BCAA Basics Part 3
What does all of this mean? How can we apply all of the research we just examined? Do we simply increase the protein in the athlete’s diet to achieve all of the highlighted benefits? The increase in protein synthesis, the building of muscle, and the improvement of body composition has to all be improved with an increase in protein intake? A study by Dr. Jose Antonio gave resistance trained individuals 4.4g of protein per kg of body weight (about 2g per pound), and examined the effects that it had. 30 resistance trained individuals were split into two groups; control group, and a high protein group. The control group were told to keep the same nutrition, and training protocol throughout the study, and to track their calorie intake using MyFitnessPal. The high protein group was instructed to do the same, except ended up consuming 4.4g/kg of protein. The results showed there were no difference in body composition, or training volume. However, the high protein group did consume more calories than the control group. 1
The study shows that simply increasing protein is not the answer. The quality of protein has to be high, but the training has to be appropriate for the resistance training age as well. It was interesting that the high protein group had 800 extra calories per day for eight weeks, but it did not lead to body weight changes, increase in fat mass, or increase in lean body mass. This may be due to the fact that the training stimulus was not significant enough to elicit a response by the body. Future research based on this study, can examine higher protein intakes with a slightly lower than maintenance calorie level. This may be able to help preserve muscle, while losing weight, and keeping calories as high as possible. If the weight loss would be too drastic of a drop in calories, we may see an increase in protein breakdown, however, with a high protein intake that may offset that increase.
We are living in a very interesting time. Protein has become a large focal point of nutrition today. Many foods are now either being fortified with more protein, or protein is replacing another macronutrient in a popular dish (for example, protein cheesecake, or protein waffles). Many people just think increasing protein intake will increase muscle building capacity. It’s not that simple. Choose a protein that is high in leucine. Leucine is the critical factor in activating peak muscle protein synthesis, and the amount of leucine in a protein should be the determining factor of the quality of that protein. When we reach that peak, we can ingest more leucine approximately 2 hours after a meal, or carbohydrates. HMB is a promising sports supplement, and seems to be a significant performance enhancer. There are many factors that emerging research is finding. Now that we have examined the research. What overall conclusions can we make for the athlete looking to improve performance? A good estimation to shoot for per day is 1g/lb.2 This will provide the athlete not only with enough protein for muscle recovery, but enough for normal physiological functioning as well. From there, splitting protein into a per meal basis seems to be a good recommendation to follow. If you can split your protein intake into 30-40g of protein per meal every 4-5 hours. Why 30-40g? Because that amount of protein will usually contain 3-4g of leucine which is necessary for stimulating muscle protein synthesis in humans, depending on body size and weight.3 To extend the spike in protein synthesis, in between meals (about 2-3 hours after a meal), a branched chain amino acid supplement, a protein shake, or some quick digesting carbs can be consumed. BCAA supplement would be the best because it is readily absorbed, while the carbs, or protein shake would have to go through digestion first.
For the time being, this will finish off this little mini series, however stay tuned, there may be more BCAA research coming up!
References
Antonio J, Peacock CA, Ellerbroek A, Fromhoff B, Silver T. The effects of consuming a high protein diet (4.4 g/kg/d) on body composition in resistance-trained individuals. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2014;11:19.
Helms ER, Aragon AA, Fitschen PJ. Evidence-based recommendations for natural bodybuilding contest preparation: nutrition and supplementation. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2014;11:20.
Stark M, Lukaszuk J, Prawitz A, Salacinski A. Protein timing and its effects on muscular hypertrophy and strength in individuals engaged in weight-training. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2012;9(1):54.
