Elite Physique The New Science of Building a Better Body

50 Elite Physique
MUSCLE RULE 7:
Eat at least 1.6
grams of protein
per kilogram of
body weight.
it needs for hypertrophy. Since you never know which amino acid(s) your body
will need at any given time, it’s a wise choice to eat foods that contain all 20:
animal proteins (i.e., meat and fish), eggs, and dairy. There are vegetarian options
as well, such as soy, quinoa, rice, and beans; however, they all lack the level of
BCAAs contained in meat, eggs, and dairy.
The million-dollar question that everyone wants to know is, How much protein
do I need? In 2014, a systematic review of resistance trained lean athletes on a
caloric deficit recommended 2.3 to 3.1 grams of protein per kilogram (kg) of fat
free mass (Helms et al. 2014). For this equation you would first need an accurate
determination of your body fat percentage, preferably by a DEXA scan. Let’s say
a guy weighs 200 pounds (91 kg) and the DEXA indicated he has 20 percent body
fat. That means he has 160 pounds (i.e., 72 kg) of fat free mass, which equates
to 166 to 223 grams of protein each day. That’s a lot of food to eat considering it
takes four whole eggs or four ounces (120 g) of steak to get 28 grams of protein.
A more recent recommendation is a minimum of 1.6 grams per kg of body
weight (not fat free mass), spread evenly across a minimum of four meals per
day (Schoenfeld and Aragon 2018). So this same 200-pound guy would need to
eat at least 146 grams each day, or 36 grams in each of his four meals, which is a
more realistic and viable goal for anyone not married to a chef. This same research
suggests an upper limit of 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per
day (i.e., 200 grams for a 200-pound person). In my experience, it’s
best to start at the low end of any protein recommendation to analyze
how you look, feel, and perform. From there, increase your protein
intake if you believe you could benefit from more.
Finally, getting that protein from food is always recommended;
however, you can make up any difference by consuming a high-quality
protein powder such as cold-processed whey protein concentrate.
Deload
If you’ve been lifting for a while, you know there are times when your body seems
to give up on you. Your bench press and deadlift haven’t improved in months.
You cut your workouts short because you just don’t have the energy. Your motivation
sinks, and you start looking for excuses to skip workouts.
Some of this is inevitable. The stressors of work and life compete for your energy
and compromise your recovery. But sometimes the problem is your program.
You’ve been pushing too hard for too long, and your body simply needs a break.
That’s why most strength and conditioning coaches include a deload in their
athletes’ training programs. The concept is simple enough: You train with less
volume and intensity for a week. How often you deload depends on your training
experience. If you’re an advanced lifter, you might need a deload every third week.
Complete novices might not need to back off until they’ve trained consistently
for two or three months. Everyone between those two extremes will probably
do well with a planned deload every four to six weeks. The key word is planned.
A deload week should be scheduled in advance.
But you never really know when you’re going to hit a wall, which means it’s
hard to predict exactly where in your program you’ll need a deload. Even experienced
lifters can underestimate how hard they’re working, and how much time