Quick question about protein intake

[chrisleakfan4life]

Is it better to take in protein before or after a workout?

And what i mean is to take in a good amount(100-150 grams).

I normally take in about 50-80 grams which probably isnt enough.

Anyway when is it better to take in more protein?

Sent from my iPhone using GatorCountry

[LeafUF]

Dont get too consumed over nutrient timing. Getting a good amount of protein in your daily diet is all that matters. So if you figure you need 150 grams of protein then just make sure to get that during the entire day. If you are consuming 80 grams of protein before a workout it would take longer than the workout to actually digest it.

[Dreamliner]

chris, you only need 25g of protein a day to preserve muscle.

*runs away*

Seriously, just remember that your muscles don't magically sop up post-workout protein. It still comes down to calories if you want to lose weight. I personally think that 100g a day would be plenty for you. I can't imagine why that would be terribly difficult to get though your meals alone.

[Dreamliner]

Another thing that I don't understand about protein recommendations: why would bodyweight be a primary consideration in the calculations, especially when people are overweight ? Ex: a 200-pound man who is carrying 50 pounds of fat. Question: Does his fat need protein ?

[LeafUF]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

Another thing that I don't understand about protein recommendations: why would bodyweight be a primary consideration in the calculations, especially when people are overweight ? Ex: a 200-pound man who is carrying 50 pounds of fat. Question: Does his fat need protein ?

I like Alan Aragons take on this. 1gm per pound of lean body mass. So in that case you would only shoot for 150, instead of 200. That reduces the need for about 250+ calories right there.

[LeafUF]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/he...alth&seid=auto

In a controlled experiment published in the Jan. 4 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers hospitalized 25 volunteers and put them on a weight-stabilizing diet for two to three weeks. Then they randomly assigned them to a diet composed of 5 percent, 15 percent or 25 percent protein, stuffing them for two months with 40 percent more calories than the weight-stabilizing diet had required.

Unsurprisingly, everyone put on weight. Those on the normal and high-protein diets gained an average of more than 13.5 pounds, and those in the low-protein group about seven pounds.

Everyone gained about 7.5 pounds of fat mass, but the results for lean body mass were different. The medium-protein group gained 6.3 pounds of lean body mass, and the high-protein consumers gained seven pounds. The low-protein eaters, on the other hand, lost 1.5 pounds of lean body mass.

“On a low-protein diet, the body has to get protein from somewhere, and it gets it from lean body mass,” said Dr. George A. Bray, the lead author and a professor of medicine at Louisiana State University. “You’re losing lean body mass, and there’s nothing to recommend that.”

[Dreamliner]

These kinds of studies are, I think, illuminating. I doubt that even 25% would be considered 'high protein' in lots of circles.

[LeafUF]

Personally I usually hit twice that, its extremely rare for me to drop to 25% and if I do I consider that a low protein day.

[Dreamliner]

Some people like eating high-protein. But that's a different matter than, "Make sure you get enough protein!"

[LeafUF]

Thats true, and making sure you get enough protein is different for everyone.

[Dreamliner]

I'm not the typical guy in that, at roughly 6-0, my weight fluctuates from around 140 to around 150 over the course of the year. At the upper end I'm getting, I guess, around 100g a day, maybe a little more.. When I want to lose weight I'm probably down to 75g or even lower.

I don't test for body composition. So, I can't say for sure that I don't lose muscle when I reduce calories and, by extension, protein. But if I do lose muscle, it is certainly not evident in my workout performance.

[96Gatorcise]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

I'm not the typical guy in that, at roughly 6-0, my weight fluctuates from around 140 to around 150 over the course of the year. At the upper end I'm getting, I guess, around 100g a day, maybe a little more.. When I want to lose weight I'm probably down to 75g or even lower.

I don't test for body composition. So, I can't say for sure that I don't lose muscle when I reduce calories and, by extension, protein. But if I do lose muscle, it is certainly not evident in my workout performance.

dream at 6 feet 145 you are what is considered a true ectomorph. You will be lean no matter what. if you are 10% body fat that would mean you are carrying 130 pounds of lean mass (bones muscle tissue and organs) true muscle mass is somewhere between 15 and 20% of your lean mass, so 15% of 130 is 20 pounds of muscle the rest is fluid.
I can guarantee when you just "reduce calories" you are losing muscle along with fat it may be at 1:3 ratio for every pound of muscle you loss, you lose 3 pounds of fat.

Heck I am 5'8 on a good day and I carry more lean mass than you weigh, I am a combination endo-meso morph. meaning I carry both muscle and fat right now I am carrying 15% body fat at 185 so I am 157 pounds of lean mass with 23.5 being pure muscle mass and 133 pounds of fluid.

[Dreamliner]

I don't believe you actually 'lose' muscle. Rather, I'm partial to the analogy of 'inflating' or 'deflating' the fixed amount of muscle you have. Muscles aren't houses. They are balloons.

So, sure, insofar as muscle is mostly water, and since water is lost along with fat, yes, my muscles may get smaller. But it is certainly not evident in my girth measurements.

When I lose weight (and I assure you that I can gain it and lose it just like you can), the only appreciable change I see, in girth measurements is: (A) waist (this is natural, since I store fat in the same places that you do) and (B) chest (and this is usually limited to about 1/2 inch and attributable to fat loss as well).

Yes, of course you need some protein to maintain muscle size. But how much ? I'd say not much. The supplements industry disagrees with me. Wonder why ?