Have you ever heard the quote by Jay Cutler, 4 time Mr. Olympia champion, “I don’t eat for taste, I eat for function.”? If not and you’re into working out and being fit you’re probably doing something wrong.
The science behind nutrition in exercise is fairly straightforward. Eat according to your goals. By what exactly does nutrition have to do with our goals? We all know those people who can eat whatever they want and not gain weight. That’s all because of their personal metabolism and that discussion is for another time. But what about the people who grind it out every day looking to improve their size and strength by just that much? These people weigh out their food and know every macro and micro nutrient that enters their body.
So let’s start with the basics. What does nutrition provide? Nutrition provides the body with macro nutrients (Carbs, Protein, and Fat) and micronutrients (small substances the body needs to run). For this article we are going to focus on macronutrients.
First let’s define what a carb is. Most people think carbs are just braid and other types of grains but that’s not true. A Carbohydrate according to atkins.com is either a monosaccharide or a simple sugar. Carbs can take the form of fructose or glucose and can be found in all types of food including cauliflower and candy.
Second let’s define what protein is. Protein is the body’s building block for muscle and many other functions. Protein is made up of single amino acids or branch amino acids depending on what the source of the protein is and what type of protein it is.
Lastly let’s define what fat is. Fat is actually a nutrient that is essential for healthy functions in the human body. It’s not all bad for you. Most fats are made up of triglycerides which are fatty acids and found in most foods.
Now how does all that information help us and what does it have to do with building muscle?
When put all together a balanced diet including all 3 macronutrients is extremely important in the process of muscle growth. So let’s break down that process.
When you exercise the fibers in your muscles are broken down during the actual process of lifting weights. This happens because of the stress put on them during the contraction and unloading phases of lifting a weight. It’s after leaving the gym that the real work starts to happen.
Most people know that after working out it’s good to eat a meal high in protein and sometimes carbohydrates depending on your goals. Let’s assume for argument sake that you eat a meal with a quality source of protein and carbs. What do those macros do in your body?
Depending on the type of protein you intake changes the digestion rate but for this let us assume you eat a meal consisting of steak and brown rice. The protein in the steak is broken down into it’s branch amino acids and is then sent to your muscles. Here the amino acids determine which muscle fibers were “torn” during your workout and attach themselves to them in order to regrow. This process is known as protein synthesis. Now that’s all well and good but eating protein alone won’t get you to your goals if your goal is to grow your muscles. Protein maintains and strengthens but in order to grow your muscles you need carbohydrates as well. After eating the brown rice the complex carbohydrates will be broken down into their simplest form and also sent to your muscles. It is here that muscle growth occurs. When the monosaccharide reaches the muscle it allows the fiber to not only repair itself but grow as well.
That is where muscle growth comes from. The combination of protein and carbohydrates interact with the muscle fibers in order to grow and become stronger. That is why so many professional athletes, bodybuilders included, stress the importance of nutrition along with exercise. Remember next time you hit the gym, most work is done in the kitchen.
Works Cited:
http://www.atkins.com/Science/Nutrition-and-Exercise/Good-Carbs.aspx
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/whoami/findoutmore/yourbody/whatdoyourcellsdo/whatisacellmadeof/whatareproteinsmadeof.aspx
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/heart/healthy/fat.html
This is a very captivating article, especially for anyone concerned about nutrition and exercise. Because nutrition provides the body with macronutrients (including carbs and protein), it is a vital component of improving physical performance. The protein in my own diet primarily comes from whole-food sources. However, the increasing popularity of protein powders has caught my attention. While this alternative supplement is convenient and easy to consume, I have heard rumors that the extra protein may just be burned as a fuel source or converted to fat, rather than helping to build muscle. Before adding this type of supplement to my meal plan, I thought it would be helpful to research the positive and negative effects that protein powder and similar supplements can have. This is an interesting article on that topic. I am very interested to read your upcoming post on the effects of sleep and cardio workouts in relation to muscle growth.
Greg,
In answer to your question what other elements are essential to muscle growth, I will be posting another blog the delves into that realm of questioning. But just as a preview, proper sleep is as if not more important than proper work out techniques. Cardio is actually a very interesting topic but I will be posting about that soon.
Really interesting article Will. I am a big fan of going to the gym but seem to find it difficult to always eat the proper foods when I’m here at school. After reading this I decided to look up some of the best foods that are high in protein and carbohydrates for people looking to gain muscle. As much as we all want to look like the guy in that picture it’s much harder than it seems. What are some of the other elements that are necessary to gain muscle? sleep? cardio? It would be interesting to look deeper into this to find the most effective methods to gaining more muscle.
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/nutrition/gain-mass/7-protein-packed-and-carb-rich-foods