Proteins are an important part of your bodybuilding and fitness toolbox, the difference between taking baby steps in your bodybuilding career and taking giant leaps.
Before making proteins the main ingredient of your bodybuilding diet, it’s good to go through the following handy tips on using proteins in various situations.
Using these simple rules in your action plan will help you grow while also preserving as much mass as possible during dieting.
Rely on Proteins for Muscle Building
Alright, that’s a pretty simple one. Your protein intake and your total calorie intake determine whether you grow (anabolic) or not. If you eat a lot of calories, carbohydrates, and fat without getting enough protein, forget about muscle growth. That’s one of the main reasons for protein supplements, because getting enough protein through your diet can be a challenge.
Minimum Amount of Proteins
You should eat at least 1.1 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day (this is converted from US measurements). A bodybuilder weighing 100 kg should consume at least 220 grams of protein per day.
Keep an Eye on Maximum Protein Rules
This tip applies to hardgainers, people who struggle to gain weight, with a fast metabolism. If you are blessed or cursed with a metabolism that forces you to use proteins as fuel, then increase your daily intake to about 1.7 to 2 grams per pound of body weight.
In this case, the 100 kg bodybuilder would consume between 350 and 400 grams of protein per day.
Also Eat Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are not the total curse for bodybuilders aiming to gain mass. Eat 2.2 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight per day, unless you are strictly dieting. This ensures sufficient carbohydrate reserves for your body to use for energy, without tapping into the protein reserves needed for muscle building.
Eat More Proteins When Dieting
If you want to lose as much fat as possible, you need to reduce your carbohydrates and/or fats. This double blow forces your body to burn more proteins to get energy, putting your muscle tissue at risk.
Bodybuilders and dieters in fitness should increase their protein intake to between 1.7 and 2 grams per pound of body weight to compensate for the lower carbohydrate intake.
Count the Grams of Protein
When calculating the number of grams of protein, make sure to count only complete sources of protein, such as meat, fish, and eggs. Do not count the proteins in rice, bread, and other grains.
Forget the Recommended Daily Amount for Proteins
The recommended daily amount does not work for bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts. Also, studies recommending 0.8 grams per pound of body weight should be ignored. Such figures are usually calculated by trials with students – recreational bodybuilders – and are much lower than the required amounts for hardcore bodybuilders.
Use Protein Powders
Use protein powder containing fast-acting whey protein and slower-acting casein. Whey primarily promotes the creation of new proteins in the muscles, but does so only briefly. Casein, on the other hand, limits breakdown and does so for hours.
Keep It Simple
Making the subject of bodybuilding nutrition more complicated than necessary is nonsense. These are the simple rules if you want to gain muscle mass:
- at least 1.1 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day, with a maximum of 1.7 to 2 grams for those with a fast metabolism or those who are dieting strictly
- consume at least 2 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight per day
- if your body weight isn’t increasing, add more carbohydrates
That’s it! No magical rules for building muscle mass. Instead, manipulating your intake of proteins and other nutrients provides enough weapons in the battle for mass.
