Happy Sunday!
A lot of people these days will try to do whatever it takes
to lose weight, change their body, drop body fat percentage, etc....except intake an adequate amount of protein for their body in order to build muscle.
Protein is essential for us. We need it every day of our lives, even if we don't workout.
Protein is used by our body in a lot of ways other than just building muscle. But, building muscle is one of the main jobs of protein.
When it comes to working out and ACTUALLY building muscle as the final product...a lot of
stuff goes on in between there. Here's how that process works and why you really need to hit your protein each day if your constantly working out and looking to change your body:
1.) First we strength train
- We need to progressively overload our muscles in order to challenge them. Lift more weight overtime. More reps overtime. Or a combination of the two. When we are in the gym, our muscles are being worked, causing damage that needs to be repaired thereafter.
- In the gym, muscle is actually breaking down from being used, not being built. The constant stress on our muscles tells our body to repair them, so they
can endure more stress down the road once we build it from intaking enough protein.
2.) Next we intake protein throughout the day
- Without intaking an adequate amount of protein for your body, you will FAIL to build muscle. All of that hard work in the gym will be
wasted because you failed to properly supply your body with the necessary tools it needs to repair. Really.
- Aim for 0.8-1.6 grams of protein per day.
- 150lb female should aim for 130-160g of protein.
- 200lb male should aim for 190-210g of protein.
- Like I mentioned earlier, protein isn't just for our muscles.
It goes to other areas of our body as well which is why we need to make sure we have enough each day.
3.) Next we recover and rest
- Recovery and rest days are necessary for us to build a sufficient amount of muscle. We cannot constantly workout (as much as some of us want to) because
then there is no time for recovery.
- Rest days are crucial if we want to see long term muscle gain.
4.) Sleep - aim for 6-9 hours per night
- This is when we ACTUALLY build muscle. When we are sleeping, our body will go
through whats called protein synthesis...which is the act of muscle actually being built in our body. It's a very intensive process so our body cannot do it during the day when we are up walking around. This needs to occur when we sleep, which is why sleeping is such an important element to our health. Google 'muscle protein synthesis' if you want to learn more, its pretty interesting🤓!
5.) Consistency and patience
- We need to do the above for months and months and years and years to see any substantial progress over time. It takes a very long time to build muscle...a very long time. But, if you stay the course, do the above and have more good days than bad days, you'll get there👍🏻.
I sent a previous newsletter about how much protein is in certain foods, give that a look again to make sure you are getting enough protein in throughout the day.
And yes, even on days you don't workout, you need to intake protein. Those are just as important as workout days.
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with any other questions you have, I'm here to answer them.
