We’ve all been told that protein intake after exercise is important, but just how much is enough?   As it turns out, a definitive study was published recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition with the answer to that exact question.

What’s even better is that I managed to snag Dan Moore, the lead author of the study and also an old school mate, to chat with us about some of the findings.

For those who need to check out the study for themselves, here’s the reference:

Moore DR, Robinson MJ, Fry JL, Tang JE, Glover EI, Wilkinson SB, Prior T, Tarnopolsky MA, Phillips SM.  Ingested protein dose response of muscle and albumin protein synthesis after resistance exercise in young men.  Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jan;89(1):161-8. 

In the meantime, let’s get down to the interview.

Hey Dan!  Long time no chat.  Obviously this new paper has shed some light on the amount of protein we really require after exercise.  Can you tell us a little bit about the study?

Sure Mark.  Thanks for taking an interest in our recent study. The reason for conducting the study was that most people know that lifting weights builds muscle and that eating some protein after exercise helps this process along; however, no study had ever really looked at how much protein we need to maximize muscle protein synthesis (which is essentially a marker of how much new protein is made) during recovery from exercise.

Therefore, we designed the study so that normal resistance trained young men performed five separate sessions of intense of lower body resistance exercise followed immediately by the ingestion of a drink containing 0, 5, 10, 20, or 40g of high quality egg protein to help stimulate muscle protein synthesis. However, because there is a limit to how quickly our bodies can make new protein, we also measured how much of the protein in the drink was converted to fuel and used as a source of energy (which is the main fate of excess dietary protein).
 

What we found was that as little as 5 g of dietary protein increased the rate of muscle protein synthesis showing that even small amounts of protein can help your muscle rebuild after exercise. However, 10 g of protein was slightly better than 5 g at making new muscle proteins. After eating 20 g of protein the muscle was making new proteins at a rate that was twice as great as when no protein was eaten, clearly showing that eating protein after exercise helps make new muscle proteins. However, we were intrigued to find out that even if the protein that was eaten after exercise was doubled from 20 to 40 g (which is the amount of protein commonly found in a single serving of most weight gain protein shakes) there was no additional increase in muscle protein synthesis showing that there is a limit as to how much protein your body can use to build new muscle.

In fact, we also saw that leucine oxidation (which is a marker of how much protein your body is using as energy) was markedly increased after ingestion of 20 and especially 40 g of protein. This suggests that the amount of protein in the recovery drink had saturated the body’s ability to make new protein and that it was now being converted to a source of fuel for the muscle and other organs of the body, which then makes the amino acids from the protein drinks unavailable for muscle rebuilding. Therefore, based on the findings from this study we suggested that the amount of dietary protein that maximizes muscle rebuilding yet minimizes the use of amino acids for fuel (what we defined as the “optimal” amount) is about 15-20g of high quality protein.

So basically what you’re saying is that we don’t need to consume any more than 15-20 grams of high quality protein to maximize protein synthesis after exercise?  That’s great info!  You could basically get that in a 500ml serving of milk!
 

What do you think about the addition of other macronutrients like carbohydrates to the 20 grams of protein?  Obviously you’re aware of the studies that suggest that carbs and protein together are better than protein alone post-exercise.  Would you be able to speculate whether this might work better or do you think that synthetic response might be totally maxed out with the 20 grams of protein?
 

Most studies that have included carbohydrates in the post-exercise nutrition have actually failed to detect an additional stimulation of protein synthesis relative to protein ingestion alone. These findings are consistent with the fact that the stimulation of protein synthesis is related almost entirely to the presence of amino acids, especially the essential amino acids (which are found in fairly large amounts in most high quality proteins).

However, there are some studies that suggest that carbohydrates may be slightly better than protein or amino acids at inhibiting muscle protein breakdown, which would function to increase the net protein balance of the muscle (protein synthesis minus protein breakdown) and could therefore translate into a slightly greater amount of total muscle proteins made after exercise.
 

What is clear about the role of carbohydrates in post-exercise nutrition is that they help replenish muscle glycogen stores, which is important for those individuals who have relatively long or intense training sessions or who train more than once per day. Therefore, from a practical standpoint it would be important for individuals to consume adequate carbohydrates to at least replenish the energy used during the training session.
 

Now this study was conducted when people were in a weight maintenance phase.  Some studies suggest that if people are in negative calorie balance they might require a slightly greater amount of protein to maintain muscle mass.  Do you think this would have any significant influence on the amount of protein required after exercise as well?
 

This is a good question. There is some evidence to suggest that increasing the amount of protein in the diet helps maintain muscle mass during a situation of negative energy balance when individuals are restricting calorie intake without exercise. However, we know that resistance exercise is inherently anabolic and improves the muscle’s ability to reutilize the amino acids that come from the breakdown of muscle proteins. Also, compared to individuals who don’t exercise, resistance exercise increases the muscle’s ability to use small amounts of amino acids from the diet to build muscle tissue. Collectively, this ultimately translates into a more efficient use of dietary protein with resistance exercise and would function to help maintain lean body mass during periods of reduced energy.
 

This situation may be altered slightly though if people are performing aerobic exercise during the period of negative energy as this form of exercise is not as anabolic as resistance exercise. There is some evidence showing that when individuals are in calorie deficit and performing endurance exercise that increasing the amount of protein in the diet helps reduce the loss of lean body mass.
 

Further work needs clearly needs to be done in this area, but from a practical standpoint people who are in negative energy balance and performing primarily aerobic exercise may need to eat an additional 5-10g of protein after exercise. However, if resistance exercise is included in the period of negative calorie balance then there is probably no need to consume large amounts of protein after exercise.
 

One quote from the study is going to piss off a lot of people and drive a lot of keyboard nutrition gurus absolutely nuts.  Frankly, I think it’s great.

“Our findings have implications for protein recommendations for resistance trained athletes in terms of the quantity of dietary protein that might maximize muscle growth. If we assume that a 20g protein dose maximally stimulates muscle protein synthesis after exercise and we know that resistance exercise enhances the synthesis of muscle protein for at least 24h, one could ask how many times in a day could someone consume such a dose to stimulate muscle anabolism that would ultimately translate into muscle growth?

Because muscle protein synthesis becomes refractory to persistent aminoacidemia [i.e., even if you infuse  protein into the muscle the synthetic response will drop off] and excess amino acids are lost to oxidation, we speculate that no more than 5–6 times daily could one ingest this amount (’20 g) of protein and expect muscle protein synthesis to be maximally stimulated. Protein consumption in excess of this rate or dose would ultimately lead to oxidative loss. In addition, given that the capacity to oxidize amino acids adapts to the diet and can actas a key regulator of protein stores, chronic protein consumption in excess of this rate or dose could actually lead to dampening of the protein synthetic response to suboptimal (ie,20 g) protein doses [i.e., getting less of a response from the same amount of protein].”

So you’re basically saying that somewhere from 100 – 120 grams of quality protein per day would be enough to maximize the protein synthetic response in a resistance trained male?
 

Yes. In the case of our ~85kg resistance trained males consuming 20g of protein 5-6 times per day (i.e. every 2-3h), this would translate into 100-120 g of protein over the course of a day or the equivalent of 1.2-1.4 g of protein per kg body mass per day. This level of dietary protein intake has been shown be sufficient to increase muscle strength and mass (which likely resulted from a maximized protein synthetic response) in young men. In addition, this level of protein intake and pattern of feeding would maximize the amount of dietary amino acids that would be used as substrates to build muscle protein rather than as a source of fuel (i.e. oxidized), which would increase the dietary efficiency of this relatively expensive macronutrient.

There is also considerable evidence showing that overall energy intake is more important than total protein intake for changes in lean body mass and strength. Therefore if the goal of training is to increase muscle mass, it is more important to ensure calorie intake is positive rather than to increase dietary protein intake.
 

And finally, based on your research experience do you have any parting recommendations with regards to post-workout supplementation to maximize muscle growth for the average lifter?
 

Consume 20g of protein and adequate energy immediately after exercise and roughly every 3h after that to maximize muscle protein synthesis and keep it elevated throughout the day. As a guideline, follow recommendations from the Canada Food Guide and eat a balanced diet containing a variety of different foods to ensure adequate vitamin and nutrient intake throughout the day. And above all, make sure you’re having fun!

Thanks Dan!  It’s been great talking with you.

No problem.

For those reading, thoughts, questions, and comments are welcomed below.

Okay…today I didn’t have anything really cool and exciting to write about exercise, but I did remember a question that a client asked me one day and it totally ruined my day while I tried to figure it out.

Three men go to a hotel room to stay and the cost for the room is $30 per night. They each put $10 on the table, which the bellboy collects and takes to the till. The hotel manager informs the bellboy that the bill should only have been for $25 and returns $5 to the bellboy in $1 bills. On the way back to the room the bellboy realizes that he cannot divide the bills equally between the men. As they didn’t know the total of the revised bill, he dishonestly decides to put $2 in his own pocket and give each of the men $1.

Now that each man has been given a dollar back, each of the men has paid $9. Three times 9 is 27. The bellboy has $2 in his pocket. Two plus 27 is $29. The men originally handed over $30.

Where is the missing dollar?

Enjoy!

Last week I posted a couple blogs on interval training for fat loss.  If you missed them you can check them out here.

Part I
Part II

I hadn’t initially planned to write a part three, but in light of the questions I’m being asked, I realized I may have left out a few things.

Training Frequency for the Conditioning Period

As with most things, the amount of interval training you need to be doing depends on several variables so there is no cut and dry answer that applies to everybody.  However, I generally like to start with two interval sessions per week and build from there.

Whether you’re a complete novice and you’ve never touched a weight in your life or you’ve trained for years I’m going to suggest that you start off nice and easy by performing the introductory cardio phase three times per week for three weeks.  If you’re a novice, you also need to start weight training (what to do specifically is beyond the scope of this article), and get your diet together.

If you’re more advanced, it wouldn’t hurt you to review your diet too.  All great physique transformations start in the kitchen so this is an essential starting point for any fat loss plan.  If you’re looking for ways to lose fat, chances are that your diet isn’t where it needs to be in the first place.

I personally like to start most of my fat loss clients with a 5 session per week exercise plan and go up or down from there as necessary.

Here is a sample NOVICE template for the conditioning period
2 Lifting Days / 2 Cardio Days / 1 Recreational Day

Mon  – Off
Tues – Weights
Wed  – 30 Minutes Cardio
Thurs – Weights
Fri – 30 Minutes Cardio
Sat  – Off
Sun – Long Walk, Hike, or Recreational Sport

Here is a more ADVANCED template for the conditioning period
3-4 Lifting Days / 2 Cardio Days / 1 Recreational Day

Mon  – Weights
Tues – 30 Minutes Cardio
Wed  – Weights
Thurs – 30 Minutes Cardio
Fri – Weights
Sat  – Weights (optional)
Sun – Long Walk, Hike, or Recreational Sport

You’ll notice that I don’t like indoor “cardio” very much and I know most other people don’t either so I encourage my clients to get out and do stuff that they actually enjoy.  This leads to greater long term adherence to the program and an increased likelihood of surrounding themselves with other active people instead of coach potatoes.

If fat loss was my goal and I had to drop an exercise day due to time and recovery constraints I’d probably drop one of my lifting days (i.e., Saturday) instead of a cardio/recreational bout.

Training Frequency for Intervals

After the three week conditioning period you can start into the interval training as described in Part II, but don’t go at it more than twice per week.  Personally I’d suggest doing it on “off” days from your training to start.  If you’re doing all the things I’ve suggested above and added interval training you should be getting results.  If you’re not, it’s probably your diet.  Check this before thinking about more intervals.

Here is a sample NOVICE template for interval training
2 Lifting Days / 2 Interval Days / 1 Recreational Day

Mon  – Off
Tues – Weights
Wed  – Intervals
Thurs – Weights
Fri – Intervals
Sat  – Off
Sun – Long Walk, Hike, or Recreational Sport

Here is a more ADVANCED template for interval training
3 Lifting Days / 2 Interval Days / 1 Recreational Day

Mon  – Weights
Tues – Intervals
Wed  – Weights
Thurs – Intervals
Fri – Weights
Sat  – Off
Sun – Long Walk, Hike, or Recreational Sport

If you MUST add a 4th training day I would use this template
4 Lifting Days / 4 Interval Days / 1 Recreational Day

Mon  – Weights / Intervals
Tues – Weights / Intervals
Wed  – Off
Thurs – Weights / Intervals
Fri – Weights / Intervals
Sat  – Off
Sun – Long Walk, Hike, or Recreational Sport

In this case I think that the increased recovery demands from the weight training, dieting (you are trying to lose fat right?), and intervals would require at least two off days during the week.  I would suggest abbreviating all workouts to 30-45 minutes and performing intervals at the end.  Alternatively, intervals could be done in the morning and training at night or vice versa to save time.  This could also be done for a 3 day lifting program in the interest of time or recovery.

However, I think it should be said that this level of training is not usually necessary if your diet is where it should be.  I’ve only had to use this level of exercise with ONE client in 9 years so think twice before trying this yourself.

Also, if you’re on a severe diet such as that described in Lyle McDonald’s Rapid Fat Loss Handbook, don’t even think about attempting intervals.  You just won’t be able to recover and you’ll be doing more harm than good.

Used carefully intervals can be the missing key to a ripped midsection.  Used stupidly they can lead directly to overtraining and feeling like crap.

Be smart and get lean.

Yesterday I introduced the virtues of interval training for fat loss.  Today I’m going to lay out a very straightforward plan so you can actually include it in your training.

 Wingate aftermath: Note the number of towels

Step 2 – Introducing Sprints

I’ve seen people running for 3 minutes and walking for 2 minutes and calling in interval training.  So I’m going to clarify by stating that only Short High Intensity Training (S.H.I.T) is best for fat loss.  All other forms of interval training that use longer intervals may be useful for certain athletic situations, but they are not best for fat loss.

To properly perform S.H.I.T your bouts must be:

- High intensity
- Short duration
- Have rest periods where you are doing absolutely nothing

I’ve seen people pedaling lightly on a bike for “active recovery”, but I don’t agree with this practice as it increases the time needed for full recovery.  And yes, I’m aware that it helps clear lactate from the muscle…blah, blah, blah.  I’m only asking for a few minutes.  You’ll have the whole rest of the day to clear your lactate.

To properly perform a sprint you must go ALL OUT for anywhere from 30 seconds to a maximum of 1 minute to get the best effect.  I don’t think that this should change for novices.  However, I do think that the rest time and total number of sprints should be adjusted accordingly.

I personally prefer shorter sprints for fat loss so here’s how I think a beginner program should look after the general conditioning phase.  I would strongly advise the use of a stationary bike for this as I don’t like treadmills for sprint work.  Adjust the tension up so that it allows you to exert a maximal effort for the full 30 seconds.

Note: Even if you’re an advanced trainee, if you haven’t done intervals before you’re technically a beginner in this regard.

Note #2: The program below is just a guide and it should be adjusted if you’re finding it too easy or too hard for your current level of conditioning.  Some people need a full 4 minute rest between each interval in the beginning.  Adjust accordingly.

Week 1 – 4 intervals (1:4 work to rest ratio)

Interval #1 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #2 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #3 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #4 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds

Week 2 – 5 intervals (1:4 work to rest ratio)

Interval #1 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #2 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #3 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #4 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #5 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds

Week 3 – 6 intervals (1:4 work to rest ratio)

Interval #1 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #2 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #3 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #4 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #5 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #6 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds

Week 4 – 7 intervals (1:4 work to rest ratio)

Interval #1 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #2 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #3 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #4 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #5 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #6 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #7 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds

Week 5 – 7 intervals (1:3 work to rest ratio for first two intervals – 1:4 work to rest for remaining intervals)

Interval #1 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #2 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #3 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #4 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #5 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #6 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #7 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds

Week 6 – 7 intervals (1:3 work to rest ratio for first four intervals – 1:4 work to rest for remaining intervals)

Interval #1 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #2 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #3 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #4 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #5 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #6 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds
Interval #7 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds

Week 7 – 7 intervals (1:3 work to rest ratio for first six intervals – 1:4 work to rest for remaining interval)

Interval #1 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #2 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #3 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #4 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #5 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #6 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #7 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 120 seconds

Week 8 – 7 intervals (1:3 work to rest ratio for ALL intervals)

Interval #1 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #2 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #3 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #4 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #5 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #6 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds
Interval #7 – Sprint 30 seconds – Rest 90 seconds

If you happen to feel inclined to do longer intervals instead of the proposed 30 second intervals above a shorter work to rest ratio is advised (1:3 for novices and 1:2 for more advanced trainees).

For example:

Novice: Sprint 60 seconds – Rest 180 seconds
Advanced: Sprint 60 seconds – Rest 120 seconds

One more bonus tidbit on interval training

Recently I was reading a post by Mike Boyle on Eric Cressey’s blog and he suggested that instead of using a set time for the rest interval that heart rate could be used instead.  He proposed that 60% of your theoretical heart rate maximum could be used to determine your rest time.

So if you were 30 years old your 60% mark would be:

(220 – Age) x 60%
(220 – 30) x 0.6 = 114 beats per minute

In this case, you would simply wear a heart rate monitor and perform your sprint as usual.  Afterward, when your heart rate dropped to 114 beats per minute it would be time to go again.  In essence, this would eliminate the need to time the intervals between sets and it would automatically adjust the difficulty based on your level of conditioning and fatigue.

Less conditioned people would be allowed more time to recover and more conditioned people would be allowed less.  However, as the less fit people became increasingly fit, the rest times would automatically decrease.

Coincidentally (I’m not even sure if Mike noticed this or not), the ACSM guideline for increasing aerobic fitness is to increase the heart rate above 60% of your theoretical max for 20 minutes at a time.  Go figure!

Regardless of whether you’re timing or using your heart rate as a guide, you can finally get out there and do interval training the way it was meant to be done.

What are you waiting for?

Go get ripped!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably familiar with the fact that interval training is as good as, if not better than, long steady state exercise for improving cardiovascular ability.  In other words, short bursts of high intensity exercise (often called sprints) are better than endless hours of monotony on a treadmill for improving performance.  That’s good news for those of us who absolutely HATE mind numbing long duration cardio.

However, what also soon became clear in the fitness industry is that interval training is equally good for fat loss too!  The day I figured that out I felt like a won the lottery.  I took my family and friends out for dinner, bought myself a Ferrari, took my wife to Tiffanys and told her to pick out the biggest rock they had in the place.  Okay, I’m exaggerating a little bit.  Only the part about the Ferrari is true…but I digress.

The point is that if you’re doing long boring steady state cardio for fat loss you need to stop now.  The metabolic changes produced by sprint training are the same so you can stop wasting your time. 

And here’s another bonus…distance runners (or those people who are trying to be distance runners in hopes of losing body fat) are often plagued with injuries.  Some of the common complaints include plantar fasciitis, hamstring pulls, knee pain, and IT band problems just to name a few.  The sad part is that many of these things are highly related to overuse and they could be totally avoided or at least minimized if the person just did interval training instead.  Since the bouts of work are so short, the risk of overuse is low which makes this an even better reason to switch.

What exactly is an interval?

In most of the studies that have been done so far, the intervals used were 30 seconds of high intensity cycling against a very high resistance (otherwise known as a Wingate).  If you’ve never had the “pleasure” of performing a Wingate I should warn you that vomiting is common, nausea is a norm.  And since most of the subjects are usually untrained to begin with, you’d think that a bucket should be mandatory when performing this type of cardio.  Fortunately, most studies allow the subjects to rest for 4 minutes between bouts, but they do have to perform up to 7 of them.

The good news is that over the course of a couple weeks the interval training subjects become used to the training and they recover faster.  While the endurance training subjects in the study would come in every day for an hour and ride the stationary bike, the interval training subjects would be in and out in 30 minutes and the ended up getting exactly the same results.  What is even more impressive is that the interval training subjects only actually did a total of 3.5 minutes of work the whole time they were there.  The rest of the time they were just sitting around chatting.

So how do I actually do this stuff myself?

Herein lies the problem.  Everyone knows that interval training is great for fat loss (if you didn’t before you do now), but nobody actually knows how to do it so I’m going to give you a step by step guide on how to introduce interval training.

Step 1 – General Conditioning

Start by following a general cardiovascular conditioning phase for 2-3 weeks…especially if you’re not currently very conditioned (i.e., you’ve never been on a treadmill, but think you might have seen one in that area of the gym where all the cardio bunnies hang out).  At least twice per week hop on a stationary bike or a stair climber (notice that I didn’t say treadmill or elliptical you sissy) and hammer out a solid 30 minutes of sweat inducing cardio.  If you’re on the stair climber try not to use the hand rails.

I know this doesn’t really sound all that scientific and it really isn’t.  This is just to prevent you from tossing your cookies in front of the aforementioned ladies when you start your sprint training.  Trust me.  I’m doing you a favor.  I’ve seen far too many people try to leap right into sprint training and end up hating it so much because of the nausea that they never try it again.  Just take a couple weeks and get yourself some baseline conditioning.  You’ll appreciate it later.

And no, you’re not going to lose muscle mass, yada, yada, yada.  Don’t be an idiot.  If you haven’t been doing cardio to this point you could probably use it.

Tune in tomorrow and I’ll be laying out a complete introductory sprint program to help you shed fat and blow your cardiovascular conditioning through the roof!