Protein is essential for muscle repair and growth.
IF I WERE TO RANK THE MACRONUTRIENTS in their order of importance to us as triathletes, carbohydrates would come in at a strong first place. We simply cannot live without them as our primary fuel source, to fuel both our daily lives as well as our exercise. Our muscles need carbs to get us through each and every workout and from the starting line to the finish line of our races.
Coming in a close second would be the macronutrient protein. Carbohydrates are essential in the fueling of our muscles, while protein is crucial in the building and repair of muscle tissue. Think of protein as building blocks of our muscular system. An adequate supply of protein in our diets is important in maintaining our muscular system, especially as we age.
Protein serves numerous vital functions in the body, including the formation of the brain, nervous system, and blood, and the transportation of iron, vitamins, minerals, fats, and oxygen. Protein forms enzymes that speed up reactions, they make up the antibodies that fight infections, and can be used as energy when other fuel sources are depleted. Protein is the least “efficient” of the three macronutrients when it comes to serving as a fuel source. While our bodies do use a little protein to fuel our muscles during exercise, the contribution is extremely low relative to carbohydrates and fats. When carbohydrate stores are depleted, protein can be called upon to supply small amounts of energy; this is when the proteins in our muscle tissue can be broken down, which is not a good thing. Our goal is therefore to ensure we have adequate amounts of carbohydrate to prevent this from happening. In short, our primary goal of protein consumption is to build muscle tissue, not to fuel our muscles.
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Of the twenty amino acids that form proteins, all but eight to ten can be manufactured by our bodies. Nonessential amino acids are the ones our bodies can produce on their own, and the essential amino acids are those we must obtain through diet.
Animal sources of protein (meat, poultry, dairy, fish, and eggs) are considered complete proteins because they generally contain all of the essential amino acids. Plant-based proteins (beans, rice, grains, and vegetables) do not usually have all the essential amino acids and are therefore considered to be incomplete proteins.
Those who choose to avoid consuming animal protein, such as vegetarians, can solve the incomplete protein issue by combining certain plant-based proteins, which together can provide all of the essential amino acids. One example of this is the combination of rice and beans. These foods do not necessarily have to be consumed at the same meal as was previously believed to make a complete protein, but rather within a twenty-four hour time period.
I like to think of protein as my personal nutritional secret weapon when it comes to both looking and feeling good day-to-day and also for performance as a triathlete. It helps build quality lean muscle and prevent muscle breakdown after exercise. I attribute a great deal of my overall health and wellness to my focus on consuming adequate amounts of quality protein sources every day. Muscle is essential in the optimal functioning of our bodies, and protein is essential in forming and maintaining muscle.
You should strive to consume protein with every meal. This will ensure you are building new muscle tissue while also preserving the valuable muscle tissue you already have. It can be difficult for many to take in the recommended daily amount of protein each day. By spreading it out over several meals, you will find it much easier to consume protein in smaller amounts taken more frequently.
PROTEIN SHAKES
Not only will consuming protein give you a healthy and strong physique by building lean muscle, but it can also help curb your appetite. Yes, studies have shown that consuming protein may add to the feeling of satiety after eating, meaning you will feel fuller longer, potentially eating less food as a result.
That’s a good combination—more lean muscle and fewer calories consumed. You’ll look better, weigh less, and go faster as a triathlete.
Finally, one of the additional incredible “side effects” of consuming protein and building lean muscle is the positive effect all this has on your metabolism. The more lean muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate. Lean muscle is more metabolically active than fat tissue, which means the more of it you have, the more calories you burn twenty-four hours a day, even while at rest. Building lean muscle is pretty much the only healthy and natural way to boost your metabolism in this manner. You don’t need any pills or potions with questionable results and even more questionable side effects; all you need is to exercise and eat enough quality sources of protein each day.
That’s pretty darn great.
There is still debate as to how much protein we need to consume daily. I believe as many others do that sedentary people generally need less protein than active people, and highly active people need even more than the average weekend warrior. Bodybuilders and strength athletes, those for whom the goal is maximum muscular strength and maximum muscular size, tend to be at the highest end of the protein intake spectrum, often consuming one gram of protein per pound of body weight daily, oftentimes even more.
So how much is enough? I believe that the average person who exercises occasionally needs roughly one-half gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. For those who exercise more frequently and for longer durations, such as triathletes and endurance athletes, I believe that slightly more may prove beneficial, anywhere from 0.6 to 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day.
So if you are a 150-pound (68 kg) triathlete, you should shoot for anywhere from 75 to 120 grams of protein daily. You should of course modify your intake relative to the amount of exercise you do each day, consuming more protein on your longer duration workout days and days that entail multiple workouts. This becomes easy to do when you focus on your recovery nutrition, which I discuss in greater detail in chapter 9.
Realize that carbohydrates have four calories per gram, protein has four calories per gram as well, while fat has nine calories per gram. Here’s some quick math on what that would look like for the following daily intakes:
75 grams of protein × 4 calories per gram = 300 calories per day from protein
120 grams of protein × 4 calories per gram = 480 calories per day from protein
GREAT SOURCES OF PROTEIN
There is debate as to the possible negative side effects from consuming large amounts of protein. These are the two that are commonly discussed:
Impaired Kidney Function: Some contend that excess protein intake could potentially create a strain on the kidneys and impair their normal function. While those people with preexisting kidney issues may wish to limit their protein intake, those with healthy kidneys do not seem to be at risk for adverse side effects.
Calcium Loss: While a few early studies on high protein intake demonstrated faster than normal excess calcium losses from the urine, calcium and phosphorous intake were restricted during these studies as well. Since both whole-food protein sources as well as many protein supplements contain both calcium and phosphorous, no adverse calcium content issues should accompany a high-protein diet, and a positive calcium balance may even be the result of a diet high in protein.
TWO PROTEIN SOURCES TO CONSUME IN MODERATION
Even though I personally choose to eat protein from animal sources, I realize that many people, triathletes included, opt to avoid consuming meat and other animal-based protein sources. I discuss this in greater detail in chapter 10 on specialty diets. It is indeed possible to take in adequate amounts of protein from numerous alternate sources, many of which are listed on the following page. Realize that plant sources of protein are not as bioavailable in the body, thus their absorption is not as high as animal proteins. So if you are a vegetarian or vegan, you might need a little more protein so that adequate amounts are consumed and absorbed.
Protein Values for Common Foods (Approximate)
Fish:
Most fish: six grams per ounce or twenty-two grams for 31/2 ounces (99.2 g)
Chicken and turkey:
Breast: eight grams per ounce
Beef:
Most cuts of beef: seven grams per ounce
Eggs and dairy:
Egg (large): six grams
Milk (1 cup [236.6 ml]): eight grams
Cottage cheese (1/2 cup [115 g]): fifteen grams
Yogurt (1 cup [230 g]): eight to twelve grams (6 ounces [170 g] Greek yogurt: typically has fourteen grams of protein)
Cheese: six to ten grams per ounce
Beans:
Tofu (1/2 cup [120 g]): twenty grams
Soybeans (1/2 cup [86 g] cooked): fourteen grams
Soy milk (1 cup [236.6 ml]): six to ten grams
Most beans (1/2 cup [100 g] cooked): seven to ten grams
Nuts and seeds:
Peanuts (1/4 cup [35 g]): nine grams
Peanut butter (2 tablespoons [32 g]): eight grams
Almonds (1/4 cup [36 g]): eight grams
Pumpkin seeds (1/4 cup [57 g]): eight grams
Flax seeds (1/4 cup [42 g]): eight grams
Sunflower seeds (1/4 cup [36 g]): six grams
Cashews (1/4 cup [35 g]): five grams
It isn’t easy to implement the information found in the vast majority of nutrition books. Percentages of this, milliliters of that, ounces of another—it is next to impossible to follow these types of guidelines in any consistent fashion. We are often forced to eat out at delis, restaurants, parties, and the like, where we consume food and drinks without any labels or nutritional information. How can we possibly keep track of the exact percentages of calories we consume from carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, given our lifestyles? We are not assembling our food in our kitchens for every meal, not even the majority of our meals, carefully taking food out of clearly marked containers and putting it into measuring cups or onto digital scales so that we know the exact amounts of each macronutrient and how much each contributes to our daily caloric intake. It’s just not remotely possible.
So, when it comes to protein intake for triathletes, an easy starting point for how much you need each day is to divide your weight in half. Use that number as your baseline target, probably the low end, for how many grams of protein you will consume each day. It is most likely more than you are used to consuming, but if you are a triathlete and exercising frequently, this is most likely a good number for you to begin working with.
You then want to try to spread out your protein intake across the five to six smaller meals you eat each day. So if you are shooting for seventy-two grams of protein daily, and you are eating six medium-size meals per day, that’s pretty simple math:
72 grams of protein ÷ 6 meals = 12 grams of protein per meal
Now it’s obviously not always possible to get in the exact same amount of protein each and every time you eat, nor is that optimal. Sometimes you need a little more, sometimes a little less. So you may have ten grams of protein at one feeding, thirty grams at the next, twenty after a workout, and so on, finishing the day with seventy-two grams, using the example above.
Here is an example of a sample day of eating, with the protein sources in bold:
MEAL #1: Oatmeal with chia, 4 hard-boiled egg whites
MEAL #2: Post-workout whey protein shake with berries
MEAL #3: Spinach salad with vegetables and grilled chicken
MEAL #4: Apples and bananas with peanut butter
MEAL #5: Grilled salmon with broccoli and sweet potatoes
MEAL #6: Greek yogurt with granola
The pattern is simple: A quality carbohydrate paired with a lean/low-fat protein source at each meal. You can choose whatever carb and protein you want, based on your personal preferences and dietary leanings; just make sure to take in high-quality sources of both at all meals. It is not possible nor is it imperative in my opinion that you always know the exact caloric value of each macronutrient. When you can determine the exact amount of protein, for example, when you are drinking a post-workout protein shake mixed with water, that’s helpful. Adding up the grams of protein from egg whites is also relatively easy, as are foods such as Greek yogurt with specific nutritional information right on their labels.
It’s when you consume foods such as fish, meats, peanut butter, and other foods where you may not know the exact size and exact number of servings that determining the exact amount of protein can be challenging. My recommendation is simply to consume protein with each and every meal, regardless of whether or not you know exactly how much. That practice alone will go a very long way toward getting you down to your ideal weight, while at the same time ensuring that you are building new lean muscle and repairing the muscle you already have.
Some triathletes waste time worrying about building too much muscle; they avoid lifting weights, and they balk at consuming adequate protein as a result, believing that they will end up looking like the guys on the cover of the muscle magazines. That’s not going to happen. If your main goal as a triathlete is to go as fast as possible, then no, you don’t want the physique of a bodybuilder. Having huge biceps or a huge chest will indeed slow you down to some degree. I’m also here to tell you, having been in the bodybuilding world for a short time, you will not achieve those results unless you’re really trying to.
Fear of becoming too muscular is not a valid reason to avoid consuming adequate amounts of protein or even lifting weights. The type of strength routine that triathletes who want to excel at their sport should follow is vastly different from that of someone whose goal is muscular hypertrophy (growth), someone who is lifting for visual rather than performance purposes. So you need not concern yourself about taking in too much protein and becoming too muscular as a result. Those results are much more difficult than most realize, requiring extremely specific, focused, intense, and consistent workouts with heavy amounts of weight, extensive specific supplementation, and yes, often pharmaceutical interventions as well. So you need not worry about getting too “huge”—just worry about getting your protein each day.
VISUALIZING GRAMS OF PROTEIN
Sarcopenia is a fancy scientific term for the loss of muscle we experience as we age. It is an insidious part of the aging process. After age thirty-five or thereabouts, we slowly begin to lose valuable muscle tissue each and every year. This deterioration of muscle leads to a whole host of problems, including a lowered metabolism and the subsequent weight gain, decreased strength and muscular function, and overall diminished functional ability and quality of life.
The great news is that we can in fact prevent and even reverse sarcopenia by doing two simple things as we age: First, maintaining and even building lean muscle through intelligent strength training and exercise; and second, consuming adequate amounts of protein to provide the necessary building blocks for this muscle.
So get in your protein. It’s one of the three most important macronutrients in your diet. You need it in your daily diet and for refueling purposes after your workouts. Determine what specific protein sources work best for you and start making them a regular part of your daily life. You will look better, feel better, and race better as a result.