+ 10 Are you wasting your protein?
I decided to write this post based on a discussion I had with a couple of kids at the gym today. They were telling me about their diets and all the protein they were eating, but they were complaining that they really weren't getting any bigger. I am probably preaching to the choir here, but this in a nutshell is what I was trying to explain to them.
When you are trying to build mass, the amount of calories you consume is just as important as the amount of protein you are eating. If you are trying to build mass and you are not eating enough total calories above your BMR every day, you ARE wasting the protein that you eat. How is this so? The body needs fuel and if you are not eating enough, part of that fuel is coming from the protein you are eating. You need to eat a surplus of carbs (and fat) to fuel your body so that you are allowing the protein that you eat to do its job. Protein's main job is to pack on the mass by building and repairing your muscle tissue. If that protein is having to be used as fuel, it is leaving your body with less net protein to build muscle. So if you are trying to bulk, eat those carbs and fats also so you are not wasting your protein.
Now, how many calories you actually need to eat to spare that protein is for another discussion!
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It is also important to note that carbs are needed to gain muscle. Protein must be present but carbs are required to make that protein useful.
yes, i think so. My current diet leans more towards carbs than proteins.
Ive been raising my protein up recently and have been making great gains. Currently my carbs and protein are matched gram for gram (400-400)
I never thought of this before, I've always been so focused on protein consumption, I'd be interested in finding a list of high calorie foods that can be helpful
Great post. I used to be pretty overweight and was scared to death of carbs and fat. As soon as I got that balance right my growth took off
I'm still scared to overeat, as i was once upon a time an obese young boy with a greasy face. This year I pushed it a little and will push a little more through march or so just to see how fat I get eating in a 300 to 500 calorie surplus with a ton of carbs. I put on 15 lbs from 170 in the photo running just T in moderate doses. I still have 3 months to go and my BF hasn't really gone past 20% hoping to hit 190 this winter.
Muscle tissue can also be built on ketogenic diets (< 25 g / day of carbs) with adequate protein and fats. The body will alter its metabolism from glycolysis (carb metabolism) to ketosis (fat metabolism). The process takes about 30 days. This is a widely used BB cut diet. Your energy will skyrocket on this diet as the body uses dietary fat (in the form of ketones) and adipose tissue for energy. So, u don't need carbs at all to spare protien. BUT, you must have the fats. What u want to avoid, is a caloric deficit so severe that as the OP suggested that you slip into gluconeogenesis where the body creates glucose from protein. Of, course, an appropriate AAS course is used not only to assure some recomp but to make sure the body does not slip into any catabolic state.
So maybe these guys I see in here in their stats page or posting about a cycle talk about they are 210 pounds and take in 400 grams of protein a day, very few carbs and almost zero fat. I'm like WTF???
I agree, the balance of carb, fat, and protein is essential, but the ratio between the 3 can be different according to the goal
Nice! I just upped my white carb intake to up my weight (Eq is kicking!) :))
Once again - YOU CAN GET MONSTER (AND BETTER) RESULTS FROM MANIPULATING YOUR DIET THAN TRYING TO RUN A SUPER STACK!
RustyhookerVery true sir! Protein sparing
Instead of my long winded response to them i should have just said that eating enough carbs and fats is protein sparing.
lol
Sometimes I'm to technical. Oh well, I think I got my point across to them anyway since they weren't giving me that blank stare.
RustyhookerIf they're eager they definitly will sponge up the info. I'm sure that more questions will arise.