Protein. You’re not eating enough of it.
Ok, now that that is out of the way, let’s chat.
I’ve been in the fitness industry as a trainer/owner for the past 8 years and I would say that 95% of athletes that I’ve come into contact with over the years don’t come close to consuming the appropriate amount of protein they need in order to make their goals.
Pro Tip: If you want to increase performance AND develop a leaner and more musculature body starting TODAY, one of the simplest things you can do is to increase your protein intake.
The benefits of a high protein diet are endless and if you want to do read more of a scientific report on the What, Why, and How Much of protein you can do so by reading a Precision Nutrition article HERE. But I’m just going to keep it simple because it really is that simple. A summary of that article follows…
According to the Precision Nutrition article I linked to, in order to prevent protein deficiency, sedentary people need about .36 grams of protein per pound of body weight. For a 150lb sedentary person, that means 54g of protein each day. Again, that’s simple to prevent protein deficiency. That number is different if you want to make changes in body composition and performance.
If you’re active and looking to manage your weight (decrease fat, increase muscle), improve performance, increase your immune function, and develop a healthier metabolism, keep reading…
If you are a trained athlete in the gym multiple times a week then your protein needs are higher. Precision Nutrition recommends you consume about .64 to .9 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Going back to the 150lb person, that means they would need anywhere from 95-135g of protein per day, PER DAY.
If you’re training hard and really looking to make significant changes to your body weight and increase your muscle, you can safely bump that up to 1g of protein per pound of muscle mass but more than that isn’t necessary.
Guys this is just the basics. And sometimes the basics is all we need to start making changes.
There’s so much more to the science behind protein and I recommend reading the 5-minute article I linked above. But here are some quick tips to maximize your gainz starting today…
1. Spread your protein consumption out through the day. Try to intake a steady flow of protein.
2. Maximize protein synthesis and recovery by consuming protein pre and post workout.
3. Try and get 80% of your protein from whole foods: egg whites, lean meats, fish, poultry, etc. The other 20% can come from protein supplements.
4. Increasing your protein consumption will help you feel satiated longer so you’ll probably graze less.
5. Increasing your protein consumption will help you manage your weight better so you’ll see a decrease in body fat. To go a little deeper, increased protein can “help to liberate free fatty acids from adipose tissue.” In layman’s terms: increasing protein will help you get rid of the bodyfat that likes to hang around our midsections.
6. Increasing your protein consumption will help you develop more muscle. If you want to see increase in muscle, eat more protein. Simple.
Seriously my friends, one of the easiest things you can do to make immediate positive changes in body composition, whether we want to drop 50lbs of fatty tissue or add 8lbs of muscle tissue, is to immediately increase your protein consumption on a daily level.
“We need a small amount of protein to survive, but we need a lot more to thrive.”
Here’s to our health as we Level Up and build the healthiest bodies we’re capable of building.
Happy Monday, Friends!
– Level Up Fitness and Nutrition Team
