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Featured Article
Eating for Muscle Growth
When you think about managing body weight and composition for endurance performance, you probably think about reducing body fat levels. But there are some circumstances in which individual athletes need to gain muscle to perform better. It’s not muscle growth per se that they need; rather, it’s increased muscle strength and power. But muscle strength and power are closely correlated with muscle cross-sectional area. Thus, muscle growth and increased strength and power go hand-in-hand.
There are two main requirements for muscle growth: resistance training and eating habits that support muscle protein synthesis. Endurance athletes who seek muscle growth must be especially careful to eat in a manner that promotes muscle protein synthesis without also increasing their body fat stores. There are five specific dietary measures that will help you gain muscle without putting on a bunch of extra fat.
Maintain a caloric surplus
Research has shown that the most important dietary requirement for muscle growth is a caloric surplus. It is next to impossible to gain muscle mass if your body is burning you calories than you consume. This surplus need not be large, as muscle protein accretion is a slow process, and indeed your caloric surplus should not be large, but a largely daily excess of energy intake will cause more fat storage than muscle gain. A surplus of 100 calories a day is plenty.
Eat plenty of protein—but not for the reason you think!
It is widely believed that very high levels of protein intake are required to maximize muscle growth, but research has shown that this belief is false. A daily protein intake of 1.2 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of bodyweight daily is sufficient to maximize muscle growth resulting from resistance training. While this level of protein intake is greater than the recommended minimum level of 0.8 g/kg/day, it does not exceed the amount that the average person actually consumes. So there is no need to increase your level of protein intake to promote muscle growth.
However, increasing your protein consumption may help you minimize the body fat gains that often accompany muscle growth. The reason is that dietary protein is less readily converted into body fat than dietary carbohydrate and fat. Consequently, if you maintain a diet with a 100-calorie daily surplus, in which 30-percent of your calories come from protein, you are likely to gain less fat than if you maintain a diet with a 100-calorie daily surplus in which only 18 percent of your daily calories come from protein (which is average), although the amount of muscle gain is likely to be the same on both diets.
Eat animal foods
Animal proteins are more conducive to muscle growth than plant proteins, for a few reasons. First, they are complete proteins, meaning they contain all of the essential amino acids that the body cannot synthesize for itself, whereas proteins from plant foods are not complete. Second, animal proteins are more bioavailable than plant proteins, meaning they are more readily incorporated into the cells of the body. Only 78 percent of the protein contained in high-fiber legumes is actually digested, compared to 97 percent of the protein contained in animal foods. Finally, and not least important, animal foods tend to contain much larger amounts of protein than plant foods. For example, a large (1-cup) serving of brown rice contains only 4.5 grams of protein. By contrast, a small (3-ounce) serving of beef flank steak provides nearly 23 grams of protein.
For all of these reasons, you are likely to find it easier to gain muscle if you get most of your protein from animal foods such as fish and dairy products. However, it is certainly not impossible to gain muscle on a vegetarian diet. You just have to work a little harder at it. Because plant proteins are less bioavailable, you should aim for a target of 1.8 to 2.0 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight daily if you don’t eat meat. Meeting this requirement will be much easier if you make regular use of vegetarian protein supplements such as soy protein shakes.
Consume carbs and protein after workouts
The timing of protein consumption has a significant effect on the rate of muscle protein synthesis. Research has shown that protein consumed immediately before, during, and immediately after exercise causes more muscle protein synthesis than equal amounts of protein consumed at other times.
The optimal amount of protein consumption after exercise is 20 grams. Consuming protein with carbohydrate after workouts is proven to result in even greater amounts of muscle protein synthesis. This is because carbohydrate stimulates the release of insulin, which in turn transports the amino acids from dietary protein to the muscle cells and initiates muscle proteins synthesis. I’ll say much more on the topic of nutrient timing in Chapter X.
Take a creatine supplement
Creatine phosphate is a fuel that the muscles rely on for maximum-intensity efforts such as sprinting 100 yards. Certain precursors of creatine phosphate, such as creatine monohydrate, are taken supplementally to increase creatine phosphate stores in the muscles. Research has shown that creatine supplementation enhances gains in muscle strength, size, and power resulting from resistance training, as well as performance in repeated high-intensity intervals. While creatine is extremely popular among strength athletes and recreational weightlifters, few endurance athletes use it. Yet it is likely to be very helpful to those endurance athletes who are seeking greater muscle strength and power. I’ll say more about creatine supplementation in Chapter X.
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