Protein - building muscle mass

scottye87

Back after 10 years of ups and downs...
Well i've noticed my arms aren't really bulking anymore now, I've increased both reps and weight to no effect over past month and half - thats benching, curls, offset curls, fly's. I'm not overworking them, they have a 2/3 days recovery generally between workouts.

I don't use whey proteins or any powders/shakes, but I do eat a lot of natural proteins (salmon/haddock/cod/chicken - about 60-70g worth a day - GDA is 55g for a man).

Anyone who builds muscle, how much protein do you consume? If i'm in excess of a GDA it must be going some way into helping. But I did wonder if its not all being absorbed if i'm consuming too much of it in one sitting, I did read in a body sculpting book, only 12g is absorbed by the stomach in a single sitting, which I found a bit shocking and hard to believe.

I don't wanna go down the route of anabolics, I'd rather do it the natural and hard way.
 
ooh I remember my ex telling me it was someting like 1 or 1.5g for every kg you weigh. This might be of help:


How to Calculate Your Protein Needs:
1. Weight in pounds divided by 2.2 = weight in kg
2. Weight in kg x 0.8-1.8 gm/kg = protein gm.
Use a lower number if you are in good health and are sedentary (i.e., 0.8). Use a higher number (between 1 and 1.8) if you are under stress, are pregnant, are recovering from an illness, or if you are involved in consistent and intense weight or endurance training. Example: 154 lb male who is a regular exerciser and lifts weights
154 lbs/2.2 = 70kg
70kg x 1.5 = 105 gm protein/day

dunno how helpful/accurate it is though. Think this might be a question for Justin. or the men's health forums.

As for using whey protein. it's a delish and easy way to increase your protein levels. You can have it as a shake, add the pwoder into your porridge and some of the bars are really tasty too. You just have to shop around for a brand you like.
 
Ok mate, thanks for the advice, will do some calculations now :) see what i'm expected to consume.
 
Hmmm 143g of protein......thats a lot. Think I may need to start some shakes/powders to top it all up.
 
Hmmm 143g of protein......thats a lot. Think I may need to start some shakes/powders to top it all up.

it's an easy way of getting the extra protein in, especially if you're doing weights sessions at the gym. You get some really nice flavours but as I said, you need to shop around. i've got stuck with some right vile tasting shakes that I insist on using because I've paid the best part of £40 for the tub!
 
it's an easy way of getting the extra protein in, especially if you're doing weights sessions at the gym. You get some really nice flavours but as I said, you need to shop around. i've got stuck with some right vile tasting shakes that I insist on using because I've paid the best part of £40 for the tub!

Lol I agree, use every drop at that price, no matter of the taste!
 
The trouble with powders and that is why i've kept away in the past, is they have caloric content, so if im pumpin myself with so much protein, that isn't part of my meals, my calorie excess is gonna increase so much. Any you know of low calorie? Obv they all are gonna have some because of the protein value.
 
hiya scott i just went for the choc nut and cookie cream protein shake, i can tell muscles are building up :) how many calories are you consuming a day may i ask
 
still on my 1200Kcal at min m8 to bring fat levels down, but majority is proteins, hardly any fat in diet, keep it below 15g and 0g saturates, rarely go over 10g a day though, mainly protein/carbs, moreso protein.

Think I really do need to up the levels more though so once i reach a healthy weight, and can add some calories back, ill be crankin the protein levels up properly with powders and bars etc to top up my levels.

How many g's of proetin do you get outta one of ur shakes? ive looked around and tends to be anywhere between 22g - 34g per serving of powders, but as the punisher said, not sure about whats gonna taste good, so think i'm gonna have to bite the bullet and hope i get a decent tasting one which is ok taste mixed with water as don't wanna add calories with milk.
 
i get 24g protein from the shakes :D
are you lifting heavy or just light at the moment
btw you watch ufc 107?
 
Benching 60Kg.

Flys are the same but obv split weight. Sometimes take the flys down a bit if i've had long day. Think I'm gonna start to up weights with fewer reps, i read on a building forum that this is needed to build, lighter and more reps tend to be better for keeping form and sculpting the shape instead.

107, i've recorded it and only so far managed to watch the countdown and the first fight, the heavyweight Struve and Buentello. Bit cheesed off that my v+ box failed to record the prelims though lol, did you see them? Any good fights?
 
still on my 1200Kcal at min m8 to bring fat levels down, but majority is proteins, hardly any fat in diet

Here's your problem.

No fat in diet is not gonna work if you want to build muscle. I think you may be relying on protein too much, when in fact I think its far overrated when it comes to muscle building.

This is because you need a balanced approach, too much of anything on its own is never good. Carbs are what shuttles the protein into the muscles, so without sufficient carbs its not really going to work.

Fat helps to keep inflamation down on your joints, but more importantly, it increases your levels of testosterone, which is THE hormone you need circulating in your body for those muscles to grow.

Its a shame that a lot of dieters cut all fat out of thier nutrition, as its very useful for fat loss. Excess sugar and salt are the real enemy of dieters. After all, there's a reason some fats are called 'essential fats' - you need them to keep your body functioning properly!


However, having said that I think we may be able to make some progress on this based on your training. Can you tell me what routine you are doing right now for your arms?
 
yeah scott the pre-lims werent shown well not from what i saw

justin what would say are good fats, besides olive oil and also almonds
 
cottage cheese i usually have before bed :D
ill up the egg yolks as at moment im just having egg whites
 
Hi guys,

Sorry not had time to reply, busy for xmas lol all the rush n shopping!!

Basically I've also now joined the gym and one of the trainers has set me up on a muscle building program. And he definately thinks the low fat is a big issue, so has told me to start eating a bit more fat in my diet and not worry about the calories as much as when ive built muscle the metabolism will speed up anyway which will burn more calories off later as i return to normal diet. Apparently removing it all together can have reverse effects!!!

He threw lots of different fat names at me polyunsaturated, monosaturated which are apparently the good types that he says I am eating from fish, saturated (which i obviously knew of as being bad and trans which im not sure is good or bad lol....think i've got some googlin to do on fats, only ever thought there was healthy fat like omega 3 and bad fat like saturated.

Thanks for the help though guys :)

As for 107 my V+ box displayed the prelims as bein on live before main event, guess they got the listings wrong AGAIN lol. I've since watched the main event, BJ certainly deserved to keep his title, and anyone who knocks him for his cardio now after going so long (and still looking fresh even) is talking rubbish. Greatly defended, and OUCH for the gash on diegos head, that must of been some kick!!!

Also thought Kongo would have lasted longer than that, and possibly even knocked him out, Mirs definately gained some weight! Fair play to Kongo not tapping though, you could see he was determined not to quit to Mir after all the trash talking, just a shame he passed out lol.

Glad Florian submitted Guida, Ive never like him personally, always thought hes been way too cocky!
 
yeah when you do put fats into your diet
make sure its them good ones, egg yolks, almonds, flaxseed oil and so on :D
theres so much to bulking, im still low cals about 1700-1900 cals a day, but soon will be upping to 2000-2500 to start the bulking process, so by summer 2010 ill have that beach body :D
 
yeah when you do put fats into your diet
make sure its them good ones, egg yolks, almonds, flaxseed oil and so on :D
theres so much to bulking, im still low cals about 1700-1900 cals a day, but soon will be upping to 2000-2500 to start the bulking process, so by summer 2010 ill have that beach body :D

Haha RACE YA!! ;)
 
i have to say mixed nuts and raisins justin are brilliant and take the hunger away :D
and plenty of water is needed too

and scott no need to race, just take each day as it comes and work hard for the beach body and maintaining it :D
 
Haha i know mate, just playin :)
 
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