So, I see a video by a doctor offering to inform me of the “three best proteins” for building muscle…. First, his appearance is why I stress neck and trap training (besides the performance benefits). In a lab coat, it looked highly unlikely that he was a serious weight trainer. Second, he seems to imply that protein alone can build muscle. It is true that protein is essential for muscle hypertrophy; however, without an appropriate stimulus, protein will be used elsewhere structurally (e.g., other cellular structures, enzymes, etc.) or for energy (i.e., expended as or stored as fat). Simply eating more protein will not make you more muscular (though it will have some effect on improved maintenance of muscle tissue).
I didn’t listen to the sales pitch. (This always comes with a cost.) Frankly, I resist when I hear lists of the “Three best…” (or insert number). It is true that some protein sources are better than others, but in reality it comes down to the “best” for the individual based on availability, cost, and preference. Proteins are made up of amino acids. It is important to get the appropriate amount of essential amino acids, which most are unless they are eating a poor plant-based diet or not eating eggs and a variety of quality meats (e.g., chicken, fish, beef, etc. rather than processed meat by-products.
The question, then, is how much protein. I prefer to keep this simple with a target of 1 g per pound of body weight. Slightly more or less, one is still in a healthy, effective range.
Bottom line about building and maintaining muscle: the muscle needs to be stimulated. One need not pursue excessive hypertrophy, but one should seek to achieve or maintain a functional level of muscle that would permit a necessary level of physical performance and help maintain a quality of living. This does not require hours a day in the gym. (It doesn’t necessarily require any time in the gym, though it does require a level of stress on the muscle—some level of “resistance training.) It requires a modest volume of effort. Muscle is either growing (via progressive overload), maintaining, or atrophying (the principle of reversibility—“use it or lose it”). To maintain, a maintenance level of stress needs to be applied (maintenance volume). You have to keep loading the muscle at a level to maintain it, or you will begin to lose muscle mass and strength. (This is why we tend to see significant losses in muscle mass as we age.) To gain muscle mass, you need to exceed a minimum effective volume on a regular basis. You have to stress the muscle to an extent greater than that to which is accustomed. You have to exert effort to grow and maintain muscle! Protein intake is essential, but it is of lesser importance in growing/maintaining muscle without a stimulus.
Muscle has high metabolic and nutritional demands. Thus, the body isn’t going to expend protein sources to maintain it unless it is using it. So, eat adequate protein, but give it a purpose. Use the muscle. Grow the muscle.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!!