One of the most common topics I get questions about is protein. There is so much information available on the web that a person can become easily overwhelmed. I want to provide five simple tips that can help anyone maximize their protein intake for optimal health and wellness. Anyone that works out a few times a week knows how important protein is. Our muscles are composed of protein and it is important to have a solid protein regimen to ensure proper recovery and lean muscle growth.
- Add a protein source to every meal or snack throughout the day. Most people struggle to consume enough protein. Getting in a little bit at every meal or snack will add up. By dispersing our protein intake throughout the day we will have a steady stream of amino acids flowing through our system as well. This will provide great recovery benefits.
- Consume a protein shake within 30-60 mins post workout. Protein shakes are engineered to digest easily and absorb quickly. The post workout window (30-60 minutes following a workout) is a key time to get protein into our body for recovery purposes. You want to consume a protein source that digests quirky and easily. Meat or vegetable protein will digest at a moderate to slow pace so my favorite post workout protein choice is a protein shake. My new favorite brand of protein shake is called About Time. You can check out their website at www.tryabouttime.com. This is an all natural, gluten free product, that is naturally sweetened and tastes AWESOME! There are about five ingredients on the label that you will recognize as real food. Some protein shake labels look like a science experiment! We carry this product at our NGPT studio for $38 and our bootcampers get a discount on top of that.
- Add vegetables and a healthy fat source to your protein for the last meal of the day. With our final meal or snack of the day we want something that will fill us up and digest slowly so that we have amino acids in our system as we sleep at night. I would recommend using a meat based protein source and you should add both a healthy fat option and a non starchy green veggie to this meal as well. A great example would be salmon(protein/healthy fat) and asparagus(green veggie). Another example would be a spinach salad topped with sliced whole eggs and avocado.
- Use a variety of protein sources. Not all protein sources are built the same. The nutritional profile will vary from source to source. Many people have their “go to” protein source and that is ok, but you do need to mix it up for complete nutrition.
- Consume enough protein to fit your fitness and recovery needs. This final tip can get a little tricky. I’m not super comfortable with recommending a specific amount that “everyone” should shoot for. Everyone will have unique protein needs. You need to get enough to allow you to recover from your workouts and allow you to make progress towards your health and fitness based goals. Most people I have worked with tend to consume too little protein. When you look at RDA recommendations the amount falls in the 60g per day range and that is way low, in my opinion, for anyone that lives an active lifestyle. That might be a good starting place for a novice but I would ramp up the intake over a few weeks to see if recovery and performance improve. My personal “protein sweet spot” is about 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight. So I take in about 225g per day. It is also important to note that I am in a bodyweight maintenance mode so if I was trying to drop weight, that amount would be a little less in order to lower my overall caloric intake. Your daily protein intake might vary a bit also. If you are super sore try adding in a little extra for recovery purposes. If you aren’t hitting the workouts very hard you may need to dial the amount back. It is a great idea to work with a physician to monitor your blood work to be sure your body is getting enough protein and digesting it properly.
I hope these five simple tips allow you to hit it hard in the gym and recover faster!
