why protein timing is so important. The irony is that we learned this important piece of information from a group of people with the worst eating habits – average Americans!

The average American eats very little protein at breakfast and lunch and then has a large protein bolus at dinner. Researchers at the University of Texas wanted to take this traditional pattern of eating and see if spreading the amount of protein consumed at dinner throughout the day would make a difference with protein synthesis.

Subjects were given either 30 grams or 90 grams of protein from lean ground beef. Researchers found that spreading out either dose increased protein synthesis by about 45%.

So what's the takeaway? You can't just eat more protein later in the day to make up for missed protein synthesis opportunities earlier on.

The 30-Gram Myth?

It bears repeating that the 30-gram protein "rule" is a myth. The body can easily process far more than 30 grams per serving as protein is used in many bodily functions, not just protein synthesis.

In fact, I consider 30 gram to be the minimum protein serving size. This helps ensure you get the most out of the temporal bump in protein synthesis, and more muscular athletes should have even bigger servings. Furthermore, protein synthesis rates have been shown to decline with age so lifters over 40 may require larger doses to get the same bump in protein synthesis as their younger counterparts.

So if you're 40-plus and 250 pounds, then the 30-gram rule is even more obsolete! Fortunately, the solution is simple – just eat larger servings of protein! That's great news to any beef-loving man over 40.

Supercharge with Exercise

Eating protein isn't the only way to increase muscle protein synthesis. You can easily supercharge protein's effects on muscle protein synthesis by adding resistance training.

A 2012 study found post-workout protein had a stepwise effect on protein synthesis when the protein was given in doses of 10, 20, and 40 grams. The graph below shows the impact of increasing protein from beef (0, 12 grams, 24 grams, and 36 grams of protein), with the addition of exercise on muscle protein synthesis.

At the highest dose of protein, leucine oxidation was also the highest, demonstrating that a switchover from synthesis (building) to oxidation (burning) was occurring. This suggests that the highest protein dose – 36 grams – was close to the ceiling for muscle protein synthesis.
Muscle Protein Synthesis Chart

The protein in this study was consumed after exercise but it's important to remember that the mechanical stress of weight training leads to an increase in amino acid uptake.

Therefore, by pre-loading with amino acids before the training session, we can potentially increase the availability of these anabolic aminos for uptake during the workout, thereby ratcheting up the effects of combining protein and weight training even more.

Interestingly, the benefit of weight training on protein synthesis isn't limited to just during and immediately after exercise, but carries over for up to 48 hours.

All the data surrounding protein, weight training, and protein synthesis suggests that for maximum results, the more frequently you can weight train the better. Combine this with exercise's effects on insulin sensitivity and you really should be training at least four days per week.

To that end, one of the driving forces behind T Nation is pushing the limits of recovery so that we can train more and harder. By doing so you'll be enhancing protein synthesis, which will allow you to grow larger and train harder. It's a physiological self-perpetuating loop that you need to get in on.

Ideal Protein/Amino Acid Feeding Scheduling

So what's the ideal meal schedule? It depends on how many calories you're eating and how long you're awake. From a timing perspective, you don't want solid food meals any closer together than every 4-5 hours.

A good rule is, the less you're eating (like when dieting), the more spaced out your meals should be as you want your total number of meals to be lower. However, because you're eating less often, the meals can also be bigger – because as satiating as protein is, eating a bigger meal is even more satiating.

Now space your meals about 5 hours apart and pulse with amino acids amino between meals, every 2.5 hours. I recommend pre-mixing your amino drinks (Mag-10® or BCAA/leucine peptides) earlier in the day and having them in the fridge so they're ready to go, making protein pulsing even easier to do.

Science Has Spoken

You don't have to be a slave to a rigorous meal schedule just to build a body that gets noticed. However, that doesn't mean that regular protein feedings are no longer necessary. Take advantage of the power and convenience of protein pulsing and have your anabolic cake and eat it too.

References and Recommended Readings

Areta, J. L. (2013). "Timing and distribution of protein ingestion during prolonged recovery from resistance exercise alters myofibrillar protein synthesis." The Journal of physiology 591: 2319-2331.

Bohé, J. (2001). "Latency and duration of stimulation of human muscle protein synthesis during continuous infusion of amino acids." The Journal of physiology 532: 575-579.

Churchward-Venne, T. A. (2012). "Nutritional regulation of muscle protein synthesis with resistance exercise: strategies to enhance anabolism." Nutrition & Metabolism 9(1): 40.

Glynn, E. L., C. S. Fry, et al. (2010). "Excess Leucine Intake Enhances Muscle Anabolic Signaling but Not Net Protein Anabolism in Young Men and Women." The Journal of Nutrition 140(11): 1970-1976.

Kim, P. L., R. S. Staron, et al. (2005). "Fasted-state skeletal muscle protein synthesis after resistance exercise is altered with training." The Journal of physiology 568(1): 283-290.

Moore, D. R., J. E. Tang, et al. (2009). "Differential stimulation of myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic protein synthesis with protein ingestion at rest and after resistance exercise." The Journal of physiology 587(4): 897-904.

Paddon-Jones, D., M. Sheffield-Moore, et al. (2005). "Exogenous amino acids stimulate human muscle anabolism without interfering with the response to mixed meal ingestion." American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism 288(4): E761-E767.

Pasiakos, S. M. (2012). "Exercise and Amino Acid Anabolic Cell Signaling and the Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Mass." Nutrients 4(7): 740-758.

Robinson, M. J. (2013). "Dose-dependent responses of myofibrillar protein synthesis with beef ingestion are enhanced with resistance exercise in middle-aged men." Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism 38(2): 120-125.

 

[Amozoc]

Great article bro


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