Are You Consuming Enough Protein for Your Muscle Gain Workouts?

As you work towards your fitness goals, don’t forget to watch what and how much you eat.

Whether you’re building muscle or on a weight loss journey, your diet will have an impact on your fitness

goals.

Protein is one of the nutrients you’ll focus on when building muscle. And yes, too much or too little protein can change your muscle gain workout. Your body counters overconsumption of a nutrient by converting the excess into something else or secreting it. If it’s a case of underconsumption, your body doesn’t function optimally.

So, are you consuming enough or too little protein for noteworthy muscle gain?

That’s what we’re about to discuss.

But first…

Why Is Protein Important for Muscle Gain?

The best way to go about this topic is by first describing what muscles are and what they constitute.

Your muscles are skeletal, smooth, and cardiac. The skeletal ones enable motion, and they include your biceps and triceps. The smooth muscles in organs like the digestive tract function by contraction. The third type, cardiac muscles, constitute the heart.

All three types have protein fiber, so they depend on the nutrients you consume. Plus, a unique protein in the muscle cells, called myoglobin, supplies oxygen and energy for your muscles to contract as you work out.

Additionally, a strength training workout breaks down your muscle tissue. Therefore, your body cells create new protein molecules by synthesizing what you consume. That's where your food choices come in, as protein synthesis uses amino acids.

The enzymes in your digestive system turn proteins into amino acids. Your body needs conditional, nonessential, and essential amino acids. The conditional ones help you when you’re stressed or ill; thus, they may not be necessary for everyday life. Also, our bodies produce nonessential ones like glutamic acid, which is responsible for cell communication.

This leaves you with one group to worry about: essential amino acids. There are nine, and they come from food.
One of them is isoleucine, which carries oxygen in red blood cells. Another essential one for energy in skeletal muscles is leucine, which you can also get from whey protein supplements.

The Recommended Daily Intake

You meet the dietary allowance for protein when you consume 0.8 grams per kilogram of your body weight.

Consequently, to determine the required intake for your body, multiply your weight in pounds by

0.36. To make it easier for you, you can use this calculator.

If your intake is low, you may feel the need to double it fast, hoping it will get you the muscle

growth you want. This study on collegiate strength athletes will tell you otherwise. It found no significant change in strength or power after the participants consumed more than the recommended levels. Further, it also noted something else about strength training and carbs intake.
The strength athletes observed had a low caloric intake, which could be the reason for their insignificant gains in muscle growth.

As a result, your diet should contain proteins and other nutrients like carbohydrates to reap the

maximum benefits when you work out. If you fill your plate with fast foods to boost your energy

levels, you’ll only increase your fat levels. You have to eat healthy carbs. As the proteins provide the nutrients to repair your muscles, carbs will give your energy and transport nutrients to cells. On top of that, when your body runs out of glycogen because you’re consuming fewer carbs, it turns proteins into glucose. That eats up the protein you need for muscle repair and other system functions.

The Best Protein-Rich Foods for Muscle Building

Now you know why protein is necessary for muscle building. Let’s turn to the foods to add to

your meals.

It’s unrealistic to heap one meal with all the proteins that can give you essential amino acids.

Therefore, consider a diverse meal plan with plant and meat proteins so you can take a variety of amino acids throughout the day.

Here are the high-protein foods you can combine to attain your recommended daily intake.

Food Portion Size Protein Content (in grams)

Source: Adapted from Protein Content of Common Foods by Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Final Thoughts

It’s true that without proteins, you can’t build muscle. Your body needs 20 types of amino acids,

but it can’t manufacture nine of them. You have to consume the nine amino acids from food. As

you work on your meal plan, don’t forget about carbs.

The fitness world seems to put too much emphasis on proteins while undermining carbs. But

when you consume more proteins and reduce your intake of energy-rich foods, you may not have the endurance to last during your next workout, therefore, you can’t achieve your body-building goals. Eat a balanced meal, every meal where possible.