What are your experiences with a higher protein intake than the recommended 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. More muscle, status quo, others?
more muscle. But that’s just me.
Apparently some bodybuilders are making great gains on only 50 grams/day.
(j/k–see Shugs vegas review)
I personally just feel more complete. My habits have become so solidified that any meal without sufficient protein feels nutritionally unsound.
In simple terms… I few protein as a car and fat/carbs as gas. Why buy gas without a car?
Seeing as my muscle building goals are much different then you or most people on T-Nation I cannot specifically address gains.
In terms of body composition I do notice that increased protein intake helps me manage my weight. While this may or may not be scientifally supported, I feel that since resorting to a higher protein diet any cheating has minimal effects. The days I feel an impact from cheating are those that were accompanied by a lower protein intake.
On top of that… I believe it makes a significant difference what type of protein you are consuming. It makes sense to me that the easier the digestion the lower the metabolism impact. I can definitely tell a difference between the days where I get my “natural” protein and (those few and far between) days where I was limted to mostly shakes.
[quote]kasper2133 wrote:
What are your experiences with a higher protein intake than the recommended 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. More muscle, status quo, others?[/quote]
I’m very interested in the proper/necessary amount as well. I have heard 1 gram per pound of bodyweight often. On this bulk I’m on now, I’m eating about 2 grams per pound of bodyweight. If I could have the same muscle gains by replacing some of the protein with cheaper carbs (brown rice, oatmeal, etc…) I would for financial reasons. What TriGWU is saying about weight managment makes a lot of sense to me as protein is much more thermic than carbs.
[quote]jsbrook wrote:
kasper2133 wrote:
What are your experiences with a higher protein intake than the recommended 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. More muscle, status quo, others?
I’m very interested in the proper/necessary amount as well. I have heard 1 gram per pound of bodyweight often. On this bulk I’m on now, I’m eating about 2 grams per pound of bodyweight. If I could have the same muscle gains by replacing some of the protein with cheaper carbs (brown rice, oatmeal, etc…) I would for financial reasons. What TriGWU is saying about weight managment makes a lot of sense to me as protein is much more thermic than carbs. [/quote]
That’s exactly why I asked the question. Is there anything to gain by raising the amounts, or is it just money out the toilet, and the same results could have been achieved with average protein and more carbs.
I’m asking this question after reading about doggcrapp. He demands that you raise your intake to at least 2 grams per pound of bodyweight. Is this incredible amount of protein necessary? I was thinking that it’s just the extra calories, and not the protein in it self, that are responsible to the incredible gains.
[quote]Joe Weider wrote:
more muscle. But that’s just me.
Apparently some bodybuilders are making great gains on only 50 grams/day.
(j/k–see Shugs vegas review)[/quote]
Hmm. Dr. Manore says 60 grams of protein? Sounds like manure to me… Please. As an endurance athlete I easily ate 3 times that let alone as a ‘new’ lifter actively working to put on mass. I don’t know how these people can legitimately call themselves professionals.
I think like anything related to training it varies wildly from person to person. I personally don’t see a noticable difference going much above 1g/lb but know of people who take in close to 2g/lb and see better results then with lesser amounts of protien.
Just keep a log of what you eat and your progress and find what works best for you.
at one time I was eating a ridiculously high protein diet, not sure what the ratio of protein:bodyweight was but it was high. Well, at the time I was taking an Anatomy & Physiology course and we tested our urine. You could see the protein that dumped into my urine under the microscope.
Now, I don’t know if that is completely normal…I know some dumping is normal but I had a pretty high concentration in the small amount we tested - the only reason I state this is the idea of cost-worthiness someone was talking about earlier.
I don’t think that extra protein puts the amount of stress on the kidneys as some anti-high protein gurus try to say it does.
[quote]TriGWU wrote:
I personally just feel more complete. My habits have become so solidified that any meal without sufficient protein feels nutritionally unsound.
In simple terms… I few protein as a car and fat/carbs as gas. Why buy gas without a car?
In terms of body composition I do notice that increased protein intake helps me manage my weight. While this may or may not be scientifally supported, I feel that since resorting to a higher protein diet any cheating has minimal effects. The days I feel an impact from cheating are those that were accompanied by a lower protein intake.
On top of that… I believe it makes a significant difference what type of protein you are consuming.
[/quote]
Ditto. Also, there is more nutritional support for recovery and stamina. It’s also easier to stay leaner with a high protein diet…when the carbohydrates go up and the comes protein down, I start to put on body fat- drop the carbs down and the protein up and the bf comes off (this of course includes exercising/training). I think the most significant aspect in this context is that it provides the nutritonal support for proper recovery.
Glad to have these opinions. For myself, I think I’ll stick with my high intake for the beginning of this bulk. I’ll be evaluating my progress. If I’m doing well, I might experiment and drop my protein intake but not by much. thanks