Protein POWER!!!
Protein is a key macro-nutrient that is vital to your diet; even more important if you are an athlete or someone looking to diet or lose weight, or gain some mass.
When your exercise you break down muscle. Protein helps build this muscle back up, bigger and stronger than before; its because of this that protein is often seen as the most important part of an athletes diet for increasing muscle mass as well as increasing performance.
Protein Supplements are a vital part of any athletes daily diet and are forever becoming more advanced and readily available. They are also hugely popular amongst guys these days with the ‘Buff’ body becoming ever more sought after.
Whey Protein
Whey Protein to athletes is like grass to cows, you need it to survive! It is your key building block in a supplement stack which allows you to build muscle, and therefore increasing the potential for increased power. Whey Protein is a lot better that other types of proteins such as casein, soy and egg, as its absorption rate is much quicker. This is perfect for quickly rebuilding the muscle broken down during exercise.
There are 3 key times to take whey protein.
1.As soon as you wake up. Your body hasn’t had any protein during the night while you were asleep, and therefore there’s a good chance you have a negative nitrogen balance. Your nitrogen must be positive for your body to be in an anabolic state.
2.Between 30-60 minutes prior to you working out. This helps aid recovery during your work out.
3.Immediately after your work out. Up until roughly 2 hours after the workout your body is very sensitive to insulin, and therefore feeds all the protein into the muscles cells instead of fat cells.
Casein Protein
Micellar casein is a slow digesting protein powder which keeps feeding your muscles over several hours. Many bodybuilders take a casein protein supplement to ensure their muscles have this constant stream of ‘food’ for the muscles, helping their bodily nitrogen balance to remain positive; if your nitrogen balance is negative your body switches to a catabolic state, a state of ‘muscle-loss’, where your muscles are in need of more protein than what is available to them.
The key time to take casein protein is just before you go to bed. If you sleep like you should 8-10 hours, then its a long time for your body to go without any protein. Casein protein allows your muscles to have a constant supply of protein throughout the night, making sure that you keep your positive nitrogen balance, and therefore keeping in an anabolic state.
Final Tips
You should always look to consume between 1-1.5g of protein per pound of body-weight. This will ensure that you rebuild any muscle breakdown which occurs during the day.
Always look to consume between 20-30g of protein first thing when you wake up (whey protein), and last thing before you got to bed (casein protein)!
Try to consume a source of protein ever 2-3 hours. This keep the body’s nitrogen balance positive, and therefore in an anabolic stage. Its also better to eat smaller meals more often when trying to lose weight, as this minimizes fat storage and keeps your metabolic rate high; which is GREAT for FAT LOSS!
Hope you enjoyed and now know a little bit more than before!
Any requests on topics, contact me at daniel@healthandfitnesstips4you.com
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