Since less protein now needs to be replenished, this increase in nitrogen retention means less protein is subsequently needed for optimal growth. Secondly, the more advanced you are, the less protein synthesis increases after training. As you become more muscular and you get closer to your genetic limit, less muscle is built after training.

This is very intuitive. The slower you can build muscle, the less protein is needed for optimal growth. A final objection that is often heard is that these values may be true during bulking or maintenance periods, but cutting requires more protein to maintain muscle mass. Walberg et al.

A perhaps even more telling study is by Pikosky et al. in The researchers took a group of endurance trained subjects and had them consume either 0.

They also added a thousand calories worth of training on top of their regular exercise. So these guys were literally running on a calorie deficit while drastically increasing their training volume. Talk about a catabolic state… Of course the nitrogen balance in the low protein group plummeted. However, the protein intake of 0.

Nitrogen balance, whole-body protein turnover and protein synthesis remained unchanged. A further review of the literature on the optimal protein intake in a deficit can be found in this article of the research on protein by Eric Helms. Also, the supposed difference in nitrogen sparing effects of carbs and fat are negligible McCargar et al.

Neither actually spares protein though. Only protein spares protein. I think the protein sparing idea came from a wrong interpretation of the nitrogen balance literature showing more lean mass is lost in more severe caloric deficits.

A simple explanation for that finding is that the more total mass you lose, the more lean mass you lose. No surprises there. As such, there is simply no empirically substantiated reason to think we need more than 0. If anything, you could reason the body should be able to use more protein during bulking periods, because more muscle is being built and a lot of other nutrients are ingested that may enable more protein to be used.

The only people that may actually need more protein than 0. Adolescents that are still growing may require more too. Steroids enable you to build muscle protein far more rapidly than natural trainees. There are actually several industry-sponsored studies showing absolutely miraculous benefits of consuming more protein see for example the studies by Cribb.

The excess will simply be used as energy. However, protein sources tend to be expensive compared to other energy sources and variety generally beats monotony with regards to your health, so satiety and food preferences are the only reasons I can think of why somebody would want to over-consume protein.

There is normally no advantage to consuming more protein than 0. This already includes a mark-up, since most research finds no more benefits after 0. Interested in more information like this? Have a look at the online Henselmans PT Course. By filling in your details you consent with our privacy policy and the way we handle your personal data.

Formerly a business consultant, I've traded my company car to follow my passion in strength training. I'm now an online physique coach, scientist and international public speaker with the mission to help serious trainees master their physique.

This might give you some clues as to which kinds of protein your body takes well to and therefore, which might be most suitable to your current goals.

To get some recommendations for your total macronutrients, check out our macros calculator. First things first: proteins are made up of amino acids.

Amino acids are the building blocks your muscle fibers need to grow. Those can then be used by your muscles to repair exercise-induced damage. Amino acids from proteins are used to stitch your muscle fibers back together on a cellular level from the positive damage done by lifting.

The amino acids most closely linked to muscle protein synthesis MPS — a process that switches on genes responsible for muscle gain — are the branched chain amino acids leucine , isoleucine, and valine. While these are far more important than worrying about leucine, it seems that about three grams of leucine per serving is ideal for keeping MPS maintained.

But if you need some reminders about why protein is so good for athletes, here they are. Not all strength athletes are looking to pack on a ton of extra muscle.

Protein is essential for keeping your muscles healthy and whole. Consuming an adequate amount of protein is key to making sure your muscles can keep you coming back to the gym safely and effectively. The art of gaining muscle mass is at once very complicated and very simple.

The simple part? Train hard and eat your protein. The building blocks of protein amino acids are also the building blocks of muscle, so eating enough protein will help you grow those boulder shoulders and teardrop quads. To prep your body and help stave off getting hangry , try filling up on some high-quality protein.

Generally, people worry about this more than they should. For athletes who feel most comfortable laying things out and seeing numbers and trends over time, you can track your daily intake in an app like MyFitnessPal or a similar platform.

Many of these apps offer libraries that include estimations of how much protein a given food many have. Apps also give you an automatic journal space to record your protein intake over time, which can help you spot trends alongside your workout logs.

If weighing out your food feels like an affirming and accessible option to you, it might be a good idea to purchase an inexpensive food scale.

Many out there can fit into your pocket. Estimate how much that is, weigh it, and use it as a default serving. Just make sure to speak with a doctor before making any changes to your diet and workout regimen. Multiple sporting bodies have said that a minimum intake for those looking to gain muscle, lose fat, and improve athletic performance is 0.

Research suggests that 30 grams of protein per meal is a good goal to shoot for in order to maintain muscle protein synthesis, though 20 grams may be sufficient if the protein is very high quality and high in the amino acid leucine, like whey protein.

For folks over 50, forty grams of protein per serving is a good bet. Since moving to New York City in he's been writing on health and fitness full time for outlets like BarBend, Men's Health, VICE, and Popular Science.

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BarBend is the Official Media Partner of USA Weightlifting. Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content Skip to primary sidebar Calculators. Protein Intake Calculator Imperial Metric.

The protein "myth" has been floating around for generations. Historically, it can be traced to Milo of Crotona in the sixth century B. He was a famous Greek athlete who was considered to be one of the strongest men in ancient Greece. He had won wrestling victories in 5 Olympic games as well as in other sacred festivals.

Legend has it that Milo applied progressive resistance in the form of lifting a growing calf daily. By the time the calf was 4-years-old Milo carried it the length of the Olympian stadium, and then proceeded to kill, roast and consume it.

Milos' daily consumption of meat was recorded at approximately 20 pounds a day. When we fast-forward to the era of the sixties and seventies we find there was a renewed hype about protein being some sort of miracle food. This was due, largely, to the muscle magazines of the era which pushed protein and claimed it could make you grow as big as a god!

As a result, many bodybuilders and strength trainers started to consume large quantities of whole milk, meat and eggs. Let's not forget the raw eggs-thanks to "Rocky Balboa". During the 90's and into the present we've seen protein powders promoted as the new wonder-drug.

Ads and commercials continue to tempt consumers to purchase protein powders in garbage can-sized quantities. And we've been mesmerized by a constant flow of ultimate protein shakes that will supposedly help pack on muscle mass at almost the same rate as Anabolic Steroids. Clearly, science is being placed on the back shelf, and this has resulted in a host of myths and fallacies springing up in the field of sports nutrition.

It's no surprise that there's so much conflicting information and plain misinformation floating around. On one side we have the nutritional, dietetic and medical community laying blame on the bodybuilders, weightlifters and strength trainers for perpetrating the myth that strength athletes need to consume above and beyond the RDA Recommended Dietary Allowance of 0.

Then we have the bodybuilders and strength trainers holding the nutritionists, dieticians and medical community responsible for bad information. The question remains, what is the optimal protein intake required for weightlifters, bodybuilders, strength trainers and other athletes? Protein is a complex chemical structure of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen.

From the simple blink of an eye to the flow of blood to muscles under extreme stress, proteins are everywhere. Their function involves more than muscle tissue repair. It includes repair of red blood cells, hair and fingernail growth, regulation of hormone secretion, movement muscle contraction , digestion, maintenance of the body's water balance, protection against disease, transport of nutrients to and from cells, the carrying of oxygen and regulation of blood clotting.

So the role of protein is very important to over-all body function and health. Sadly enough, this role has been improperly depicted in various muscle magazines, on TV fitness shows and in claims by trainers and bodybuilders who think protein is mainly used to repair damaged muscle tissue.

This couldn't be further from the truth. As mentioned earlier, the RDA is 0. Food and Nutrition Board, for sedentary adults. For infants and children the RDA is doubled and tripled because of the rapid growth rate they experience. How did the researchers come up with this RDA and arrive at the figure that has been shunned by the bodybuilding community?

Studies using nitrogen a component of protein have been conducted to see how much protein is used and absorbed before an excess condition results. Researchers looked at the nitrogen balance and made comparisons to see if a positive or a negative balance had been occurring. They observed the outcome by comparing the amount of nitrogen excreted with the amount ingested, and then they determined whether or not protein was accumulating in the body, remaining at the same level, or decreasing.

The nitrogen balance test uses nitrogen loss in the form of sweat, urine, feces, shedding of skin, and loss of hair on a day-to-day basis. If there is a positive balance in nitrogen levels, it means there has been more nitrogen ingested than excreted, and so, tissue growth can be a direct result.

A negative balance shows researchers that more nitrogen is being excreted than taken in, and this means, of course, that more protein is being lost than produced. Basically, the protein requirement for sedentary adults involves replacing routine losses-the task, so to speak, is to keep the leaky bucket topped up.

So why did researchers in North America come to the conclusion that the RDA is only a rationed 0. Well it seems they concluded that 0. With a safety margin in place, it has been bumped up to 0. This is to replace the amount which may be lost during digestion, as well as making up for a lack in quality of protein.

The general protein requirement for sedentary adults is just enough that if one follows this guideline they will supply themselves with enough amino acids to replace each day's loss without allowing for exercise and the growth of muscle tissue. It's ironic that the RDA for children who are experiencing growth is greater than the RDA for adults.

The Academy of Sciences and the nutrition board insist that exercise which leads to musculo-collagenous hypertrophy among other changes in the body doesn't generate an increase in one's protein requirements 1.

Note that RDA can vary from place to place; Russia, Denmark, and Britain have different RDA standards. Exercise adds a new dimension to the issue because the body, with an increased need for protein, has to rely heavily upon dietary sources rather than draw from it's own stores.

If this need is not met during exercise then the body will start to draw upon its muscle tissue as a source. Though it may seem that humans don't need much protein, the facts haven't been established as to how much an exercising individual should be taking in.

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