What Are The Protein Recomendations For Strength Athletes, Bodybuilders And Weight Trainers?
Games Guy | February 2, 2012
The amount of protein needed by the body to build muscle is often hotly debated. Science often conflicts with the opinion of bodybuilders on exactly what is needed. This article looks at some different opinions about protein and protein supplements.
Protein is essential to the body. It helps the body produce enzymes and hormones, maintain hair and teeth, keep the immune system healthy and of course to build muscle. It is of course its role in building muscle that interests strength athletes and bodybuilders.
Let’s see what dieticians and medical professionals recommend in terms of the amount of protein we need. The current Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of protein is 0.79 grams of protein per kilogramme of bodyweight, which is 0.36 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. Additionally, they recommend that protein should make up roughly 30% of your daily requirement of calories. However, the experts tend to agree that strength and endurance athletes need more protein and variously list the required amount between 1.4 and 1.8 grams of protein per kilogramme of bodyweight (0.63-0.82 grams per pound of bodyweight per day).
The best way to get your RDA of protein is from food and protein can be found in foods such as meat, fish, eggs, cheese, milk, nuts, soy and some vegetables. However, many strength and endurance athletes – such as powerlifters and bodybuilders – will often supplement their protein intake with a protein powder such as 100% Gold Standard Whey.
Those who partake of activities such as powerlifting and bodybuilding in particular are known to take in large amounts of protein. In fact they will sometimes even consume as much as 4 grams per kilogramme of bodyweight, which is more than double what experts think strength and endurance athletes need and 5 times the recommended daily allowance for a ‘normal’ person. There is much debate as to whether such high amounts of protein are actually used by the body and most in the scientific community would probably say the body simply cannot use all that protein. However, many bodybuilders feel it makes a difference or at least makes certain they never risk being deficient in protein.
Consuming too much protein can certainly be dangerous, but it is very unlikely that you could consume ‘dangerous’ levels of protein providing you don’t have a pre-existing liver or kidney problem. Excess protein can increase your chances of getting kidney stones – even in an otherwise healthy person – and it can be converted to fat in the body if it isn’t used. At the very least it can leave you feeling bloated. Get the balance right – take a little more protein than the ‘recommended’ amounts if you feel you need it but don’t overdo it.
Often, bodybuilders will use a protein supplement just to make sure there’s no chance of being deficient in it and hindering the muscle-building process, but what sort of protein supplement do you need?
You will often see many different ways to categorise and classify protein powders (‘blends’, ‘concentrates’, ‘isolates’ etc.) and it can quickly become confusing. However, you will regularly find that protein supplements are classified by the product from which they are taken and some of the main ones are:
1. Whey protein, which is taken from cheese and is a fast-digesting protein.
2. Casein protein, which is taken from milk and is a slow-digesting protein, often used by those wishing to gain weight.
3. Soy protein, which is a fast-digesting protein.
4. Albumen protein, which is taken from egg-whites and is a fast-digesting protein.
If you are a bodybuilder, powerlifter or weight-trainer and just want to make sure you’re getting sufficient protein, a whey protein such as Gold Standard Whey is probably a good place to start. Whey protein is a popular choice with bodybuilders because it contains a lot of the amino acids required to build muscle. Once you advance you may try different proteins depending on what you’re trying to achieve and there are so many arguments as to what are the ‘best’ proteins to take – and when to take them – that all you can really do is find a supplement regime that suits you and stick to it.