I have a guy who trains with me at the club who never drinks protein after a workout. I decided to ask him why he does not take sports nutrition like everyone else.

It turned out that everything is simple - he is absolutely sure that sports nutrition is not only addictive, but can also lead to disastrous consequences. I failed to convince him of the absurdity of his thinking.

I sat on various forums, trying to find out if bodybuilding without protein can exist and if it is realistic to achieve results. More on this later…

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Is it possible to build muscle without protein

The modern power athlete has been so spoiled by civilization that he cannot imagine his life without sports nutrition. But some nutritionists believe that this component is completely optional, it only makes life easier, and even a properly composed balanced diet can bring the result.

A worthy replacement for protein is considered by many to be products containing protein, such as meat, eggs, fish and dairy products (cheese, milk, cottage cheese, and others).

But is the replacement the same? In the event that a bodybuilder wants to achieve results on a regular diet without protein, you should first find out how much protein the body will absorb.

And when using only ordinary products, it is quite difficult, because in addition to protein, they also contain fats and carbohydrates. Therefore, along with a large amount of protein, unwanted components can enter the body.

Using sports nutrition, it is much easier to calculate how much and what nutrients will enter your body. But if you are determined to give up sports nutrition, you should be prepared for a long wait for the result and a slow increase in muscle mass.

Another negative point of ordinary (but high-quality) food is its high cost, because truly healthy and complete food is expensive.

What and how to eat an athlete when refusing sports nutrition

To begin with, you should be patient, because by giving up protein, you complicate and lengthen your path to a sports result. To achieve the goal, strict discipline and self-confidence are needed.

So, here are some tips to help you reach your peak in sports.

• First you need to determine what calorie intake should be for gaining muscle mass. To do this, multiply your body weight by 40 and get the answer you need. If your weight is 70 kg, but the required number of calories will be 2800 kilocalories per day.
• The next step is the calculation of the daily diet of proteins, fats and carbohydrates for your body. To achieve the goal - a set of muscle mass, proteins, carbohydrates and fats should be distributed as follows, 30%: 50%: 20%. Thus, the share of protein in the daily diet falls 840 kcal, carbohydrates - 1400 kcal and fat - 560 kcal.
• Now we need to calculate the required amount of nutrients. We know that 1 gram of protein and carbohydrates contains 4 kilocalories, and 1 gram of fat contains 9. Therefore, to achieve the desired body weight, you need 210 grams of protein, 350 grams of carbohydrates, and 62 grams of fat.
• The next step is to select the desired products according to the resulting calculations. To do this, we need literature describing the calorie content and nutritional value of each product and a kitchen scale. For accounting, you should stock up on a notebook or notepad, where you should record everything eaten during the day.

By the way, you should not drastically abandon the usual diet. The transition to a new diet must be carried out gradually so that the body does not have a state of stress. The period of adaptation to a new diet takes about 2 weeks.

When you're sticking to a new diet to build muscle, you should pay attention to your carb intake, which can be "slow" or "fast".

After training, “fast” carbohydrates should not be consumed; it is better to give preference to quickly digestible protein foods (boiled fish, eggs and milk). Long digestible proteins and "slow" carbohydrates are best eaten for breakfast.

And you also need to remember to consume the right amount of liquid, which should be whiter than 2 liters in the daily diet. Preference should be given to water and green tea.

As you can see, a pain-builder can get the desired result even without sports nutrition, if he has patience and puts in more effort. Don't forget to share it on your social media. And visit my blog more often.

In the gym, I had to see many novice athletes who, on principle, did not take sports nutrition, and in particular, protein, preferring to exercise, in their opinion, “purely” and without the use of any sports supplements. For experienced athletes and people who understand the issues of muscle growth, training and nutrition, this approach seems obviously wrong and based only on the lack of knowledge and experience of those who practice it. Meanwhile, today we will analyze the question of whether it is possible to build muscle without using sports nutrition based on?

Why does an athlete need an additional intake of protein (protein)?

Our body is designed in such a way that only heavy intensive training has a stimulating effect on muscle growth. They force the body to turn on adaptive reactions, one of which is an increase in muscle mass. After all, the larger the size of the muscles, the more adapted the body to a regular power load.

Meanwhile, the process of muscle tissue growth requires an increased consumption of resources, the main of which are amino acids, which act as the main building material for muscles. Amino acids, on the other hand, are split proteins (proteins) that enter the bloodstream and ensure the correct implementation of the body's adaptive reactions - in our case, this is muscle growth.

What happens if there is not enough amino acid to meet the current needs of the body and the growth of new muscle tissue? In this case, protein synthesis in the body (muscle growth) slows down to a minimum or stops altogether, and the body's internal reserves begin to go into consumption - amino acids obtained during the breakdown of its own muscle tissue. Thus, the lack of protein (protein) in the body, with regular power loads, at least does not lead to muscle growth. The greater the protein deficiency, the more pre-existing muscle tissue will be broken down by the body to meet current amino acid requirements.

So is it possible to build muscle without taking sports protein?

Thus, you can pump up without the use of sports protein if you consume a sufficient amount of protein during the day and after training, which is based on high-quality protein with the fastest absorption rate.

You will need

• Dietary guide, pen, notebook or text editor on a computer, calculator, kitchen scale.

Instruction

The first step is to find out how many calories per day you need to consume to gain muscle mass. To do this, multiply your weight by 40, the resulting figure will be the required number of calories consumed. That is, if the body weight is 70 kg, then multiplying it by 40, we get 2800 kcal. Now, knowing the required calorie intake, we can calculate how much protein, fat and carbohydrates should be consumed. About 25-30% of calories should be proteins, 55-60% carbohydrates and 15-20% fats. For example, let's take the following ratio: 25/55/20. With this ratio, we get that protein, carbohydrates and fats will account for 700, 1540 and 560 kcal. Knowing that 1 g of proteins and carbohydrates is equal to 4 kcal, and 1 g of fat is 9 kcal, we continue our calculations:

700: 4 = 175g protein;
1540: 4 = 385g carbs;
560:9 = 62g fat.

So it's time to select the necessary food and their quantity. It may seem at first that this is a complicated process, but in fact it is not. All that is required at this stage is a dietary guide, a kitchen scale (you can do without them, since almost all products in stores are already packaged by weight) and a notebook with a pen for writing. In order for the transition to the required diet to be easy and not bring discomfort, it is better to carry it out gradually, for example, within a week or two. Choose a few days during which you write down everything you eat, and closer to sleep, calculate the caloric content of the food you eat and the amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates according to the scheme described above. This simple task will help you understand what changes should be made to the diet.

It is worth remembering that not all proteins and carbohydrates are the same. For breakfast and dinner, it is better to choose foods that will provide the body with nutrients for a long time. The source of such carbohydrates are various cereals and flour products, and proteins - meat, cottage cheese, and poultry. After a workout, to quickly replenish the body's energy resources, it is better to choose the so-called fast carbohydrates and easily digestible proteins. The source of the first will be all kinds of sweets and fruits, and the second - fish, eggs.

It is also worth remembering that during the period of weight gain you need to drink enough water (at least two liters per day). And completely eliminate the use of alcohol, which removes water from the cells, making them weak, which reduces the volume and strength of the muscles.

note

If, following the topic given in this article, you do not get the desired result (for example, you practically did not gain weight in a month), then increase the caloric intake by 200-300 kcal, and follow the changes. If the result remains the same, then most likely you need to look for a problem in the training program. For most, three workouts a week is the limit, and for some, two is enough. If the problem was overload, then before moving on to a new training scheme, you should give yourself at least a ten-day break from the gym.

Everyone who in one way or another revolves around the topic of bodybuilding and gaining muscle mass has heard about sports nutrition: proteins, gainers, amino acids, etc. Some idiots even think these supplements are bad! But that's their problem. Now I want to talk not about the dangers of protein, but about whether you need to buy it!

A couple of years ago it was difficult to find sports supplements in our city, but now almost every gym and even stores are teeming with them! Despite the fact that the city is small less than 1 million people.

It turns out that the protein is profitable to sell, like the entire line sports nutrition. Well, yes, we are brainwashed, they say, you won’t gain mass without protein and other nonsense. But the most important reason why they do it is constant sales! You buy sports nutrition again and again.

It even got to the point that many (even experienced athletes) began to believe that protein is some kind of miracle supplement that you just need to take, in addition to training, and muscles will grow. And without taking protein or other sports nutrition there will be no such effect.

But the mere fact that you are taking any supplements, even hormonal drugs, does not give you any guarantee that you will gain at least 1 kg of muscle mass!

How to make your workouts effective, so that every movement brings an increase in muscle mass and strength, I still tell in the articles of this blog. Do not miss.

Here are additional resources on the topic:

Products replacing sports nutrition

Before, I also thought that there was no place without protein. But in order to give objective advice to my readers, I have to check everything on my own skin! I tried gainers, several types of proteins, creatine, carnitine, etc. Yes, I got good results, but since I took all the protein supplements besides food, I bloated like a balloon and I had to force them into me!

I thought: after all, you can get the necessary amount of protein and carbohydrates just by eating normally, changing your diet, but what would not be very expensive. And I found a way.

I have completely given up sports nutrition and experimented for a long time. At first he began to eat buckets of lentils. It contains about 24% protein. The mass is well flooded, lentils are also suitable for drying, since they contain complex carbohydrates. But eating only lentils is purely psychologically difficult. I started looking for other ways. I tried cottage cheese. I do not like it + I am a vegetarian and do not eat dairy products at all. BUT for the sake of experiment I tried it.

The results were good. Cottage cheese has diversified my diet. I have tried low fat (good for drying) and low fat 10-15%. (good for mass gain). But when I started to eat 1 kg of cottage cheese a day, I noticed that it was not very cheap at the price, and I developed an allergy. I refused cottage cheese.

Decided to go back to legumes. Began to cook beans, peas (the main thing is not to boil!). They are also high in protein and complex carbohydrates. It's good for mass gain. Same for drying.

But even this was not enough for me. I continued my experiments. In the next cycle of mass gain, I began to consume simple carbohydrates before training and immediately after it, which gave me additional strength and allowed me to quickly replenish the loss of glycogen in the muscles after exercise.

It is clear that my result has grown even more. There are still a bunch of foods that you can eat when gaining mass and drying and forget about it for the next 2 years. sports nutrition!

Sports nutrition sucks your money!

Well, we figured out the proteins - you definitely won’t need them for the first two years. I think that in general it is possible to manage for many years without sports nutrition. This is shown by the practice of many bodybuilders in the world. Yes, you won’t be able to professionally engage in bodybuilding without sports nutrition, but you can be athletic and make you pay attention to yourself.

It is correct to say not sports nutrition, but sports SUPPLEMENTS! To make it easier for us to sell unnecessary products, we are told that this is food, i.e. it (as the name suggests) can or should replace regular meals.

Once you understand that these are only supplements, you can immediately use them adequately or refuse. Sports nutrition (supplements) can be taken, there will be no harm from them, but if you can do without them, is it worth buying another pack of protein?

Yes, nutrition in sports, especially in bodybuilding, is the most important part of the training system! Even more important than the workouts in the gym! But if you start eating the right foods, then you will achieve good results, in no way inferior in time to the period when you took sports nutrition! Verified by me personally.

I do not urge everyone to stop taking protein, it can be useful in some cases, namely when you do not have a good diet! And point. Everywhere they say that sports nutrition is worth taking when you cannot get all the necessary substances for muscle growth. And we sit and watch how they hang noodles on our ears!

Coach, why is my weight not growing? You don't have enough protein! You can buy it from me. A gainer is better. This kind of advice can be heard a lot, but why doesn't it occur to a coach to say that the guy does not have enough sleep or insufficient intensity of training, training too often, etc. ? Yes, because he will cut down more dough! Especially if he is also the owner of this hall!

Imagine the following picture: a guy, on the advice of a trainer, bought a gainer from him (there is almost no protein there, and this is at best), gained 1-2 kg from a pack and was delighted (the question is what did he gain? Muscle or fat?). Then he buys more from him, but at the same time does not change anything in his approach to training. The result is up. He's back to the coach. He answered: you need more protein, buy protein, and it is noticeably more expensive than a gainer! + guy every month to pay for visiting the gym.

Such a coach is clearly not interested in the quick result of his athlete. It just sucks money out of you from month to month. Almost all fitness centers are built on this principle.

Of course, not all coaches are like that. There are very good people who advise on the case, but the image outlined above is the place to be.

Conclusion on sports nutrition:

Sports nutrition (supplements) is a harmless help to the body, sometimes necessary. But with a proper and balanced diet, sports nutrition should not be taken, because it is a waste of money!

In the coming articles, I will talk about fat burners and other supplements. Are they really that effective or is it just another duck? What not to miss

This article is dedicated to those people who really want to pump up big muscles. And since everywhere they write that the most important thing for muscle growth is to take as much protein (protein) as possible, then the question usually arises: How to take protein so that muscles grow?
For those who do not want to wait and want to get an answer right away, I will say: protein (or protein, which is the same) is taken throughout the day at every meal. In this case, the dosage is especially important: 2 or more grams of protein per 1 kg of body weight should be consumed per day.
Those. a person weighing 80 kg should take about 160 gr. protein (protein) per day.
For those who are ready to read the article to the end, I will let you know - not everything is so simple.

How to take protein. Is Protein Important for Muscle Growth?

Now let's move on to very important information, without knowing which, most likely, all attempts to build big muscles are doomed to failure.
1. The most important thing for muscle growth is steroid hormones.
You can eat a huge amount of protein per day in the form of dietary supplements or the same amount of protein from natural products, but the muscles will not grow.
This is due to the fact that the main prerequisite for muscle growth is not the amount of protein eaten, but the amount of steroid hormones in the muscles. The more testosterone and somatotropin in the body, the more the muscles exposed to the load will add in volume.
This is an axiom. Hormones come first, then everything else.
2. 100% of bodybuilders have gained muscle with steroid injections.
This is also an axiom. Whoever said anything.
Huge muscle = anabolic steroids.
3. Ordinary people (not using anabolic steroids) may well pump up beautiful muscles, but for this you need to achieve, first of all, the release of your own hormones into the blood.
At the same time, it is quite possible to achieve amazing results that a particular organism is capable of in a natural way.
4. If you manage to achieve the release of hormones at each workout, then it becomes mandatory to supply the body with a sufficient amount of protein.
Hormones start the process of building new myofibrils - the contractile elements of muscle fibers. This is a long process.
First, a matrix of what should be built is formed, as it were. And hormones at this stage are extremely necessary. Without them, the matrix will not be formed.
But as soon as the body has received the task of building new structures, it becomes necessary to increase the natural rate of protein coming from food.
It is after training that you need to constantly supply the body with protein from natural products or protein supplements so that the process of new construction is successfully completed.
5. For an ordinary person, 1 gram is enough. protein per 1 kg of lean body mass (without fat) per day.
This amount is enough for the regular renewal of body cells.
6. When we try to speed up the synthesis processes (and muscle building is synthesis), then more protein is needed.
It is recommended to use 2 or more gr. protein per 1 kg of body weight per day.
7. It is necessary to distribute all the protein consumed during the day.
Even eating protein foods at night, we do not risk gaining weight, because. amino acids are used by the body for energy purposes only in exceptional cases. Therefore, proteins are not involved in the formation of adipose tissue.
8. There is no need to buy protein supplements at all.
Protein means protein in English. However, we are accustomed to the fact that protein is understood as special concentrated protein supplements.
Those. in fact, protein is a concentrated protein that is very convenient to take. It is enough to dilute a certain amount of protein with water or milk, stir, and it will look like we ate 200-300 gr. beef.
It is up to each individual to decide whether or not to take protein. Usually, the indication for the use of protein supplements is the inability to gain the required amount of protein per day from ordinary food.
9. 30-40 gr. protein per meal
It is believed that it is optimal to consume such an amount of protein food that it turns out 30-40 gr. pure protein at a time.
10. In addition to protein, carbohydrates play an important role in building muscle.
Carbohydrates provide the body with energy, without which there can be no muscle growth.
That is why professional bodybuilders use up to 500-600 or more gr. carbohydrates per day.
Of course, the average gym goer doesn't need to eat that many carbs a day. But nevertheless, there should be a lot of carbohydrates in the diet. You need to experiment with their quantity so as not to exceed the optimal dosage. Otherwise, rapid growth of adipose tissue is possible.