Posts Tagged ‘Protein’

Build Mass While Sleeping

How sleep can help build you Muscle

You can spend hours and hours in the gym, lifting hundreds of kilo’s and forcing those last few reps out…but all that can quite easily be going to waste by simply losing out on sleep!

If you are staying up late, getting all worked up over something before bed or sleeping in a noisy environment then this is not going to help your cause, however if you find that you have reached that training plateau then spending a few hours in bed is a better solution to destroying yourself in the gym trying to get over the plateau.

Let’s have a quick look at the basics, if you are not getting enough sleep then your body’s growth hormone which you need to build muscle get disrupted and on the flip side its production of stress hormone cortisol which can cause fat gain will go up!

There are many other negatives that come hand in hand with lack of sleep, it can cause depression, weaken your immune system and make you more vulnerable to bacteria.

To avoid all of the above it is best to try to get eight hours of  quality sleep, lying in bed and updating your profile on facebook on your mobile device does not count, get some real shut eye! 

Consume Slow Release Protein  before Bed

Consuming a slow release protein will also be highly beneficial such as casein or mixing a weigh protein, fish, glutamine and flaxseeds to drip feed the body throughout the night.

Understanding Protein

Understanding Protein

The Importance of Protein

Protein is a part of every cell in your body; it is the most important nutrient as no other nutrient plays as many different roles in keeping you alive and healthy.

I cannot stress enough on the Importance of Protein in so many different areas…for the growth and repair of your muscles, bones, skin, tendons, ligaments, hair, eyes and other tissues is proven since a very long time.

Without it, you would not be able to produce the enzymes and hormones and antibodies you need for Metabolism, digestion and other important processes such as healing…in fact did you know that when you have an infection, you should eat more protein because it helps create the antibodies your immune system needs to fight disease!

If you are injured, you may need more, as well, to help your blood clot and make repairs.

Protein & Diet

Even from this brief introduction you can see just how important protein is and it should now be obvious that our diets should contain high levels of protein, considering its very important role within the body.

However, this may not reflect what you have been told before.  In fact as you may be aware, government recommendation for protein intake per day is equal to 0.75g per kg of body weight.

For example if you are a female of 60kg in weight then your protein intake would be as followed:

60 x 0.75 = 45g of Protein per day

You should be able to work out yourself by now that this is highly inadequate considering the role that protein plays within the body!

In fact to be more realistic a 60Kg woman would need at least double that figure!

Obviously we are all individuals and there is not a “One rule for all”, but to recommend a minimum level for an average person (not an athlete) wanting to maintain muscle tissue and prevent catabolism (tissue breakdown), a more realistic level would range around 1.5g per kg of body weight per day.

Protein Summary

So as you can see Protein isn’t only for athletes and especially isn’t only for muscle building…Protein is for EVERYTHING! To summarise:

• Anti bodies which consist of protein are essential in helping our bodies fight and resist diseases
• You use up protein in everyday living just to keep your body running smoothly
• Everyday we lose protein in the form of hair, skin and nails
• Protein is supplied to the body to help heal and repair injuries
• For growing children protein is needed for growth of the entire body
• If you have an operation protein is needed to help build your body back to fitness

Gym Love

Ilaria Petrucci