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Protein for gaining muscle: There’s more to it than just hitting a daily target

How to get every last drop of benefit from your strength training



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Contents


1. Overview

2. Protein and hypertrophy

3. Starting point

4. Protein

5. Steps to sweet gains

6. References






The gist

  1. Muscle synthesis and muscle breakdown are ALWAYS occurring. However, in order to gain muscle, synthesis rates need to be greater than breakdown rates.

  2. If you are not active and not eating enough protein you will be in a state of muscle loss.

  3. Add in exercise (particularly resistance exercise) and you will preserve more muscle, but will not gain if you are not eating enough protein.

  4. Consuming dietary protein plus resistance training will lead to the largest step up in your ability to gain muscle, but this is not the only step you can take.

  5. Having a total of 4 to 6 meals and snacks per day allows you to spike muscle gains more often. Constant munching/grazing or 1 to 2 larger meals is less optimal for muscle gains.

  6. Spreading out your protein intake evenly into 0.3g/kg body weight at meals and snacks will enhance your rates of muscle gain.

  7. Choosing high quality protein frequently is the cherry on top to achieve the highest spikes in muscle gain at a time.

  8. MAXimizing gainz = properly periodized resistance training + eating enough protein + 4-6 feedings per day + 0.3 g protein/kg body weight per feeding + high quality protein sources.


Found yourself wanting more from your workouts? Do you want every rep to count and not be wasted by your food choices?

There’s no doubt that hard work and consistent training are essential for gaining muscle and strength. But how can you get the MOST out of your training by what you do away from the gym? In this article we are going to talk about your daily dietary protein and squeezing out every last drop of muscle gains from your workouts.




Protein and hypertrophy 101


Let’s start with a lesson on some of the basics of protein metabolism. There are 2 processes affecting whether you are in a net gain or loss of muscle: muscle protein breakdown and muscle protein synthesis. Muscle protein breakdown breaks down (go figure) and removes proteins from your muscle. Muscle protein synthesis builds and adds protein to your muscle.