Hey all I hope this entry finds you well. In this entry I'm going to discuss everything that you need to know about protein. What is protein responsible for? What are the best sources? And why do you even need protein?

 

At the end of the day, how does this whole process of muscle growth and strength take place? Basically, the resistance training is the stimulus to break down the muscles and cause minor tears within the muscles. In order for those muscles to become stronger and hypertrophy, recovery is needed. Without recovery, there is no progress. So how do we recover? This is where your protein comes in.

 

Protein is responsible for building, maintaining, and repairing muscle tissue. By giving your body adequate protein intake, it allows sufficient amino acids to be available throughout the day to aid in recovery. Given proper rest, in addition to this protein intake, muscles then recover, grow, and get stronger. So what are good sources of protein?

 

When taking a look at protein sources, we want protein that is what's considered a complete protein with good ratios of amino acids, with the essential amino acids available. Good sources of complete protein include eggs, meat, dairy, whey, turkey, fish, etc. Now that we know sources, when is the best time to ingest?

 

Theoretically, you want to take in protein every 2 to 3 hours throughout your day. However, right after your workout is what's considered the anabolic window. The anabolic window basically means that your body is more receptive to protein intake, and will assimilate protein ingested very quickly. After a workout, I recommend having a whey protein shake as opposed to food. The idea being we want to get protein absorbed by the muscles ASAP, whereas food needs to be broken down and absorbed.