Article on Protein

Here is a good article I found about protein and thought I'd share it. It's entitled Protein and Young Athletes, but this doesn't just apply to young athletes. In large part it applies to anyone who is doing strength training and doesn't want to lose any muscle. Enjoy!

Protein and Young Athletes

By Joe Wells, Founder and CEO of Max Muscle

"Protein seems to be a hot topic these days. It does warrant the interest it generates as protein is a vital component in building lean muscle mass. I know you can accomplish great things naturally and protein is a vital factor in accomplishing that.

In this day and age everyone is looking for the quick fix, the magic pill. So what is that magic formula? It's not magic at all. In fact it is very basic and most sports nutrition experts will agree, protein is the key factor in getting results from intense training. When we ingest protein, we elevate the nitrogen balance in our bloodstream. Elevated nitrogen puts your body in an optimal state for building and repairing muscle tissue. In fact with a low/no level of nitrogen in your blood, you will begin to deteriorate lean muscle mass. That's not good!

So I am sure you are asking yourself, exactly how do I elevate my nitrogen balance by eating protein? It comes down to how much protein you eat and when. When you eat protein your nitrogen balance elevates for about 3 to 4 hours. Then it falls off and waits for you to eat more protein. If you only eat protein one time per day, your nitrogen balance will be negative for most of the day. We want it to be positive, so we need to eat protein every four hours or so. A good rule is to eat about .8 grams of protein per pound of body weight. If you weigh 150 pounds, then shoot for 120g of protein per day. Divide that into four or five protein meals a day.

Here is an example of my daily protein intake to maintain positive nitrogen balance. I weigh 240 pounds, and I shoot for 30g to 40g of protein per meal. My range of protein per day is 150 to 200g and that works great for me.

My typical day consists of five servings of protein, anywhere from 30g to 40g per serving. It's OK to fall off the program from time to time. You may miss a meal or only get 20g instead of your goal of 30g. Just keep it as consistent as you can and get back on track ASAP. What you don't want to do is miss protein all day, then eat one protein meal for dinner. It is very difficult and expensive to get all your protein from chicken, fish or meat. Protein supplements have less salt, cholesterol, fat and are very easy and convenient to use.

Get out your calculator and follow this simple equation. Let's say you weigh 150 pounds. Here is the calculation: .8 x 150 (your weight) = 120 grams per day. Now divide that into four or five meals per day spaced four to five hours apart and you are on your way to a higher nitrogen balance, leading to RESULTS!"