Benefits of bodybuilding protein

Whatever your age, keeping your protein intake high enough to meet the demands of a weight training regime can often be difficult.

The benefits of optimum bodybuilding protein intake are well worth the effort. And this is especially true for the more senior weight trainers and bodybuilders among us.

Research continues to show that strength and muscle mass gains can be made well into peoples nineties through progressive resistance training supported by a diet with sufficient protein…the keyword here being sufficient, as excess protein cannot be used and will be wasted – we’ll look at your individual requirements later in the article.

Younger trainers can also reap the gains in muscle mass from increasing protein intake. In one study, two groups were to follow the same training and diet regime, and the only difference being the amount of protein given.

One group ate 2.3 grams per kilogram of body weight per day and the other group ate 1.3 g/Kg body.
Benefits of bodybuilding protein weight per day. At the end of four weeks training the higher intake group had gained 5 times more muscle mass than the lower protein intake group.
Your protein requirements will differ depending on how much you train, whether you do much aerobic exercise or if you are dieting to lose weight.

If you are training with weights or are a bodybuilder who also does regular aerobic workouts for an hour or more your protein needs will be increased. The reason is due to how the body uses energy when exercise continues for some time. When the preferred glycogen stores in the muscles are used up and the body is running low on carbs then the next available source of energy for the muscles is protein – specifically the BCAAs (Branch Chain Amino Acids ). These are available in supplement form, but are also found naturally in many foods.

Many trainers use these supplements before and after workouts in the hope that their own muscle stores will not be cannibalized as fuel for the workout and recovery process.

Leucine, one of the BCAAs is used by the body to create Alanine which is converted by the liver to make blood sugar (glucose).

The more intense the aerobic workout is…the more Lecine is broken down for fuel. This is why it is essential that not only is there enough available prior to your workouts but that it is replaced as soon as possible afterwards...

As protein can be required to provide up to 15% of energy needs.

So what does all this mean? An easy rule of thumb is that if you are weight training with only a basic amount of aerobic work, say half an hour daily…your protein requirements are likely to be in the region of 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight per day (if you are a 70kg male you will need 70 x 1.6g = 112 g daily).

If you are weight training with an aerobic routine (say for bodybuilding weight loss) you will need about 1.8g protein per kilogram of body weight daily.

If you have just started your training program or are a vegetarian bodybuilder or weight trainer you will have higher protein needs... around 2 gram per day is recommended per kilogram of body weight. This is also the amount of protein that is needed if you are ‘cutting’ for competition…as this is a time when your calorific intake will be lower than normal…and there is a risk of the loss of some hard gained muscle mass. Keeping the protein intake high during this time will minimize any losses that would otherwise happen.