Food for Thoughts ... Proteins for the muscles ...

Weight in today  ... 

158#

16.9 % BF

BMI 26.1

Holding constant weight and dropping some body fat yeah !  So that tells me muscle mass might have increased as well which is great since my goal has been not to loose any muscle as my long distance runs lengthen ... I figure if there was any the muscle gain is in my legs, but since I don’t keep track of body measurements I can’t say for sure.  Also I can’t say that some areas of my body have not lost muscle while other gained.

With that in mind I am at my daughter soccer’s practice reading about protein intake on Active.com article.  My recovery nutrition include usually a banana, sometimes an apple within 20 minutes of completing my training to replenish my energy stores and nutrients lost through exercise and perspiration.  I’ll shoot to have a protein supplement within 45 minutes of completing my training to provide proteins easily digestible for the body.  I tried the whey time released powders and I find those powder too light and I have not felt they work so I take the heavier protein shakes.

That said in this article the recommendation for athletes is:

1.2 to 1.4 g/kg of body weight per day for endurance athletes.

1.6 to 1.7 g/kg of body weight per day for resistance and strength-trained athletes.

What striked me is the statement that “these recommended protein intakes can generally be through diet alone, without the use of protein or amino acid supplements, if energy intake is adequate to maintain body weight.”  Anyone that has ever trained with a gym trainer will probably tell you the first thing you are told is when you begin these consumer training programs is you need to supplement your diet with all these products because you either “can not” meet your protein demand through diet alone or can’t meet it quick enough.  For me it is the later as I am rarely able to get a full meal within 45 minutes of exercising ...

Out of curiosity I calculated my recommended portion ... 158# * 1kg / 2# * 1.5 g protein / kg weight = 118.5 g proteins.

The article continue by suggesting that since the anabolic boost is transient  (I summarize and paraphrase here as the article goes in length), ingesting small doses of amino acids spread over the anabolic boost that follows exercise may be more effective than ingesting one large dose (say like a protein shake or a large meal).   The article also suggest that ingesting larger doses to further muscle growth may be just as ineffective.

The article also suggest the addition of carbohydrates does not further muscle growth but does sustain muscle recovery after a workout by replenishing muscle glycogen which is the main energy source.  I have been mixing powder carbohydrates with my protein shakes for a couple of months and I feel that my muscles are less sore and I feel more energy when I work out or run so I would second that opinion based on my experience.

The article concludes that “after a hard workout, athletes should consume a recovery beverage or snack that contains  small amount of high quality proteins with adequate carbohydrate” first to stimulate muscle repair (the small amount of high quality protein) and replenish the muscle glycogen (the carbs).  The food suggested includes sports nutrition shake as well as other foods such as ... “milk, small sandwich or energy bar with at least 10 grams of proteins” ... 

So my takeaway from this article?  Is that after workout shake THAT essential to muscle repair/growth when, according to this article, other solid foods could be substituted for an expensive nutritional shake ... I am really interested in considering an alternative to the shakes now ... Just another snack for the day ...