In your nutritional plan you must have high protein content for a number of reasons. In the world of bodybuilding protein is King and is heavily relied upon. A lot of bodybuilders don’t manage to get enough protein down the hatch on a daily basis which can really hold you back. They also don’t know the difference between which sources are more desirable and why. Read on and brush up on your knowledge so you know what to put in your shopping basket!

            There are countless elite bodybuilders, both natural as well as enhanced who absolutely insist you must ingest at least 1.5g of protein per pound of bodyweight. Even more are now proclaiming that you can ingest up to 3-4g per pound of body weight, especially if you’re enhanced and are training seriously intensely! With all of this being said, I hear you asking ‘why do I need so much?’ Well, if you were to ingest the recommended amount of 1g of protein per kilo of body weight and you weight 100kg, then that’s just 100g of protein per day or Jay Cutler’s breakfast! Bearing in mind your body will assimilate about 30g of that 100g your left with a measly amount of muscle building bricks to make any progress. Are you beginning to catch on? So if our 100kg imaginary person ingested 1.5g of protein per pound of body weight, he would be taking in 330g of protein per day! Now we are talking, as you now have sufficient amounts to satisfy the everyday needs of your body whilst also having enough to pack on some serious mass. This amount will also allow your muscles to efficiently recover between workouts which in turn allow you to train harder as well as avoid injury! Now we are painting a picture which certainly justifies this level of protein consumption for a bodybuilder. This picture is coming out so well that we should carry on and discover more about protein, the nutrient us bodybuilders worship!

            Protein is loaded with amino acids which act as ‘building bricks’ for the protein which in turn improves the effect the protein has on us. These are absolutely essential to our muscle growth as well as muscle recovery. On this note this is the reason why it is vital to get in quality forms of protein opposed to inferior options. Quality of protein is judged by its bioavailability and its amino acid content. High quality sources include lean meats, eggs and whey protein. Therefore meats such as Chicken breast, Turkey breast, lean pork and of course lean mince beef and steak are excellent sources of protein. Fish such as Cod, Tilapia, Tuna and Salmon are also great. Finally, eggs are one of the highest quality sources of protein available. However, when choosing what protein to take in you must be sure you know what your looking for. For instance, lean beef steak contains more protein than Chicken or Turkey breast, but it also contains more saturated fat. Therefore Chicken or Turkey breast as well as the fish mentioned is a much better option to use for a number of meals in one day. Then you can look to use a lean source of beef once per day. Once a day is in fact great because the saturated fat in beef in fact helps maintain and elevate your natural testosterone levels which increase the rate of anabolism within you! This is the same case with eggs. They have approximately 9g of protein each, yet you don’t want more than two a day due to the bad cholesterol and saturated fat. However you can split them and eat as many egg whites as you want which contain around 3g of protein each.

            Now you have learnt exactly why you need so much protein and from what sources, you need to know the best way to go about getting it all in. It is best to divide your daily nutrition intake into between 6-10 small meals per day! So if you need to take in 330g of protein a day you simply divide this by the number of meals you can eat in a day. Smaller and frequent meals, every 2-3 hours is much better as it keeps your metabolism fast and maintains your anabolism whilst preventing catabolism.

            Protein supplementation is indeed very important and beneficial but only when your diet is even better. All a protein shake is is a means to get in additional protein alongside a quality nutritional programme. There are many varieties of protein supplements available, but that lesson is for another day. In short you need to workout how much protein your diet is giving you, how much you need using the above calculation and make up for it with protein shakes spread across the day.

            There is a brief yet helpful guide to protein, why you need so much, what it does for you and the best way to get it all in.

‘Knowledge is power’ Team KagedMuscle