How much protein does a bodybuilder need?
A. Medical authorities used to tell us that athletes, including bodybuilders, do not need extra protein. That was wrong. Solid research now shows that both hard training endurance and strength athletes do need more protein than a sedentary individual. But perhaps not as much as you may have been led to believe. The August 1997 issue of The Physician and Sportsmedicine has the results of the latest research: “Based on a wide review of scientific data, current daily protein recommendations for serious strength trainers are about 0.6 to 0.8 grams per pound (1.4 to 1.8 g/kg).” In other words, a 140-pound strength trainer needs 84 to 112 grams of protein per day and a 200-pounder 120 to 160 grams. If you are just trying to maintain muscle mass 0.6 grams per pound is enough, but if you’re training hard to build muscle the protein requirement goes up to the high end of the range, 0.7 to 0.8 grams per pound of body weight. So the bodybuilding magazines are correct in telling you that protein i
A. Medical authorities used to tell us that athletes, including bodybuilders, do not need extra protein. That was wrong. Solid research now shows that both hard training endurance and strength athletes do need more protein than a sedentary individual. But perhaps not as much as you may have been led to believe. The August 1997 issue of The Physician and Sportsmedicine has the results of the latest research: “Based on a wide review of scientific data, current daily protein recommendations for serious strength trainers are about 0.6 to 0.8 grams per pound (1.4 to 1.8 g/kg).” In other words, a 140-pound strength trainer needs 84 to 112 grams of protein per day and a 200-pounder 120 to 160 grams. If you are just trying to maintain muscle mass 0.6 grams per pound is enough, but if you’re training hard to build muscle the protein requirement goes up to the high end of the range, 0.7 to 0.8 grams per pound of body weight. So the bodybuilding magazines are correct in telling you that protein i
The first thing every bodybuilder needs to know is the importance of getting enough protein in your daily diet. Although plenty of protein can be consumed in the form of whole foods, bodybuilders typically use a combination of beef, foul (chicken, turkey), fish and protein supplements in powder or liquid form. The popularity of supplemental protein has grown for many reasons. Let’s look at a typical 200 pound bodybuilder. Our bodybuilder must consume 1 to 1.5 g of high quality protein per pound of body weight each day. That works out to 250-300 grams of protein every day. This protein intake should be divided into 5 or 6 meals to be consumed throughout the day. Six meals per day, our bodybuilder needs to consume an average of about 40 g of protein at each meal. Let’s look at the protein content of some common bodybuilding foods: 8 ounces of various steaks: 45g protein, 10g fat 6 ounces chicken breast: 40g protein, 2g fat 6 ounces Turkey breast: 30g protein, 1g fat 8 ounces pork chop: 3
