By Dr. Shayne Baylis, Doc Hockey
If I say muscle, strength, and repair, what do you think of? Do you think Heman, The Hulk, Thor? Well, from your body’s perspective, it means protein, and it is your job to supply the right amounts and quality.
Protein builds muscles, creating strength, and repairs muscle after injury and workouts. As athletes, we are in constant need for the repair of muscles, tendons, and ligaments, so don’t hold out – give your body what it needs in order to do its job and be healthy.
Let’s talk about the right amounts of protein. Often athletes are consuming too much protein to begin with. Our target is to get a wide range of amino acids in the adequate amounts.
The general non-athlete requires 12-15% protein out of total calories, which is usually about 2,000. That gives you approximately 240-300 calories a day (60-75 grams total, since each gram of protein equals around 4 calories).
Athletes have a bigger need for protein because they have greater lean muscle mass, greater need for tissue repair, and because protein is burned during activity. This doubles the protein requirements for athletes to 1.2-1.7 grams/kg. For example, a 165-pound (75 kg) athlete needs 120 grams (480 calories) per day. This makes up a small portion of an athlete’s required calories per day. Carbohydrates (at a rate of 30 cal/kg of body weight out of 2,250 calories per day), and especially complex carbohydrates, are much more important.
When you burn protein for energy, two undesirable things occur: you waste valuable protein by breaking it down for energy, and you increase the excretion of water with the by-product of urea, which puts you at risk of dehydration.
Secondly, a high protein diet also increases the excretion of calcium in the urine and could be especially troublesome for females trying to build bone density for the future. In addition, we need to consume a sufficient amount of food that focuses on carbohydrates but contains small amounts of dairy, meats, and legumes. Plants can be incomplete proteins, so be careful to get all your essential amino acids when consuming these products for your daily protein.
Excess protein can turn to fat
Studies have generally found that the body’s maximal rate of protein utilization for non-energy use is 1.5g/kg of body weight. Excess protein is either burned for energy (then nitrogen waste must be removed from the body) or is stored as fat.
Often the misunderstood thought process is that we need an abundant amount of protein to allow new muscle growth during training.
However, only 8-10 grams of protein can be absorbed in an hour, and you only have 1.5 hours for your body to absorb protein before it is stored as fat, used as energy or excreted. The maximum amount of protein to consume per sitting would then be 15 grams.
Protein is needed, but do not think it is the overwhelming item that should be in your meal regimen. It will not be the game-changing resource to bulk up your young athlete to the next Hulk. Take adequate protein based on the above steps and you are on your way to the perfect protein balance.