I work amid a sea of computer engineers – they’re not your standard Mountain Dew drinking, sedentary bunch of kids creating the next social networking website in their garage. Some are. But many come bearing muscles, protein powder and a pocket full of sports nutrition questions.
The other day, Phil W. asked me if I thought he should, "...take in as much protein as possible after weight training. Is there a limit to look out for?" What should he do?
My first thought was: is he for real? Realizing he was, I forwarded him a study that showed how more than 30 grams did not further enhance the stimulation of muscle protein synthesis.1 I also presented him a list of foods to calculate his protein needs post-exercise:
But then it dawned on me. Was this even accurate? I consulted my Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning textbook, aka Goddess of Exercise Books, to rediscover that protein needs may be upwards of 1.5g/kg body weight in those who engage in heavy resistance exercise. So Phil, a 140# 5’11” male would require around 95g protein per day for his heavy strength training – at least.The text went on to say that one factor determining the amount of protein needed might also be the type of resistance training program being used (e.g., single-exercise, low volume versus multi-exercise, high volume). This means that Phil’s total body resistance program would have more protein requirements, which makes sense because his body is using more muscle mass. So then, if Phil is eating three meals per day and no snacks in between (remember: computer engineer = six+ hours without food and drink, as though in a desert), is 30 grams really sufficient. Really?
My bottom-line is to tell people to ingest a meal chock-full of protein to help recovery. Maybe 30 grams is all one truly needs to ensure adequate muscle protein synthesis. My computer engineers are mathematicians. They want exact to the gram numbers here. Without doing a personal diet history on each and every one of them, what can we generally say is an adequate amount of protein post-exercise?
References:
A moderate serving of high-quality protein maximally stimulates skeletal muscle protein sythesis in young and elderly subjects. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2009.
-Marissa Beck, MS, RD is the Director of Wellness at NextJump and a NYC-based food writer. Visit her website at: http://www.marissabeck.com/
Marissa, what about carbohydrates to aid in recovery? I've read that it should be simple sugars (dextrose) as opposed to fructose or sugars that digest for longer periods of time. What should the quantity be?
ReplyDeleteCurrently I take 40g of whey protein and a scoop of dextrose/maltodextrin.
CHO always. Carbohydrates are protein-sparing, so it is always a good idea to include into post-workout recovery routines. I think it is .5g of CHO per kg of BW. As far as type of CHO, you do want to have simple sugars post exercise for fast absorption. Not sure about the fructose. Have a feeling that it doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteI guess the real question is: how much protein is sufficient for the above anthropometrics.
I would agree with the study from 2009 that to positively affect muscle protein synthesis with regards to 'post-workout nutrition' one wouldn't necessarily need to ingest more than 30g protein immediately following exercise.
ReplyDeleteIt is understood that these guys are computer engineers, but being such, they could figure out that if 3 meals per day hasn't increased lean mass, then 3 + 1, or 3 + 1 + 1 meals per day will be more beneficial with regards to protein synthesis.
I would figure out the total protein needs (mathematically of course), as roughly 1.6g/kg BW (64kg*1.6 = 101g protein). Phil would be best suited to use his roughly 101g requirement, subtract the 30 post-post workout, and divide up the remaining 71g throughout the rest of the day (in either 3 meals, or 3 + 1, or 3 + 1 + 1, etc).
Bottom line, my simplest answer to the question at hand would be to stick with 30g post workout. Divide up the remaining requirement throughout the day. If Phil is still struggling, it is more than likely a result of insufficient total calories, and most likely not insufficient protein intake.