PROTEIN & YOUNG ATHLETES

By: Joe Wells, Max Muscle CEO & Founder

Protein seems to be a hot topic these days among young athletes. It does warrant the interest it generates as protein is a vital component in building lean muscle mass. We hear about the steroid infestation of athletes. The temptation is high as scholarships and dreams of playing sports at the professional level fuel the desire to win at any cost. Some kids figure the quick fix of taking a steroid will fuel them to the next level. The truth is that I have seen many great athletes do it naturally. I know you can accomplish great things naturally and protein is a vital factor in accomplishing that.

In this day and age everyone is looking for the quick fix, the magic pill. We at Max Muscle advocate a back to the basics approach. Anyone who knows me is aware that I benched more than 500 pounds in college. I never touched a steroid in college and simply used the exact same formula that I have taught young athletes for three decades now.

So what is this magic formula? Its not magic at all. In fact it is very basic and most sports nutrition experts will agree, protein is the key factor in getting results from intense training. When we ingest protein, we elevate the nitrogen balance in our bloodstream. Elevated nitrogen puts your body in an optimal state for building and repairing muscle tissue. In fact with a low/no level of nitrogen in your blood, you will begin to deteriorate lean muscle mass. That's not good!

Many athletes will attest that after they gained 15 or 20 pounds of lean muscle mass, they actually increased their 40-times and vertical jump. That seems crazy, but look at Lebron James, 260 pounds of muscle, out jumping all the 180-pound guys. He probably has less than 5 percent body fat, and that helps him propel all that lean muscle mass.

Think about this, if you gain 10 pounds and 8 pounds is fat and 2 pounds is muscle, have you really helped yourself as an athlete? You might as well strap on 8-pound ankle weights. By eating protein and training hard you can reverse this and gain 8 pounds of muscle and 2 pounds of fat. Now you are a leaner, faster and stronger athlete! That's the difference that protein and proper nitrogen balance can make and as you can see, it is a HUGE difference!

So I am sure you are asking yourself, exactly how do I elevate my nitrogen balance by eating protein? It comes down to how much protein you eat and when. When you eat protein your nitrogen balance elevates for about 3 to 4 hours. Then it falls off and waits for you to eat more protein. If you only eat protein one time per day, your nitrogen balance will be negative for most of the day. We want it to be positive, so we need to eat protein every four hours or so. A good rule is to eat about .8 grams of protein per pound of body weight. If you weigh 150 pounds, then shoot for 150g of protein per day. Divide that into four or five protein meals per day.

Here is an example of my daily protein intake to maintain positive nitrogen balance. I weigh 240 pounds, and I shoot for 30g to 40g of protein per meal. My range of protein per day is 150 to 200g and that works great for me.
7 a.m. − 30g protein shake
11:30 a.m. − Lunch, with 40g of some type of chicken,
lean beef or fish
3 p.m. − Max Crunch Bar and Iso-Extreme protein,34g
7 p.m. − Dinner with 40g of chicken, lean beef,
sushi or salmon
10 p.m. − 30g Iso-Extreme protein

My typical day consists of five servings of protein, anywhere from 30g to 40g per serving. It's OK to fall off the program from time to time. You may miss a meal or only get 20g instead of your goal of 30g. Just keep it as consistent as you can and get back on track ASAP. What you don't want to do is miss protein all day, then eat one protein meal for dinner. Also notice that I use Iso-Extreme as a protein supplement. It is very difficult and expensive to get all your protein from chicken, fish or meat. Protein supplements have less salt, cholesterol, fat and are very easy and convenient to use. Stop by your local Max Muscle store for more information on our great line of proteins.

Get out your calculator and follow this simple equation. Let's say you weigh 150 pounds. Here is the calculation: (.8) x (150 your weight) = 120 grams per day. Now divide that into four or five meals per day spaced four to five hours apart and you are on your way to a higher nitrogen balance, leading to RESULTS!