A deep dive on protein and training.
Why do we eat protein in context to training – in summation:
We eat protein to trigger a Muscle Protein Synthesis reaction and to supply the materials it requires to last as long as possible and be as strong as possible. MPS can be triggered every 3-5 hours so we eat protein regularly to make the most of this. We also eat protein so there is a pool of resources for MPS to use that way it doesn’t end early before its work on our muscles are complete.
There is a lot there - let’s break this down
Our goals in the gym are
To increase lean body mass
Lean body mass is all tissue in the body except fat. Having more muscle and bone tissue acts as a ‘physical superannuation or physical savings account’ that we can draw from in times of trouble or aging. If we get injured, get sick and are stuck in a hospital bed, or need to fight off an infection your physical reserve can be called in to help you overcome this. Also, we are all involved in the greatest battle of all – aging – you do not want to be old and frail, a horrible way to end your days on earth.
2. To increase strength
We train in the gym to increase strength; strength is the most versatile physical attribute. It allows older people to catch themselves and stop a fall, allows a sprinter to be more explosive, it even changes the hormonal makeup of your body reducing inflammation and taking sugar out of the blood without requiring insulin. We get stronger by increasing our muscle mass and we increase our muscle mass by eating and training.
We all know why we train – that’s why we have a fantastic gym family that meets a few times a week – but why do we eat and why protein in particular?
We eat to Repair Recover Replenish
We eat to support our life and training, our bodies are made of protein: every organ, muscle, cell, enzyme, connective tissue is made up of protein.
In the context of training we eat protein to trigger the building and repairing of our muscles, we call this action ‘Muscle Protein Synthesis’ for brevity we’ll shorten it to MPS through this article.
Muscle Protein Synthesis is a naturally occurring process in which protein is built and used to repair muscle damage caused by intense training. This process can be triggered every 3-5 hours as long as certain criteria are met:
You need to have trained – training damages the muscles, MPS builds them back up stronger that’s the basic way to increase strength.
There must be enough of a particular amino acid called leucine in the blood, 3-5 grams covers it for most of the population.
So, in the context of training we eat to stimulate MPS which then builds our muscles, and for MPS to occur we need 3-5 grams of leucine – what is leucine and where to we get it from?
Leucine is an amino acid, amino acids are the building blocks of protein and there are 21 of them in total. Your body cannot make all of these amino acids and leucine is one of them. Leucine signals anabolic pathways in our body (tells the body to start building).
If we can’t make leucine we need to eat it, here is a graph showing the best foods in relation to leucine quality - we define leucine quality as the most leucine per calorie.
Now looking at some of the above figures you might say there is only 1 gram of difference between some of these proteins, how is that a big deal?? MPS is a threshold limited response, it is all or nothing! So, if you are .5 of a gram off of the trigger number then you do not get an MPS reaction and miss out on the potential of muscle repair and growth. Aiming for 3-5 grams ensures you always get an MPS reaction regardless of age and gender.
Also, as MPS needs to be triggered it shows the importance of eating a protein rich meal every 3-5 hours. Waiting for dinner to eat a big meaty meal is not optimal as you miss out on opportunities for muscle growth throughout the day.
The other thought here is not all of us are young and able to take in a ton of calories without turning into a fatty. So being able to get a maximum amount of leucine for as little wasted calories as possible is important. For example: 1 scoop of whey protein will give you 4 grams of leucine in 110 calories - to get the same amount of leucine from soy protein you need to eat 220 calories – 2 scoops and almost double the number of calories.
Now we know how to trigger muscle protein synthesis but how do we make sure it lasts as long as possible and doesn’t run out of the materials to build/repair our muscles? We said earlier that MPS is a process in which protein is built – so we need to eat the building blocks of protein!
Amino Acids the building blocks of protein
Protein is made up of 21 different Amino Acids, for our purposes we’ll split them into 2 categories
Complete Protein: A food that contains all 21 amino acids
Incomplete Protein: A food that does not contain all 21 amino acids
Complete Protein: Animal Based Proteins
The best source of protein is animal based (meat/dairy/eggs). Animal based proteins contain all 21 amino acids which ensures you will not run out of any of the required building blocks during MPS. Also, the protein in animal-based foods is far more dense meaning you need to eat a lot less of it to get enough protein.
Incomplete Protein: Plant Based Proteins
Plant based proteins by definition do not contain all of the amino acids. You have to mix and match different types of plants to obtain all 21 amino acids. Also, protein is very sparse in plant-based foods, you need to eat a lot more of it to get enough protein.
You want a good pool/reserve of protein in your system ready to supply an MPS reaction when you trigger it. We want this protein reserve to have all of the amino acids so we don’t run out of any of them, to do this we need to have a balanced diet of animal and plant-based foods.
Then how much protein do we need to eat in a day?
Answer = it depends.
If you were to put a gun to my head and give me 20 seconds to recommend a daily protein intake, I’d say just over 2.2 grams of protein for every kilogram you weigh - provided you are not morbidly obese. But it is a little more nuanced than this.
Some examples:
A carnivore can eat less protein than a vegan. A vegan needs to eat much more protein to make up for the very poor quality of protein available to them.
A female needs to eat more protein than a male (per kg of body weight) as females contain less testosterone than males which makes them less efficient at building muscle and utilising the protein for tissue growth.
Finally, an older person needs to eat more protein than a younger person. As you age you become ‘protein resistant’ so a male in their 20s can get away with less protein intake than say someone in their 50s.
In a nutshell
The more male you are, the younger you are and the less vegan you are = less required protein (per kg of bodyweight)
The more female you are, the older you are and the more vegan you are = more required protein (per kg of bodyweight)
So, for most carnivorous young men in the gym 220-240g of protein in a day spread over multiple meals will ensure you have enough to build/recover and repair. If you’re in your 40s bump it up to 240-250g and 60s+ 250-270g
Women vary much more in shapes and sizes than men, most young slight women need 120-140g of protein a day. If you’re a little more robust then aim for 130-150grams. Same thing goes for aging as the men, bump it up 10grams every decade or two to make sure you get enough protein in.
I really wish that nobody was a vegan, trying to stay healthy and strong on that diet is extremely hard and requires so much processed food. You’ll need to add another 50% to all of the above recommendations to get the required protein and will also need to see a dietician to coach you in mixing foods to get all of the amino acids, vitamins and minerals.
Thank you for sticking with me to this point, now to answer the most common questions we get on protein!
Q: “the internet told me you can only absorb 30g of protein in one meal”
A: That is completely untrue, in actual fact if you ate 100g of protein in one meal do you know how much you’d actually absorb? 110grams. The cells and gut bacteria in your intestines actually make more protein and absorb all of it so you’ll absorb more than you eat.
Q: “when I drink whey I get gassy/crampy, am I allergic to whey?”
A: Most likely not. When you start eating or drinking more protein the first thing people notice is that they get gassy and it passes after the first couple of weeks. The reason for this is you have just changed your diet (for the better) and your gut bacteria are not adept at breaking down all of this new protein – yet. They do adapt and some of that adaption is the methane that they produce but it will pass. Some people are allergic to dairy proteins, if this is the case egg protein powder is the next best bet.
Q: “so if eating 250g of protein is good then surely eating 500g is better!”
A: Nope. Your body only needs so much protein for repairing/building/replenishing once it has done this it won’t use protein for this anymore it’ll likely convert it in the liver through neoglucogenesis into sugar. Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing but anyone who has done grocery shopping knows that protein is the most expensive macronutrient to buy, so you might as well get that sugar from fruit and fun foods!
Q: “what about keto?”
A: A ketogenic diet is not optimal for the building of muscle. It is a very low carb/medium protein/high fat diet. The problem here is you cannot eat much protein as there are almost no carbs in your system – your brain in particular realllllly likes to run off of carbohydrates and will process protein into sugar to get its carb hit if it sees enough of it.
Q: “does it matter when I eat protein – like after or before a session?”
A: What matters more is when you eat protein in relation to your last protein rich meal. If it has been 3-5 hours since you last ate and it just happens to be after a workout then by all means guzzle that protein shake. Another thing that comes up is the whole ‘anabolic window’ that you get after a session where you need to eat protein quickly to make use of this window of opportunity. There is a time period where you are more sensitive to protein after training (remember one of the triggers for MPS is you must be training) but this window lasts for 48hours or more if you train well! So if you train multiple times through the week you can eat protein any time.
Q: “what is the best protein powder”
A: Whey Protein Isolate – it has all 21 amino acids and a high dose of the essential amino acids. It is very low fat and has very little lactose so it is good on most tummies. It also has the most leucine in it for all protein sources. It has been shown to help weight loss too!
Q: “I just ate a 300g steak – does that mean I ate 300g of protein?”
A: Protein foods also contain water/fats/carbs, so for example your 300g steak likely had around 75g of protein. Use nutrition labels or a nutrition app like ‘My Fitness Pal’ for a couple of weeks to help you get used to how much protein is inside food.