Sports nutrition for suckers! How to take protein to grow muscles.
You will need
- Dietary guide, pen, notebook or text editor on a computer, calculator, kitchen scale.
Instructions
The first thing you need to do is find out how many calories you need to consume per day to gain weight. muscle mass. To do this, multiply your weight by 40, the resulting figure will be the required number of calories consumed. That is, if body weight is 70 kg, then multiplying it by 40, we get 2800 kcal. Now, knowing the required calorie intake, we can calculate how much protein, fat and carbohydrates we need to consume. About 25-30% of calories should come from protein, 55-60% carbohydrates and 15-20% fat. For example, take the following ratio: 25/55/20. With this ratio, we get that protein, carbohydrates and fats will account for 700, 1540 and 560 kcal. Knowing that 1g of protein and carbohydrates is equal to 4 kcal, and 1g of fat is 9 kcal, we continue our calculations:
700: 4 = 175g protein;
1540: 4 = 385g carbohydrates;
560:9 = 62g fat.
Now it’s time to select the necessary food products and their quantities. This may seem like a complicated process at first, but it really isn't. All that is needed at this stage is a nutritional guide, kitchen scales (you can do without them, since almost all products in stores are already packaged by weight) and a notebook with a pen for notes. In order for the transition to the necessary diet to be easy and not cause discomfort, it is better to carry it out gradually, for example, over a week or two. Choose a few days during which you write down everything you eat, and closer to bedtime, calculate the calorie content of food consumed and the amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates according to the scheme described above. This simple task will help you understand what changes should be made to your diet.
It's worth remembering that not all proteins and carbohydrates are the same. For breakfast and dinner, it is better to choose foods that will provide the body with nutrients for a long time. The source of such carbohydrates are various cereals and flour products, and proteins are meat, cottage cheese, and poultry. After training, to quickly replenish the body's energy resources, it is better to choose so-called fast carbohydrates and easily digestible proteins. The source of the former will be all kinds of sweets and fruits, and the latter - fish, eggs.
It is also worth remembering that during the period of weight gain you need to drink a sufficient amount of water (at least two liters per day). And completely eliminate the use of alcohol, which removes water from the cells, making them weak, which reduces the volume and strength of the muscles.
note
If following the topic given in this article you do not get the desired result (for example, you have gained practically no weight in a month), then increase your calorie intake by 200-300 kcal and monitor the changes. If the result remains the same, then most likely you need to look for a problem in the training program. For most, the limit is three workouts per week, and for some, two are enough. If the problem was overload, then before switching to a new training regimen, you should take at least a ten-day break from the gym.
In any fitness magazine you can see an athlete who has a pumped up figure and calls for buying sports nutrition. And those who track the lives of competitive bodybuilders in in social networks, observe how they use special supplements almost every day. Because of this, amateurs have the impression that sports nutrition is an integral attribute of the gym and it is impossible to build muscles without it. But is this really so? Is it possible to get pumped up without sports nutrition? Let's figure out who needs sports nutrition and why.
First of all, you should decide on your goals. What do you want to get from working out at the gym? If the ultimate goal is to go on stage, win cups and medals, demonstrate your peak form, then here you need to connect aids to the maximum. Therefore, professional athletes cannot do without sports nutrition, especially when the diet becomes limited and the body needs additional support.
However, not everyone is going to go on stage, but simply want to have a beautiful, pumped up body. In this case, you can build up without sports nutrition, but you must understand that then you will have to more carefully control your diet. The lack of supplements does not limit the improvement of your body in any way - it is only a tool for achieving your goal. Just look at the muscular, athletic bodies of the Greek “gods”; they got by with just training and proper nutrition, no one knew about any supplements yet.
Why sports nutrition is in high demand
To answer this question, it is worth analyzing in more detail the principle of growth and development of muscle tissue. Strength and regular training is half the battle; the main progress occurs during rest, namely during sleep and eating.
The task of any athlete is to provide high-quality and. To do this, you need to include natural sources of protein, complex and simple carbohydrates, as well as unsaturated fats in your diet. In addition, it is important to meet your daily calorie intake. However, in the modern rhythm of life, not everyone manages to eat on time and prepare healthy food every day.
To make the diet as healthy as possible and simplify the cooking process, sports nutrition has appeared on the market. Agree, it is much more convenient to drink protein after a workout or sometimes have a snack at work with a diluted gainer than to constantly carry containers of food with you.
For example, one serving contains from 25 to 40 grams of protein, which is equivalent to 150-200 grams chicken fillet. But in the absence of sports nutrition, protein can be successfully replaced with the same chicken, fish or any protein product. The only advantage is that supplements allow you to diversify your diet and quickly supply your muscles with protein, while it will take longer to digest regular food.
In addition to protein, there are many more supplements that solve other problems and help you pump up:
- fat burning
- fast recovery
- improvement of metabolism
- anti-catabolic effect
- increase in strength and performance during training
Many athletes, especially with glutamine and BCAAs, noted faster recovery of the body after training and a decrease in pain. Also, taking some special supplements increases the athlete’s concentration, increases blood flow to the muscle being worked out, and therefore allows achieving best result. All types of fitness supplements are used for a specific purpose, and there is no point in taking them all at once.
Often, newcomers, when they come to the gym, load up on sports nutrition and frantically consume everything, forgetting about the main thing - the correct conscious technique, a competent attitude and high-quality natural nutrition. At the beginning of fitness training, you can completely abandon the use of sports nutrition and concentrate on hard work.
Only when you begin to feel the work of each target muscle, work it out thoughtfully, understand the terminology of sports nutrition and want to help your body, can you purchase the necessary supplements in accordance with your goals and objectives.
Expensive or profitable
When faced with the dilemma of buying sports nutrition, we must not forget about the material component. Still, the issue of finance is important for any person. For example, buying standard set for a month, consisting of two types of protein - whey and casein, BCAAs, creatine, vitamin complex and energy workers famous brands will cost 10-15 thousand rubles. But if you think about it, natural sources of protein are also not cheap - beef, red fish, nuts, cottage cheese, seafood.
In the absence of sports nutrition, you need to take a more careful approach to preparing your diet and buy, including expensive ones. According to the most average estimates, the cost of a quality diet for an athlete of average build starts at 10 thousand rubles. Purchasing certain types of sports nutrition will slightly reduce these costs, since by taking supplements you can slightly reduce your consumption of regular food. So buying sports supplements within reason shouldn't put a big dent in your budget.
Remember that the fitness industry is a business, and the lion's share of earnings in it comes from the sale of sports nutrition, so do not become a weak-willed consumer, but buy something that meets the goals of your training program and financial capabilities.
For many people, training in the gym is associated with the use of various types of sports supplements. One of the most popular supplements today is protein. Because of this perception, people often mistakenly believe that without such a supplement to their diet, it is almost impossible to build muscle mass.
This opinion is also formed by the majority due to the active PR of protein, protein-carbohydrate mixtures on various Internet resources, popular channels on YouTube, and so on. In today's article, we will look at this topic in detail and tell you how to build muscle mass without using it, and we will also tell you whether it is necessary to add protein mixtures to your diet.
The fact is that due to the active PR of the company, sports supplements are too overrated among the people. In reality, such nutrition is only a common addition to the athlete’s main diet and its use is completely optional.
A properly selected training program is of great importance. Very often, athletes do not plan their plan correctly, as a result of which they train for many months without noticeable progress. In order to correctly compose the program, read. But still, nutrition plays a key role in achieving your goal. If you want to build muscle, you need to carefully plan your daily diet and stick to the regimen.
In words everything is quite simple, but in reality everything is much more complicated. As you know, in order to effectively start gaining weight, you must necessarily increase the calorie content of your diet by at least one and a half times. That is, if a normal, healthy man needs to consume approximately 2000 kcal per day, then for an athlete who leads an active lifestyle, lifts iron, tears his muscle fibers, it is necessary to consume approximately 2700 kcal per day. The numbers, of course, are approximate, it all depends on many factors, for example, what body type you have and the like, but I think you understand the principle itself. By the way, in order to accurately calculate how many kcal you need to gain weight, I advise you to use it here.
So that's why I'm saying all this. In our everyday life, it is not so easy to get enough calories to support the recovery processes in our body. In the life of any person there are factors such as work, study, family, which often do not allow compliance with the regime. A person eats poorly and is exposed to various stressful situations, which lead to catabolism, that is, the destruction of muscle tissue. Let's add all these factors together and, as a result, we get a regression in muscle mass gain. That is, a person will simply either mark time, or will generally lose weight.
It is in such situations that a sports supplement such as protein will come in very handy. In fact, in order to maintain the calorie content of your daily diet, you need, in addition to food, to consume protein, which is very convenient to use. All you need to do is take protein powder and water with you (you can mix the protein with kefir, milk, etc.). At any convenient moment, take out everything you need, pour in protein, mix with water and drink, here you have one serving of protein that will help in the fight against catabolism. Here, of course, a food supplement is very useful, as we have already said before, due to many factors, a person does not always have the opportunity to eat fully and get a sufficient amount of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. All this is very good, but many people forget that this is only an addition to the main food. You can’t just drink protein and other sports supplements around the clock and hope for a positive result. Protein does not contain those vitamins, macronutrients and other useful substances, which we need not only for building muscle, but also for normal existence, normal digestion, and ensuring the functioning of many, many processes in our body.
RICH PIANA ABOUT SPORTS SUPPLEMENTS
Quite a lot of athletes advertise sports supplements, but in reality, many of them are limited to advertising. In fact, professional bodybuilders practically do not use sports supplements in the off-season or during preparation for competitions. Here's what a famous bodybuilder, owner of a sports supplement company, says ( pay attention to this) Rich Piana:
You can build muscle mass without problems without using proteins, even if you take into account various factors such as work, study, and so on. Now we will examine this topic in more detail.
HOW TO PUMP UP MUSCLES WITHOUT PROTEIN?
After the above, I think you understand that various nutritional supplements like protein do not play any role in achieving results. To gain lean muscle mass, it is enough to adhere to a diet, train intensively and sleep a lot. Let's talk about this and much more in more detail.
First, let's touch on the topic of nutrition. This is perhaps one of the most important factors in the offseason. More than one article has already been written on this topic; to read them, I recommend going to the section.
First of all, you need to take care to correctly plan your daily diet so that you receive the right amount of nutrients for recovery and growth per day. In the off-season, you need to pay special attention to proteins and carbohydrates. As for proteins, you should consume approximately 2-3 grams per 1 kilogram of your weight. You need an order of magnitude more carbohydrates when gaining weight, approximately 6-7 grams per 1 kilogram of an athlete’s weight. So do the math. Let's say a person who wants to build muscle weighs about 75 kilograms. Then he needs to consume approximately 75x2 = 150 grams of protein per day, and 75x7 = 525 grams of carbohydrates per day. Based on this calculation, we move on to compiling your daily diet.
You need to eat about 6-7 times a day. From these numbers we calculate how much protein and carbohydrates should be in one meal. What it looks like: 150/6=25 grams of protein per serving your body should receive; 525/6=87.5 grams of carbohydrates per serving. These are approximate numbers and I am putting them in so that you can then use a ready-made example to correctly calculate your daily diet.
The challenge now is to plan each meal correctly. It should be complete no matter whether it is breakfast or dinner. To calculate everything correctly, I recommend that you use. There you can choose a menu, calculate the calorie content of your diet and, according to the diagram provided above, calculate the correct amount of proteins and carbohydrates.
In addition to the nutrients listed above, you must not forget about fats, which are also necessary when gaining weight. Their concentration in the daily diet should not exceed a percentage of 10-20%. Do not limit yourself too much in the consumption of this natural organic compound. Eat more fatty fish, as they contain a large number of useful Omega-3 acid, which is very important for muscle growth, athlete and maintenance of other vital processes in the body.
Remember, the whole point of gaining mass is that you begin to grow only when your body receives more nutrients, more calories, than you burn in a day.
We looked at the standard rules that absolutely any person who wants to build muscle must adhere to. Now, as for proteins. Without the use of sports supplements, you can also grow without problems. You just need to correctly plan your daily routine and prepare everything you need. We recommend purchasing special food containers where you can put all the necessary products to eat and replenish nutrients.
CONCLUSIONS
Plan your day. Even if you don't have time, you work. Every enterprise or company has a specially designated time for employees when they can have a snack in peace. Take advantage of this. Behind educational establishments I’m generally silent, because there’s a break every hour and a half, so you can calmly go out and eat.
1 sharesIt is a high molecular weight organic substance. Amino acids linked together in a chain by a peptide bond form. In living organisms, the genetic code determines the amino acid composition of the protein. There are 20 basic amino acids that are most often used in synthesis. The variety of their combinations forms a large number of properties of protein molecules. Contained in protein, amino acids play the role of building material for the muscles of the body.
To build muscle tissue, the body needs a sufficient amount of amino acids and energy, because during training their costs increase significantly. There is a stereotypical opinion that we get all the necessary substances and microelements in the process of eating and additionally consuming any dietary supplements is very harmful to health. It is necessary to understand that with increasing loads, the body may not have enough daily foods.
Let's summarize the above material:
1. Athletes need to eat more;
2. The main part of an athlete’s diet should be protein-rich foods (meat, poultry, seafood, protein powder etc.).
The main task remains to increase the percentage of protein in the total amount of food consumed, because increasing the calorie content of the diet is not so difficult. Unfortunately, both plant and animal products enriched with protein are not completely absorbed by the body. The cooking process, in turn, also takes away some of the protein from the food. Thus, from a kilogram of boiled meat, the body will receive about 100 grams of protein.
Another very important nuance: each type of protein has its own absorption rate. Whey protein has the fastest absorption process (from 20 to 60 minutes). A little inferior to him milk protein, which takes 5-8 hours to absorb.
After each, it is urgent to replenish amino acid reserves, so as not to cause their shortage in the body, it is best suited for this Whey Protein. It will restore the balance of amino acids in the shortest possible time. The priority point in the use of dietary supplements should be compliance with the rules for taking them; failure to comply with them can lead to a decrease in effectiveness. With proper use of protein, the result will not take long to arrive.
Time Designated for Taking Protein Supplements
It is very important to observe and strictly adhere to all the basic rules that are associated with protein intake. So, it is best to do this immediately after your next workout. According to experts, this promotes protein synthesis, including stimulation of the athlete’s muscle mass. In this case, you can use ordinary whey protein, since it has the property of rapid absorption, as a result of which beneficial amino acids immediately enter tissues and cells.
If you try to determine a gradation that would divide all protein intakes according to the so-called degree of importance, then second on this list would definitely be taking protein before certain physical activities or on the eve of a workout.
This is primarily due to the fact that this drug will create a certain anabolic effect. Taking protein before and after training can be called the most important procedure; in terms of its importance, it surpasses even the process of observing the daily norm (meaning taking protein).
In third place of honor are special supplements that must be taken in the morning. They significantly contribute to the removal of muscles from the so-called catabolic state in which they are after sleep. In order to completely block this sensation, you need to regularly take special whey protein mixtures.
Some features of protein intake
Before each workout and after its completion, you need to take a mixture consisting of casein and whey protein. Together, these two drugs give a very strong anabolic effect. In this case, it is imperative to avoid pure concentrates. The permitted components also include hydrolyzate and special protein isolate.
Protein Dosing
Before each workout, you need to take twenty grams of protein, and after it ends, the amount of the drug needs to be doubled to forty grams. According to the same scheme, protein should be taken in the morning.
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Building Muscle with Protein
According to numerous experts, if you can call them that, a bodybuilding athlete’s need for protein is no greater than that of ordinary person. Based on the results of the last two studies, which examined the effect of protein on muscle growth, it was proven that the type of protein and the timing of its intake are important.
The duration of the first experiment was fourteen weeks, during which scientists carried out comparative analysis effects of protein on the athlete before and after training. Twenty-two male subjects under the age of twenty-three who had not exercised in the past six months were recruited for the study. During the experiment, participants were not allowed to take nutritional supplements that have an anabolic effect, such as protein shakes.
The participants were divided into 2 groups, one of which received protein and the other carbohydrates.
Composition of a protein serving: casein - 2.8g; whey protein - 16.6 g; egg white - 2.8 g; L-glutamine -2.8 g.
Composition of a serving of carbohydrates: maltodextrin - 25g,
Both servings had the same calorie content and taste. The subjects' task was to take one dose of these cocktails before and after training. And in the morning, if there was no training.
In the experiment, participants only trained their legs using standard exercises, such as leg presses, leg extensions, and leg curls. The training regimen is strict - three times a week, three to four sets for each exercise.
The results of the study showed that the group that took the protein experienced significant increases in muscle mass and strength. Namely, the size of type I fibers, that is, slow twitch, increased by 18%, and type II fibers, fast twitch, increased by 26%. In turn, in the group taking carbohydrates, with identical training programs, no increase was observed in any indicator.
For what purpose was it carried out? this study? Numerous studies show that consuming carbohydrates after training significantly suppresses the production of cortisol, which is an adrenal catabolic hormone. As a result of physical activity, its level increases. When cortisol production is suppressed, the balance shifts towards muscle mass growth. Carbohydrates, in turn, promote the production of insulin, which delivers amino acids to the muscles. To increase muscle mass, amino acids must be in sufficient quantities. Research results have shown that only in the presence of protein do carbohydrates promote muscle growth.
A second study was conducted to compare the effects on muscle growth in young men. milk protein And soy protein. According to many experts, soy protein is slow. And in terms of speed of digestibility, it is not inferior to whey protein. They differ in that whey protein quickly adsorbs, supporting synthesis muscle protein. In turn, soy is broken down in the liver, supporting liver protein synthesis.
The results of the study showed that as whey protein intake increases, its effectiveness decreases due to increased oxidation in the liver. At the same time, the effectiveness of soybeans decreases much more. According to scientists, if you take protein in larger quantities than the muscles need, then its excess is oxidized in the liver.
According to scientists studying protein metabolism: increased consumption it leads to a negative nitrogen balance due to the fact that there is increased oxidation of protein in the liver. This happens if you sharply limit protein intake for people, like bodybuilders, who are accustomed to consuming protein in excess. In these cases, the body gets used to protein oxidation, which leads, if its consumption decreases, to an increase in the breakdown of its own protein, which can lead to a decrease in muscle mass. This theory has not been fully studied and this moment has no clear evidence.
Let's consider another way of converting protein that enters the body in excess. This is turning it into fat. It should be noted that this does not occur in people actively involved in sports. Experts on this issue are unanimous and believe that if you consume excess protein, you become overweight. This, of course, is undeniable if you have low physical activity, which is limited to pressing buttons on the TV remote control.
Based on the above research, it can be concluded that when taking milk protein, amino acids are significantly absorbed, which cannot be said about soy protein. Naturally, we can conclude that milk protein is most effective for muscle growth compared to soy protein. Soy, in turn, does not participate in anabolic processes; it only takes part in the synthesis of protein in internal organs, and not in skeletal muscles.
In the gym I saw a lot of novice athletes who basically did not take sports nutrition, and in particular protein, preferring to exercise, in their opinion, “purely” and without using any sports supplements. For experienced athletes and people knowledgeable about muscle growth, training and nutrition, this approach seems obviously flawed and based only on the lack of knowledge and experience of those who practice it. Meanwhile, today we will look at the question of whether it is possible to build up muscles without using sports nutrition based on?
Why does an athlete need additional protein intake?
Our body is designed in such a way that only heavy, intense training has a stimulating effect on muscle growth. They are the ones who force the body to engage in adaptive reactions, one of which is an increase in muscle mass. After all, what larger size muscles, the more adapted the body is to regular strength load.
Meanwhile, the process of muscle tissue growth requires an increased consumption of resources, the main of which are amino acids, which act as the main building material for muscles. Amino acids are broken down proteins (proteins) that enter the blood and ensure the correct implementation of the body's adaptive reactions - in our case, muscle growth.
What happens if the supply of amino acids is not enough to meet the body's current needs and the growth of new muscle tissue? In this case, protein synthesis in the body (muscle growth) slows down to a minimum or stops altogether, and the body’s internal reserves - amino acids obtained during the breakdown of its own muscle tissue - begin to be consumed. Thus, a lack of protein (protein) in the body, with regular strength loads, at least does not lead to muscle growth. The greater the protein deficiency, the more existing muscle tissue the body will break down to meet ongoing amino acid needs.
So is it possible to build muscle without taking sports protein?
Thus, you can build up without using sports protein if you consume enough protein during the day and after training, the basis of which is high-quality protein with the fastest possible absorption rate.