You’ve probably heard “food is fuel” before. This saying is a simplified variation of how our body breaks down food to its most basic components so we can utilize those components for energy and basic bodily functions.
Knowing how we can apply this (especially the macro nutrients from Nutrition 101) can help us better perform and expedite results with our exercise. For today’s post we’re looking at protein, how our body uses it when we exercise, when we should eat protein, and how much protein we should eat.
Understanding Protein & Your Exercise
How Our Body Uses Proteins When We Exercise
Protein has the greatest effect on muscle mass and muscle function. It is also essential for growth and repair of all tissues in our bodies.
When to Eat Protein
We need adequate protein before and after we workout.
If we’re insufficient with our nutrition and don’t have enough fuel, our body will break down the existing protein we have (often from muscle) as an energy source. Meaning, you will lose your hard earned muscle mass! This is why we need sufficient protein in our diets consistently, especially before working out. You don’t necessarily need to eat protein right before you exercise because protein takes a longer time for our bodies to digest. In fact, because protein is slow to digest it’s not usually an ideal pre-workout snack to fuel our bodies with right before exercising because it doesn’t provide the readily available energy we need.
Ideally, we want our body to be using glucose (carbs) and fat for our energy source, not protein. However, we still want to make sure we have enough protein! Fueling your body with protein between workouts can help you not only build and repair your body and help it optimally function, but because protein is slower to digest it does help us feel fuller longer. This is helpful to keep in mind if you’re trying to avoid over consuming between workouts. AKA if you’re trying to lose weight and build muscle, it’s recommended to increase your protein intake while in a calorie deficit to help maintain the muscle you’re gaining but also to keep you fuller for longer so you don’t over eat.
How Much Protein Should You Eat?
My favorite guideline: if you eat 4 meals a day, aim to have ~20+ grams of protein in each meal.
The Recommended Daily Allowance is 46 g/day women minimum per the USDA. If you want to get a little more technically accurate according to your own body you could also calculate using the following: (your body weight in kg * 0.8 grams per kilogram of your body weight = number of grams of protein to have a day).
However, as long as you don’t have any kidney issues, most scientists are encouraging more protein intake. If you want a higher range you could use the following: anywhere from 1.2 grams per kilogram of your body weight all the way up to 2.4 grams per kilogram of your body weight for the very athletic.
If you’re looking to maximize muscle growth and/or lose weight the recommended protein target is a minimum of 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. So if your body weight is 120 lbs, your weight in kilograms is ~54 kg. (→ 54 kg * 1.6 = 86 grams of protein per day.)
Another guideline I’ve heard is aiming for half your body weight as the number of grams of protein to eat daily. For example, if your body weight is 120 lbs then you should aim for at least 60 grams of protein daily.
The TL;DR
Try to hit at least the USDA recommended daily allowance of 46 grams per day which you can easily achieve by aiming to get at least 20 grams of protein in each meal you have per day.