For all the weight lifting enthusiast winter is among us and with that comes bulking season.The stretch of time were lifters try to pack on as much muscle as possible before cutting down to that summer bod. During this time people are going to be doing more lifting, less cardio, and increasing their calorie intake. The biggest macronutrient that people will try to increase is grams of protein in their diet. This is done by eating lean meats such as chicken, steak, fish and sometimes protein supplements.  If you look online you will see sources that say your protein intake while trying to gain muscle or bulk should be anywhere on the spectrum of 0.5 grams per pound of body weight to 1 gram per pound of weight. While they all for the most part agree that protein intake is different for each person and based on current weight the scales are completely different.

This made me question, is there a point where your body will stop using protein to promote muscle growth? So I began to look into protein absorption and just like the number of grams of protein per pound, there is a huge divide in the weightlifting community. For instance, Michael Matthews, suggest that the protein in your system will slow down the gastric emptying long enough for protein to be turn to amino acids to be absorbed. While Helen Kollias claims there is no mechanism that allows proteins to do such there we must limit or per meal protein intake. Kollias’ study show that if you were give someone whey vs normal protein pack food that you will see the same peak in enzymes in both people. This is because the added protein in the shake is never manages to get to your small intestine to be used as building blocks. So based on Helen Kollias research we should eat multiple small meals fill with protein in order to get the best results in the gym.

After reading numerous articles on the subject, I decided that for my personal protein intake I was going to need to just go by trial and error to figure out what was around a good amount of protein to get to promote muscle growth. I’ve been eating around 120 -150 grams of protein a day and seeing good signs of muscle growth.

I made the decision because one thing that stuck with me from Michael Matthews’s article was his comment on the diets of hunters and gathers. “How, then, did the human species survive the hunter-gatherer days, I wonder?” asked Matthews’s. They were very limited on their food supply so 5 small meals in one day was not a feasible task which would lead high intake of protein in one sitting.If their is a set time for protein to be absorbed there is no way early hunters could maintain the muscle needed for their daily lives.  

Work Cited

Matthews, Michael. “The Truth About Protein Absorption: How Often You Should Eat Protein to Build Muscle.” Muscle For Life The Truth About Protein Absorption How Often You Should Eat Protein to Build Muscle Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2015.

Kollias, Helen. “Protein Supplements: Is Protein Absorption the Problem? | Precision Nutrition.” Precision Nutrition. N.p., 04 Dec. 2008. Web. 04 Dec. 2015.