Article on Nutrition for MASS and STRENGTH!
Nutrition is not all that different for muscle-building than for everyone else.
There are some differences, though, and I’ll give you a quick rundown of those.
First off, there are three main anabolic hormones; growth hormone, insulin and testosterone. All you need to know, really, is how to stimulate the production of those hormones, and here’s where the fine-tuning comes in.
A large fat intake (1-2g / kg / day) will stimulate the production of both growth hormone and testosterone, whereas a smaller intake (under 1g) does not.
A relatively large intake intake of carbs (5-6g / kg / day) will stimulate insulin production.
The surprise is that animal protein (meats, fish, dairy, eggs) also stimulates insulin production, but also testosterone. Plant proteins only stimulate insulin production, so animal proteins are superior in this regard for building mass. However, eating way too much protein also inhibits testosterone production, so keep it under 3g / kg /day.
Note that these can be achieved with food, and without that food being chemically enhanced in any way.
Simple, huh? For an anabolic meal, include the following:
1) plenty of animal protein, about 40g per meal (meat, dairy or eggs)
2) plenty of high quality carbs, about 50-70g per meal (veggies and rice/pasta)
3) plenty of good, polyunsaturated fats (olive oil or even -gasp- eggs in your salad)
There you go. The recipe for building muscle mass.
The rest of the recommendations follow the lines given in the previous chapter about general nutrition, with minor adjustments:
Protein: 2g / kg / day
Carbs: 5-6g / kg / day
Fats: 1-2g / kg / day
So, the official idea is that strength athletes don’t need as much carbs as the general public (5-8g/kg/day). Sounds weird to me, but okay; I’ll try anything once as long it isn’t illegal, immoral, fattening or carcinogenic in rats.
Oh, please note that the above gram-amounts should be calculated for lean body mass, not whole weight.
According to the official guidelines of the Finnish government, your preworkout drink should consist of 0,2-0,3g protein / kg and 0,4-0,5g carbs /kg and be as fat free as possible (for a 90kg athlete this means 18-27g of protein and 36-45g of carbs). As this brew should be imbibed no more than 10 minutes before working out, it’s suggested that only about a cup of liquid be used (~2dl). This will make for a relatively strong drink, but it will ensure you’re in an anabolic state even during your workout (the protein will stimulate insulin and testosterone release, and the carbs will heighten the insulin response). The best powders to use are hydrolyzed whey and maltodextrine. You will notice I said that the protein (in case of whey protein) stimulates insulin. This was news to me, as I’m sure it’ll be news to others as well. Generally speaking, we’ve been lead to think that carbs and only carbs stimulate insulin, but this is not so. Whey protein also does so.
Your postworkout drink should consist of 0,25-0,5g protein / kg and 0,5-0,8g carbs / kg and should be drunk immediately following your workout (for a 90kg athlete this means 22,5-45g protein and 45-72g carbs).
Other than that, follow the guidelines for general nutrition.
However, if you’re having difficulty eating sufficient amounts (i.e. you don’t grow or get stronger even though you work your butt off in the gym) you might want to try the following; since fiber satiates well, and faster carbs actually cause you to crave more food (due to the insulin upshot and consequent drop in blood sugar levels), eat a bunch of fast carbs.
That is; potatoes, pasta, quick rice, bread and such. All the stuff you’re generally warned to stay off of. This way you’ll get more calories in you and you will tend to grow. However, not going to the gym or working out quite enough will cause mass buildup around your waistline. This is called bulking up and is like so passé.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:55 am
Interesting news about the insulin producing effect of protein. Do you have any reference for that? I’m curious, because it also contradicts everything I’ve heard before.
July 1st, 2007 at 12:50 pm
First, welcome to my blog!
I was also rather surprised to read that protein could cause a rise in blood sugar, as I’m sure pretty much everyone would be… I mean, the conventional wisdom is that sugars do that, and not fats nor proteins, but it would really seem that a fast absorbing protein can also cause the same effect.
The full text reads (and I translate from the original Finnish): “It has been noted in animal tests that a substantially larger amount of the nitrogen from hydrolyzed whey protein stays in the body of the animal than from whey protein concentrate (Poullain 1989).This is likely due to the fact that hydrolyzed whey is absorbed quickly, causing a rapid rise in blood amino acid levels. A large amount of amino acids in the blood in turn strengthens the release of anabolic hormones, such as insulin (Parcell et al. 2004), which increases the transport of amino acids into the muscle cells and accelerates the building of new proteins.”
The original studies cited are (I have not read these personally):
Parcell AC, Drummond MJ, Christopherson ED, Hoyt GL, Cherry JA. Glycemic and insulinemic responses to protein supplements. J Am Diet Assoc. 2004 Dec;104(12):1800-4.
Poullain MG, Cezard JP, Roger L, Mendy F. Effect of whey proteins, their oligopeptide hydrolysates and free amino acid mixtures on growth and nitrogen retention in fed and starved rats. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 1989 Jul-Aug;13(4):382-6.
July 9th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Wait a second!
What am I babbling about… Protein does not under any circumstances raise blood sugar levels. Of course not.
However, what it does is cause a rise in blood insulin levels. Geez… (shaking my head at myself).