Protein: How Much & How Often?

The main dietary sources of protein come from: -

Animal Sources: Meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy products 

Plant Sources: Grains, legumes, vegetables

Generally-speaking, animal sources are viewed as ‘high-quality’ or ‘complete’ sources of protein as they contain all the essential amino acids needed by humans. Most plant sources of protein are known as ‘low quality’ or ‘incomplete’ proteins as they lack one or more of the essential amino acids. This is why vegetarian and vegan diets need to be carefully planned to ensure that all essential amino acids are derived from the diet. For example, legumes are often consumed with grains as their amino acid combinations are complementary.

How Much Protein Do I Need?

Recommended Intakes for strength training individuals is 1.6-1.8g per kg of bodyweight. Therefore for an 80kg person this relates to a daily intake of between 128g-144g of protein per day. There is no research to suggest more muscle can be built with intakes higher than 1.8g/kg. For example, Hoffman et al (2006) found no support for protein intakes greater than 1.6-1.8g/kg in collegiate strength & power athletes for altering body composition.

Instances where it can be argued that a slightly higher intake may be optimal is in the case of beginner trainees embarking on strength training. In this scenario you could bring intakes up to 2.0g/kg of bodyweight. This is because beginners can expect to build large amounts of muscle mass when embarking on a strength training program.

Vegetarians will generally need an intake of 2.4g/kg of protein per day. This is due to the lower quality of pant-based protein which means less of the protein is absorbed by the body.

For the average gym goer who isn't looking to maximise muscle mass and just wants to lose a little weight, intakes of 1.2g/kg-1.4g/kg will be more than sufficient in maintain lean mass whilst losing body fat.

Benefits of Higher Protein Intakes: -

• Enhanced Muscle Building: An insufficient protein intake will impair someone’s ability to build muscle. This is bad news whether your goals are to build muscle or lose fat because having more lean muscle mass is important to both processes.
• Higher Thermic Effect of Food (TEF): The thermic effect of food relates to the amount of energy required to digest and absorb food. Of the 3 macronutrients, protein has the highest TEF. In practical terms this means that your body will expend more energy digesting and absorbing a high protein diet than a low protein diet, aiding in fat loss.
• Satiety: Protein is also the most satiating of the 3 macronutrients. This is excellent news for anyone wanting to lose fat, as having a high protein diet will keep them feeling fuller for longer, reducing the chance of snacking and over-eating.
• Reduced Chance of Sarcopenia: Sarcopenia is the involuntary loss of muscle mass with age, and affects up to 25% of older adults (Gregorio, et al, 2014). Women in this study who protein intakes below 1.1g/kg had higher body fat and fat-to-lean ratios than those who consumed a higher protein intake. Higher protein intakes can offset the loss of muscle mass with ageing, which is vital to health and well-being in the older populations.

Protein Distribution

Now we know how much protein we should be consuming, it is important to consider how the protein should be distributed across the day. Traditional dietary patterns generally has protein intakes skewed towards the end of the day, with a small intake at breakfast (which is usually more carb-heavy), a moderate amount at lunch, and a larger, bolus dose of protein with the evening meal. However, for the stimulation of muscle growth, a more even distribution across all meals is more effective (Mamerow, et al, 2014). This is because the body has a limited capacity to store excess protein from a single meal and acutely stimulate muscle growth at a later time, it is better to take more of an even distribution across meals throughout the day. For example, a 90g serving of protein has no greater effect on muscle protein synthesis than a more modest 30g serving.

Leucine Threshold

Leucine is one of the 9 essential amino acids, and is particularly important for us to consider as it stimulates mTor, which is highly important for muscle growth (Norton & Layman, 2006). To optimise muscle growth the total daily intake of protein is vital, but so too is the optimal intake of leucine. It is fairly easy to ensure you consume enough leucine if you follow the recommended intakes in this article and you consume a complete source protein with each meal. To ensure you meet your leucine requirements, you should consume 3g/kg of protein from a complete source in each meal. So for an 80kg individual this equates to 24g per meal. Reaching the leucine threshold in every meal is another reason why a more even distribution of protein is better than a skewed distribution, as the meals with only small amounts of protein may not reach the leucine threshold and as a result won’t stimulate muscle protein synthesis.

In Summary: -

• Protein intake may vary slightly, but generally speaking, for most strength trainees, an intake of 1.6-1.8g/kg is the recommended daily intake
• Higher protein diets are beneficial for increasing muscle mass, increasing the TEF and Increasing satiety
• Protein intakes should be evenly distributed across all meals of the day

Training Through Stressful Periods in Life

Having recently encountered a cortisol-inducing period in my life, I want to share my thoughts on training during stressful periods. No matter who we are, we will always encounter unusually stressful periods in life. This may be because of work, or relationship issues, or finances, or all 3 at once! However, the fact is, life will always throw a curve ball at us. And we can either choose to stand there and get hit in the face with it, or we can duck it and move forward with greater resilience and tenacity than ever before.

When we go through periods of high stress, physiologically we are operating on catecholamines (adrenaline, noradrenaline). We are at the mercy of the parasympathetic nervous system, and we spend far too little time in the 'rest and digest' mode of the sympathetic nervous system. As a result we are wired. We are on edge. We are anxious. We are nervous. Our appetite disappears. We fidget. We cannot concentrate. 

As a result, it is wise to alter your training stimulus. Ultimately, training is a stress on the body. When our coping resources are stretched, we aren't sleeping optimally, our nutrition is nowhere near as good as it should be, we cannot expect to train at full capacity. As a result I advise dropping the volume of your training.

Volume here refers to the amount of work carried out in a workout: -

Training Volume = Sets x Reps x Weight

In this case I advise reducing volume by cutting the number of sets you do by around 1/3. Therefore do 2 sets instead of 3. Or 3 sets instead of 5.

Another thing I advise is to avoid training too close to failure on any of your lifts... particularly on big lifts such as Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Presses, Pull Ups etc. Going to failure on any exercise is extremely taxing on the body. Therefore, as a general rule of thumb I would advise leaving at least 1-2 Reps in Reserve (RIR).

So lets say your program has 3 sets of 8 squats. Reduce the number of sets to 2. Then we need to be careful to select a load that we will be able to complete 8 reps with good form, leaving 1 or 2 reps in reserve. 

By following this protocol, you will be able to continue training during stressful periods without overdoing things. The worse thing you can do during stressful times is to stop altogether. It is far better to continue training with a reduced volume, than stop altogether. 

Once external stressors start to die down, you can then start to ramp up your training again. As much as the fitness industry tries to promote a hardcore 'no pain, no gain', 'train hard or go home' attitude, it is often wise to look past this and think more long-term. Your body will thank you for it.

Understanding the Human Metabolism

This article aims to explore the human metabolism in more detail and how it’s adaptive nature can provide obstacles for weight loss. Having a grasp of how the human metabolism operates will provide a clearer understanding of why plateaus occur and how to push through them.

So firstly, what is the ‘metabolism’? 

You can view the metabolism as a kind of internal ‘furnace’. It represents all the internal chemical reactions taking place within the cells of the body. There are 3 principle components of human metabolism: -

• Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) - Energy expended when a person is supine (lying down) at rest, in the morning, after sleep. BMR represents the rate at which the body expends energy to sustain basic life processes. In sedentary populations, BMR accounts for around 60% of total daily energy expenditure.
• Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) - Relates to the increased energy expenditure associated with the digestion, absorption and storage of food and accounts for between 10-25% of total daily energy expenditure.
• Activity Thermogenesis - Can be split into Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) and exercise-related activity. NEAT refers to any energy expenditure of daily living that is not formal activity, such as walking to work, taking stairs, fidgeting, shopping etc.

So what is ‘Adaptive Thermogenesis’? 

The best definition I have seen is by Hall (2009) who defines it as “an adaptation of metabolic rate that opposes weight change”. One of the earliest demonstrations of the existence of an adaptive decrease in thermogenesis in response to energy restriction was the Minnesota Study of 1950. Not only does human metabolism decrease in response to an acute (short term) reduction in energy intake, but the Biosphere 2 Study also demonstrated that there is a decreased energy expenditure during the maintenance of a reduced body weight over the longer term (2 years in the case of this study) (Weyer, et al, 2000). The adaptive nature of the human metabolism is why the mythical 3,500kcal weekly energy deficit has been debunked (Hall and Chow, 2013). One of the most pervasive weight loss ‘rules’ is that an energy deficit of 3,500kcal per week (500kcal per day) is required to lose 1lb (0.45kg) of body weight. However, this is a gross simplification, and doesn’t take into account the dynamic nature of human metabolism.

One of the most variable aspects of metabolism is activity thermogenesis. For example, Rudolph et al (1995), found that after a 10 or 20% loss in body weight, there was a decline in total energy expenditure, resulting from decreases in both resting and non-resting energy expenditure. Levine (2005) also found that with studies that underfed subjects, NEAT and physical activity both decrease.

“This creates an intriguing scenario whereby NEAT might act to counterbalance shifts in energy balance” (Levine, 2005)

Why does Weight Loss Often Plateau? 

There is a clear body of evidence indicating the adaptive nature of the human metabolism. This creates difficulties for people wanting to lose body weight and is often the reason why people hit weight loss plateaus despite seemingly being in an energy deficit. Recommendations we like to use are periods of ‘diet breaks’ or periods of 1-2 weeks returning to a clients’ baseline calories between periods of dietary restriction. In general, 12-16 weeks of sustained negative energy balance is as long as we go before giving the client a period of time of increased calories. This has the effect of not only providing the client with a psychological break from dieting, but it also gives the body a chance to increase it’s metabolism. This is because adaptive thermogenesis occurs both ways; decreased metabolic rate with decreasing energy intake and conversely increasing metabolic rate with increasing energy intake. Returning a client to energy balance will increase TEF as more food is being consumed. Returning a client to energy balance will also increase thyroid hormone output (Weinsier et al, 2000), decrease appetite, increase activity, and make fat mobilisation easier (McDonald, 2005). Essentially, the goal of a ‘diet break’ or period at maintenance calories is to correct the adaptive reduction in metabolic rate & allow the diet to proceed more effectively once calories are reduced again. The study by Wing & Jeffrey (2012) found that prescribing occasional breaks to a weight loss program had no negative impact on overall weight loss.

Non-linear dieting is another approach to dieting that counter-acts this decreasing metabolic rate. Oftentimes diets will prescribe a moderate caloric deficit every single day (usually around 10-20%). As seen above, a linear approach such as this will only work for so long before a plateau is reached and weight loss stalls. Non-linear diets will involve calorie fluctuations across the week. For example, 2 days of the week could see an aggressive caloric deficit (40%) and these days could coincide with days a person does not train. 3 days could involve a more moderate deficit (10%-15%) and 2 days could involve eating at maintenance calories or even in a slight surplus. So for someone with a maintenance calorie intake of 3,000 calories the week may look something like this: -

Monday: 15% Deficit (2,550kcal)
Tuesday: 40% Deficit (1,800kcal) 
Wednesday: Maintenance (3,000kcal) 
Thursday: 15% Deficit (2,550kcal) 
Friday: 40% Deficit (1,800kcal) 
Saturday: Maintenance (3,000kcal) 
Sunday: 10% Deficit (2,700kcal) 
Total Weekly Deficit: 3,600kcal

So as you can see from the example above, the average calorie deficit across the 7 days is 514kcal, which is an average of a 17% deficit from a baseline of 3,000 calories. However, because of the higher calorie days, there is far less metabolic slow down, allowing fat loss to occur without hitting a plateau. I also find this kind of dieting far easier for people to tolerate and adhere to in the long term. There are only 2 days with very low calories and there is the psychological break of knowing that there are 2 higher calorie days. This approach is usually far better tolerated than trying to maintain the same moderate calorie deficit day-in, day-out.
Here is another approach that works well with people who are social at weekends: -

Monday:  25% Deficit (2,250kcal)
Tuesday: 25% Deficit (2,250kcal)
Wednesday: 25% Deficit (2,250kcal)
Thursday: 25% Deficit (2,250kcal)
Friday: 25% Deficit (2,250kcal)
Saturday: Maintenance (3,000kcal)
Sunday: Maintenance (3,000kcal)
Total Weekly Deficit: 3,750kcal

The approach above calls for larger deficits from Monday-Friday, which then allows more freedom at weekends, which is typically when people eat out more often to socialise etc.

It must be emphasised here that as weight loss occurs, a persons’s Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) will naturally decline, so this will naturally alter what someone’s maintenance calorie intake will be. Therefore it is important to periodically re-calculate someone’s calorie needs to ensure the deficit there are in is sufficient to elicit the appropriate rate of weight loss.
 
It is not the scope of this article to go into how large calorie deficits should be. However, as a general rule, the more body fat you have to lose, the greater the calorie deficit you are able to utilise without running the risk of losing lean muscle mass. The leaner an individual becomes, the more conservative you have to be with caloric deficits, as there will be less body fat available as a fuel source and hence the risk of losing muscle mass increases. 

At this point the role of resistance training in the process of weight loss and improved body composition should be emphasised. Engaging in resistance training throughout the process of dieting is strongly advised. Resistance training elicits a range of morphological and neurological adaptations that contribute to changes in muscle function with respect to size, strength and power. Not only can these adaptations support improved athletic performance, but can also improve health-related musculoskeletal function (Egan & Zierath, 2013). Resistance training, through enhancement of physical activity-related energy expenditure, elevation of post-exercise basal metabolism, and preservation of lean mass can compensate, at least partly, for the decrease in energy expenditure in response to low energy intake (Major et al, 2007). Performing resistance training will assist in the increase in muscle tissue, which will, in turn, help to increase a person’s BMR.

Take Home Points: -

• Human Metabolism is adaptive and increases or decreases based on energy intake and a person’s lean muscle mass
• The adaptive nature of the metabolism often means purely linear approaches to dieting hit a plateau at some point
• ‘Diet Breaks’ and other non-linear approaches can be utilised to prevent plateaus from occurring
• Undertaking resistance training whilst dieting is of the upmost importance to preserve lean muscle mass, elevate metabolism post-workout, improve insulin sensitivity as well as help protect against a raft of health problems such as Type II Diabetes, obesity, hypertension, heart disease etc.
• When setting up a diet the most important factor is whether someone can stick to it or not. There are numerous ways of structuring diets to suit the individual which is something we strive to do here at Physique Wise. 

References: -

Hall, K, “Predicting Metabolic Adaptation, Body Weight Change and Energy Intake in Humans”, American Journal of Physiology, 2009.
Hall, K, “What is the Required Energy Deficit Per Unit Weight Loss”, International Journal of Obesity, 2008.
Rudolph, L et al, “Changes in Energy Expenditure Resulting from Altered Body Weight”, New England Journal of Medicine, 1995.
Levine, J, “Nonexercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT): Environment and Biology”, American Journal of Physiology, 2005.
Weyer, C et al, “Energy Metabolism after 2 Y of Energy Restriction: The Biosphere 2 Experiment”, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2000.
Major, G et al, “Clinical Significance of Adaptive Thermogenesis:, International Journal of Obesity, 2007.
Gropper, S & Smith, J, “Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism”, 2012.
Hall, K & Chow, C, “Why is the 3500kcal per Pound Weight Loss Rule Wrong?”, International Journal of Obesity, 2013.
Weinsier, R et al, “Do Adaptive Changes in Metabolic Rate Favour Weight Regain in Weight Reduced Individuals? An Examination of the Set-Point Theory”, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2000.
Egan, B & Zierath, J, “Exercise Metabolism and the Molecular Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Adaptation”, Cell Metabolism, 2013.
McDonald, L, “A Guide to Flexible Dieting”, 2005.