The daily requirement for protein is a topic for endless and very heated discussions. Ask an expert how much protein is needed for optimal muscle growth, and you will hear one answer: 150 grams per day. And you do not need more than 150 grams under any circumstances.
2 grams/kg of weight. For every kilogram of body weight, 2 grams of protein is required. 30/50/20. Protein covers 30% of the caloric content of the diet.
What is the correct approach? Let’s look at each option under a microscope. 150 grams per day. 150 grams of protein per day is a sound idea, the only problem is
that there is an upper limit at 150 grams, and this forces classic hardgainers to overload the diet with carbohydrates. For example, to gain weight, you need 4,000 calories a day. Then with the current limit of 150 grams of protein, you will have to eat something in the region of 600 grams daily.
carbohydrates. It is clear that limiting protein intake to 150 grams per day in individuals with a fast metabolism will lead to an imbalance in the diet. Two grams per kilogram of weight. This method of counting is extremely popular, however, it is not without drawbacks. Let me demonstrate this with examples.
Bodybuilder A. Body weight 60 kg with height 170 cm.
Bodybuilder V. Body weight 75 kg with a height of 170 cm.
Bodybuilder S. Body weight 125 kg with a height of 170 cm.
Using the proposed calculation methodology, we get that “bodybuilder A”, – the leanest member of the group, should eat the minimum amount of protein – approximately 120 grams per day. Meanwhile, this athlete should receive the most protein: he is underweight, and he has a huge potential for muscle growth, which will be realized as the total body weight normalizes. Bodybuilder B is supposed to eat about 150 grams of protein per day, which seems quite reasonable. One problem – if “bodybuilder B” is a beginner, he has tremendous potential, a unique opportunity to gain mass at an accelerated pace, and for this you need to get something around 180-200 grams of protein per day, otherwise you can miss part of the crop. Finally, according to the proposed formula, “bodybuilder C” should receive about 250-260 grams of protein daily. Without further ado, it is clear that “bodybuilder C” already has
extra weight, and we make him absorb protein horse doses! 30/50/20 – proteins / carbohydrates / fats. Using the proposed proportions of proteins, fats and
carbohydrates, we run the risk of stepping on the same rake as in the case of the “2 grams per kilogram” methodology. But before we go directly to the calculations, let me explain the essence of this ratio. 30-30% of your daily calories come from protein. Every gram of protein
equivalent to 4 calories. 50 – 50% суточной калорийности вы получаете за счет carbohydrates. Каждый грамм углеводов equivalent to 4 calories.
20-20% of your daily calories come from fat. Each gram is equivalent to 9 calories. The 30/50/20 rule works well, but it loses its relevance at extremely low and extremely high energy requirements. Here are two good examples: 1800 calories. In this example, the bodybuilder has a slow metabolism or is in the drying phase. While adhering to the 30% principle, we should limit it to 135 grams of protein per
day. Too little, especially for a person who wants to maintain muscle mass on a low-calorie diet.
4000 calories. A variant of the mass gain program that suits a young bodybuilder or the happy owner of an accelerated metabolism. Following the suggested principle, he will eat at least 300 grams of protein (not to mention 500 grams of carbohydrates) daily. Judging by
volumes, it will become a real nightmare for the digestive tract! Куда разумнее было бы слегка сместить акценты в сторону жиров – такой подход позволит набрать необходимое количество калорий, не перегружая желудок гигантскими порциями белков и carbohydrates. So how much protein do you need? On your journey through the realm of bodybuilding, you will come across many formulas and recommendations for determining your daily protein requirement. We propose this approach: instead of
counting “grams for kilograms”, remember a simple rule: Eat 30-40 grams of protein every 2.5-3 hours. Adhering to this principle, you can vary your daily protein intake in the range from 150 to 240 grams. As a rule, 180-200 grams is enough for any natural bodybuilder, of course, if he is not as thin as a pencil, with a height of more than two meters. And please don’t panic at the mention of 240 grams of protein. Only hard gainers with accelerated metabolism. You can be sure that most of us will not need these 240 grams. Determining the need for fat
Due to fats, we should cover approximately 20-30% of the daily energy needs. The higher the need, the closer this percentage gets to the “30” mark. As you remember, one gram of fat is equivalent to 9 calories, which, compared to carbohydrates and proteins, makes fat the most concentrated source of energy. If you need to increase your calorie intake, the easiest way to do this is by increasing the proportion of fat in your daily diet.
Determine the need for carbohydrates Determining the daily need for carbohydrates is quite simple. Вы уже знаете свой УБМ, остается вычесть из энергетической потребности калории, получаемые за счет протеина и жиров, и вы узнаете, сколько калорий остается на долю carbohydrates. Dividing this figure by 4 gives us the number of grams of carbohydrates that should be consumed daily. For example: Step 1 – UOO. Calculations show that for muscle growth you need daily
get 3000 calories. Step 2 – Protein. The nutrition plan has room for 180 grams of protein, which is equivalent to 720 calories.
Step 3 – Fats. We continue to draw up a nutrition plan: we give 25% of the daily calories to healthy fats. This will give us another 750 calories at the expense of 83.33 grams of fat.
Step 4 – Carbohydrates. Вычитаем из УБМ калорийность белков и жиров и получаем, что 1530 калорий выпадают на долю carbohydrates. Это эквивалентно 382,5 грамма углеводов в day. Why do we work on mass, but we get the accumulation of fat? It is not uncommon to meet a bodybuilder who has spent many months in the
mass gain, and eventually found that most of the “achievements” accounted for by adipose tissue. Why did this happen? There are two possible reasons for this:
Trained badly. Many people tend to overestimate their efforts in training and do not fully understand what the required level of load is. The progress is insignificant, the growth of strength indicators is minimal, but at the same time, the athlete does not even try to work at the limit of his abilities in each approach. Ate too much. It is not necessary to gain 15 kilograms every 4 months. Moreover, it is generally vicious practice. Weight gain must be predictable, accurate and
controlled. A beginner without excess weight during the first year of training should add no more than 1 kilogram per day. month, and an athlete with an average level of training should focus on 0.5 kg per month. Why are we working for the masses, but we are marking time in one place? On the other side of the scale is the complete absence of muscle growth (and body weight growth) against the background of selfless work in the gym. Note that this is also a fairly typical situation. The reason is banal and simple – too poor a diet. The cause of chronic malnutrition is often the fear that working on the mass will lead to excessive accumulation of fat. In fact, this rarely happens. Even an aggressive recruiting schedule will not fatten a bodybuilder who strictly adheres to a training program.
Yes, some amount of fat will be gained, but it will be kilograms, not tens of kilograms. Comments on the Aggressive Mass Gain Schedule
The muscle growth of a natural bodybuilder is like a glass of water. The more mass you have gained (the word poured water from a glass), the less you have to gain in the future. That is why beginners should stick to a more aggressive strategy, and athletes with an average level of training, as
gaining muscle mass should switch to a less aggressive program. If the bodybuilder has already gained some base amount of muscle mass,
an aggressive strategy will only lead to a significant increase in the proportion of adipose tissue. Conversely, a low-key recruiting strategy can significantly slow down a beginner’s progress. It should also be borne in mind that novice athletes often experience what is commonly called “beginner success”. With a properly designed training program, body weight increases at a rapid pace, but progress slows down over time. Usually, if a bodybuilder starts working on muscle growth against the background of a normal total mass, the following rule applies:
The first year – 8 kg of muscle mass.
Second year – 4 kg of muscle mass.
Third year – 2 kg of muscle mass.
Fourth year – 1 kg of muscle mass.
Fifth year – 0.5 kg of muscle mass.
By citing these numbers, we are not trying to set the pace and limits of muscle growth once and for all, but help us set realistic plans and adequately assess the potential for gaining muscle mass. Obviously, if your potential in a given year is limited, there is no point in sticking to an aggressive