Saturday, 23 June 2012

Sports Nutrition Part 3 - Proteins


           Hello all and sorry for the long wait. I have been kept busy since I have gotten back from China. This is the third and final article of the sports nutrition series and today we are going to talk about proteins and how they can be used to aid athletic performance.

So because I know all of you loved the protein nutrition article so much  * crickets*, ahem...and that all of you know the basics about proteins, now we can skip all the text book stuff and jump to the practicality of protein supplementation. If you do not fall into this category  then I would encourage you to look at the previous protein article on my blog so that we are all on the same page.
So let’s start off with our athlete who is national level and is about to go shower a few hours before Worlds in Russia. Should he take proteins before he goes to compete and hopefully takes home a medal? The literature is a little on the fence in this case. If you read information about proteins it will say that protein is needed before and after a workout. Just like in the case of our carbohydrate loading, it is generally believed that increases  in protein stores  before a workout is crucial for protein sparing. The more protein you have before a workout means less muscle is broken down during the work out. This allows a smaller decrease in the nitrogen balance of the muscles after a workout which makes it easier to rebuild stronger afterwards. Protein after a workout allows the muscles to build quicker because more amino acids can combine to create actin and myosin. Ok so let’s all go and buy 10 cartons of whey protein and have it all in one day and tomorrow I will become a body builder overnight. Unfortunately the body does not improve this fast. Even though up to 4g/kg have been tested on athletes the body still does not use all of it.




Figure 1: Nitrogen Balance- as you can see after a workout the protein balance is in the negative.

So how much can the body take? It depends who you ask. If you ask the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) then they will tell you an athlete will need 1.2-1.7g/kg.  If you ask the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) then they will tell you 1.5g-2.0g/kg.  The daily required intake (DRI) is about 0.8g/kg.



Figure 2: This is a chart taken from my notes and does a good job illustrating the recommended amounts of proteins needed by all different levels of activity.

So what protein is best for building muscle? Many manufacturers will claim that you can get 20 pounds of muscle a month or other equally outrageous statements, if you take their supplement. 99.9% of the time this is not true and unless you have amazing genes that encode for having a huge body protein will not give you as large of a result as many believe.  This graph below does a good job of illustrating the actual gains of protein supplementation.


Figure 3: projected gains of protein supplementation.

The graph basically speaks for its self.  Generally the perceived gains are a lot larger than the acquired gains. Unfortunately eating protein is not good enough. The effect of protein only works if you exercise.  Exercise will provide the signal of the body to increase muscle building. Without that signal the protein will have no idea what to do and you will pee it out.
So what protein is the best? Well they all have slightly different strengths and weaknesses. Without going into too much detail generally a mixture of all of them is recommended.   Some of the different supplementation manufacturers argue that their amino acids are better than the other brands but that’s basically all “hype”. If you look at a case of protein supplementation you will see that there are more than one type of amino acid. Some supplimentations have been shown to be better than others but everyone reacts slightly different to each.  Some people find different ones work for them and have a preference so go out and record your trainings and dosage of protein and compare it to other proteins. It will take a while to find the one that seems right for you but in the end you will see better strength and muscle gains.
Let’s go back to our athlete. Does he or she need to ingest protein regularly for strength and muscle gains? Generally it is agreed that a smaller and more agile trampolinists perform better then bulky muscle heads. That is not to say that you cannot do it. There have been some athletes who are very big and strong who have achieved a lot in the sport however this does not seem to be the trend anymore. Bulk is not as easy to flip and does not look as good in the air compared to a thinner athlete. Another argument may be that an athlete with more muscle will not be as flexible generally and this can cause problems for an athlete who is trying to snap into a tight pike on a triffis.
The up side is that these athletes who are bigger tend to have more time in the bed due to large gravitational force on the body. This allows them longer time to think about what they are going to do for their next skill. This can be a very good thing. Bulkier athletes also potentially can jump higher if they have bigger muscles, as long as the muscles are trained in the right way. Another positive thing about being larger with muscle mass is that the body can withstand larger impacts and if you are like me, someone who falls off every 5 seconds, you can understand how this may help lengthen a trampolining career. Whatever type of trampolinist you would rather be; take your pick.
Some people have asked me if their trampoline performance will increase due to ingesting protein before training. Having tried protein supplementation I would argue that no it does not help training. I did notice that my recovery was better and I did have more energy for those early morning trainings. I would say that the protein simply helped me to wake up for training rather than actually cause an increase in my training outcome.
As a concluding statement I would sum up by saying that protein will help increase strength which is needed for trampoline and may help decrease the amount of injuries if a big of muscle hypertrophy can be attained to act like a cushion. If you take too much and go overboard with the protein and the working out then you may become too big for trampoline and find it harder to flip through the air. I would say that everyone should try protein and see if it works for you and that you should not listen to all the “hype”. Try different ones and record the gains. And finally, that protein will not increase your training effectiveness on a day to day basis but rather it will allow you to increase muscle mass over a long period of time that will help with trampolining down the road. Protein is a long term gain and carbs are your short term energy boost.

That concludes the nutrition segment and I think next I will start discussing appropriate periodization protocols for trampoline and tumbling. 

Thanks 

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