by Koa » Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:52 pm
Here is Brooks Kubi's opinion:
[quote]On the training front, let me answer a common
question from readers. I get this one all the
time -- and it came in several times over the
past week.
"How many grams of protein do I need to consume
every day to build strength and muscle?"
Now, I don't sell protein supplements, so my
answer may be a little bit different than the
folks who do.
At a MINIMUM, you need one gm. of protein per kilo
of bodyweight. A kilo is 2.2 pounds, so that's
roughly one gm. of protein for every two pounds of
bodyweight. If you weigh 150 pounds, you need at
least 75 grams of protein -- and if you weigh 200
pounds, you need at least 100 grams of protein.
But as I said, that's a MINIMUM.
You need MORE if:
1. You are very active.
2. You are young and your metabolism burns food like
an out of control forest fire.
3. You are an advanced lifter with lots of muscle mass.
4. You are an older lifter who keeps his weight under
control with a low carb diet.
5. You are engaged in regular, hard, heavy training.
5A. When you squat and deadlift HEAVY, you increase
your hunger for high quality protein ENORMOUSLY. When
John Grimek was in heavy training, he ate huge
amounts of food. "Meat is my baby," he once said --
and according to people who watched him eat, he meant
it. John Davis could pack away 3 or 4 full-course meals
(all heavy on the protein) when he was in heavy training.
Ditto for Steve Stanko. Ditto for me. Ditto for pretty
much everyone who hits the iron hard and heavy.
Any one or more of factors 1 - 5 may increase your
protein needs enormously. Instead of the one gram of
protein per kilo of bodyweight, you may need one gram
of protein for every 1.5 pounds of bodyweight -- or
maybe even one gram of protein for every pound of
bodyweight (although the 1:1 ratio is high for most
lifters).
Personally, I've always done well in the 1 to 1.5
range -- meaning one gram of protein for every 1.5
pounds of bodyweight.
I always have a general idea of how many grams of
protein I'm consuming, but I don't count them. I base
it on how hungry I am. If I've had a heavy training
day, I'll probably eat a bit more.
But I never stuff myself, and I never force-feed on
protein. Nor do I get compulsive and try to eat protein
on any sort of regular schedule (so many grams per hour
or every two hours or whatever). If you're hitting it
hard, you don't need to sweat the details. It will
all work out fine for you.
Anyhow, I hope that helps. As always, thanks for
reading and have a great day. If you train today, make
it a good one!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
