Using protein to build muscle

As I mentioned earlier, my primary goal at the moment is to increase my strength. I am training for a Tough Mudder obstacle course in September, and I need to be able to pull my own bodyweight out of the water or over a wall. In most cases, in order to increase strength you also need to increase muscle mass. So this week I’m going discuss how I’m using my diet to help me build muscle.

There are two main ways to stimulate muscle growth: Resistance exercise and eating protein. Research has shown that simply eating 20g of protein causes an increase in muscle protein synthesis (muscle building). You get a slightly better response if you consume 30 or 40g of protein in one meal, but more than that does not lead to a greater response. Most people can only process 40g of protein or less at a time, so having a massive 50g protein shake is really a waste of money.

As this is the case, you are better off spreading you protein intake throughout the day. If you have three meals and two snacks a day where you get at least 20g of protein, that’s five times your muscles have been stimulated to grow. This is why many bodybuilders and weightlifters follow a strict schedule of eating every 2-3 hours. In my case I usually have breakfast at 8am, lunch at 12pm, a pre training snack at 3pm, train at 4pm, a post workout snack at 5:30/6:00pm, then supper around 8pm.

As I’ve discussed, studies have shown that eating 1.5 to 1.8g of protein per kilogram of body mass per day is enough for most strength athletes. Eating more than 2.0g of protein/Kg/day does not result in more muscle mass, you simply pee out the excess protein. So for someone my size (about 63 Kg or 140 lbs) the maximum useful amount of protein is only 126g. Even if I were a 90 Kg (200 lbs) male body builder, I still wouldn’t need more than 180g of protein per day.

To increase the amount of protein that actually makes it to your muscles, make sure you pair it with some carbohydrates. The insulin spike caused by the carbs tells your muscles to absorb both glucose (a simple sugar) and amino acids (the building blocks of proteins). This is particularly important right after exercise. Remember, simply doing resistance exercise stimulates muscle growth. However, if you want to get the most from this, you need to provide your muscles with the right materials to build that new muscle. Current research suggests 0.4 to 0.5 g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight immediately after exercise is the way to go. A 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein in the recovery meal is ideal.

So what does this look like in practice? Below you’ll find a typical day’s meal plan for me at the moment. You’ll notice that I’m getting just under 124g of protein (1.9 g per Kg of bodyweight) spread out pretty evenly over my five meals. I’m also getting over 30g of that protein in my recovery meal, which is 0.47g per Kg of bodyweight. And most meals have roughly a 2:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein.

Totals for typical day:

Calories: Protein: Carbs: Sugars: Fat: Sat Fat: Fibre:  
2309 123.93g 278.95g 112.56g 76.37g 18.05g 39.94g
21.5% 48.3% 29.8%
Calories burned through exercise: 375

What I ate:

Time Item Amount Calories Protein Carbs Sugars Fibre Fat Sat Fat Alcohol
07:45 Centrum Multivitamin,  Vitamin E 400IU, Vitamin D 25 µg
Tap water 250mL 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Soft boiled eggs, 2 large 115g 150 14.49 0.00 0.00 0.00 10.35 2.88 0.00
Free From pure oats 50g 171 6.40 30.30 0.60 4.30 2.70 0.50 0.00
made with boiling water 250mL 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Tesco mixed frozen fruits 100g 40 0.90 7.90 7.90 2.00 0.20 0.00 0.00
Ground flaxseeds 10g 45 2.21 0.30 0.18 2.37 4.00 0.45 0.00
Black tea 450mL 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
10:00 Fresh ginger tea with a splash of lemon juice and 1 tsp honey 250mL 25 0.00 6.25 6.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
12:15 King Prawn stir fry with carrots, broccoli, peppers, onions, mushrooms, ginger and sweet chilli sauce 285g 157 20.91 21.25 11.36 3.32 1.01 0.44 0.00
topped with cashews 20g 116 3.64 5.38 1.18 0.66 8.78 1.56 0.00
Brown basmati rice 130g 150 3.75 30.83 0.51 1.44 1.23 0.29 0.00
Apple 121g 63 0.48 14.16 14.16 2.16 0.10 0.00 0.00
13:00 Green tea 250mL 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
15:00 Activia natural yoghurt 150g 96 7.50 9.90 9.90 0.00 2.90 2.00 0.00
Natures Path Mesa Sunrise cereal 50g 195 5.00 40.00 6.50 5.00 1.65 0.25 0.00
Sliced plums 97g 41 0.58 8.54 8.54 1.55 0.10 0.00 0.00
Sunflower seeds 5g 30 1.04 0.57 0.13 0.43 2.58 0.23 0.00
Pumpkin seeds 5g 30 1.51 0.54 0.07 0.30 2.46 0.44 0.00
Brazil nuts 5g 34 0.72 0.21 0.12 0.38 3.36 0.81 0.00
16:00 Gym session
17:30 MaxiNutrition Lean protein powder, chocolate 40g 140 20.00 13.00 12.00 0.00 0.90 0.30 0.00
in water 275mL 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Genius brown bread, two slices toasted 61g 153 1.53 27.45 1.46 6.10 4.03 0.31 0.00
Sunpat crunchy peanut butter 36g 219 8.93 5.22 2.41 2.63 17.53 3.31 0
Honey 11g 36 0.05 8.97 8.89 0.00 0.05 0.00 0.00
19:30 Pork loin steak, grilled, fat removed 80g 157 15.92 0.00 0.00 0.00 10.30 3.77 0.00
Steamed sweet potato 199g 178 2.20 38.60 16.80 4.20 0.60 0.20 0.00
Steamed broccoli 51g 20 2.15 1.60 0.95 1.25 0.30 0.10 0.00
Steamed cauliflower 100g 38 3.60 3.00 2.50 1.80 0.90 0.20 0.00
Gravy made with 10g Bisto Best pork gravy granules in 100mL boiling water about 75mL 25 0.43 5.00 0.17 0.06 0.35 0.04 0.00

 

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