HOW TO EAT LESS PROTEIN
TO BUILD MORE MUSCLE?
Protein Matters, But There Is So Much More to the
Puzzle
When we think about building muscle, the first thing that pops into most
people’s minds is PROTEIN! Especially when eating only
plants! “Where do you get your protein?” is a common question.
There is an ingrained belief
within the fitness industry that in order to build muscle
and get stronger,
we need protein (especially animal protein) as our
primary and often singular focus for growth.
Don’t get me wrong, protein is important. It is a precursor in
muscle growth, BUT it is not the ONLY precursor or important variable either.
It’s part of a system of
components that come together to create the perfect muscle-building storm, and in this article, I will
explain how and why you can afford to drop your high protein intake to actually make more gains.
First and foremost, realize
that the commonly suggested protein requirements most people think are needed
to build muscle within the fitness industry are often
totally excessive.
All we are doing is allocating
excess calories to a single nutrient that is ONE part of the muscle building equation, over-saturating that one
variable to the point of excess waste and by-products, when we could be more
strategic and maximize all the variables, not just one.
More protein doesn’t necessarily equate to more muscle; there are more factors at play than
one nutrient. Your average-looking gym goer drinking protein shakes all day is
an anecdotal example of this.
What We Have Been Taught
The standard notion of 1 gram
to 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight, for example, is for most average people
totally excessive and unnecessary. That would put a person like myself at
around 210-300g of protein per day. Whoa. Overkill.
Some people go even higher than
this with the notion that more must be better. How often is this not true!
Especially when cutting calories, it leaves fewer alternative fuel sources and
key phytonutrients that can help boost your
performance.
Research Suggests
There are so many various
conflicting research papers that show differing results, so understand first
off that your goal, expertise level, output, and disease state all play a role
in this.
That being said, I want to
share with you my own experience along with those of my clients and friends, coupled
with some basic understandings of the research, to give you a kick-start toward
adjusting your own protein intake to further your gains.
Here are a few cited
research examples.
- Tarnopolsky et al.
(1992) observed no differences in whole body protein synthesis or indexes
of lean body mass in strength athletes consuming either 0.64g/lb. or
1.10g/lb. over a two-week period. Protein oxidation did increase in the
high protein group, indicating a nutrient overload.
- Walberg et al.
(1988) found that 0.73g/lb. was sufficient to maintain positive nitrogen
balance in cutting weightlifters over a seven-day time period.
- Tarnopolsky et al.
(1988) found that only 0.37g/lb. was required to maintain positive
nitrogen balance in elite bodybuilders (over five years of experience,
possible previous use of androgens) over a 10-day period. 0.45g/lb. was
sufficient to maintain lean body mass in bodybuilders over a two-week
period. The authors suggested that 0.55g/lb. was sufficient for
bodybuilders.
- Lemon et al.
(1992) found no differences in muscle mass or strength gains in novice
bodybuilders consuming either 0.61g/lb. or 1.19g/lb. over a four-week
period. Based on nitrogen balance data, the authors recommended 0.75g/lb.
- Hoffman et al.
(2006) found no differences in body composition, strength, or resting
hormonal concentrations in strength athletes consuming either 0.77g/lb. or
>0.91g/lb. over a three-month period.
Fear-Based Nutrition
Keeps Us Stuck
So often, those high-protein suggested intakes are more fear based
than science based — it is fitness industry hype and guesswork. The best
way to know for sure is to DO IT yourself, implement it, and see.
Believe me, anyone whom I have
coached or guided to do this has always had great results when we tapered protein down from the high amounts and then
added various other nutrient sources to boost
performance, recovery, and hormone profiles. It is the
paranoia around muscle loss that keeps people stuck.
Beyond Protein (The Key)
Beyond that, I want you to
understand that incorporating other macronutrients and micronutrients into your
nutritional equation is the KEY for building more
muscle and strength
with less protein.
Keep in mind, the focus
being on how the body partitions and assimilates nutrients by elevated and
optimal hormone responses.
What this means in simple
terms is that hormones are like the body’s software.
They take protein, carbohydrates, fats, and
micronutrients and allocate them toward specific jobs, like building muscle, fat stores, bone regeneration, brain
function, and hair and skin growth.
Your hormone profiles on many
levels dictate what your body does with protein anyway. So why not optimize
these variables so you become more effective at using the protein to begin with?
It is primarily why someone who
is obese vs. someone who is very muscular can have the same diet and calorie
intake and even the same height and body weight (with vastly different body
compositions).
Yet, their bodies both
assimilate and partition the nutrients very differently due to various hormone
profiles like testosterone, estrogen, thyroid, and insulin sensitivity.
It is also why men and women
have different body compositions — the hormones and partitioning ratios dictate
over protein intake and calorie intake.
The way to optimize hormones in
the body is by putting optimal health FIRST, which means a lot of micronutrient-dense
plant foods. The denser and wider range you can get and the less processed
garbage you consume, given time, your body will become more responsive.
The point is, if you can
optimize your internal systems through micronutrient-dense foods, then this
often gets the job done. The body simply becomes more efficient at using fuel.
That is the goal here:
efficiency.
It is important to realize that
in order for us to actually perform well in the gym and create progressive
overload (being able to lift more weight or more reps for weight each week), we
need some form of high-octane fuel.
My go-to macronutrient source
for heightened performance is always going to be carbohydrates. Just think when
you were a kid, what did they give you to drink while playing sports? Gatorade
and Powerade?
Now these might not be the
healthiest options, but they are fast-acting carbohydrates, designed to push
sugar into the system to fuel performance. In some cases, depending on the goal
and challenge, fat could be used as a fuel source too. This is where it varies,
but know it is never just about protein intake.
Carb/Fat Phobia and
Nutrient Timing
Most people in the fitness
world are carb phobic, especially the Paleo and Ketogenic crowd, which comprise
mostly of people who aren’t Vegan. It’s just what they’ve been taught.
They will even add loads of protein into pre-workout
meals, which in my
view is not fueling performance, just increasing digestive function, which then
impairs performance.
Think of our blood as the
primary transporter of fuel to our systems. It shuttles oxygen to muscles,
breaks down glycogen into glucose for energy, and pushes blood through our
heart faster and into our lungs to increase oxygen uptake.
Digestion takes up a huge
amount of blood volume and metabolic energy. So, adding extra protein sources
and food to meals through fear of going catabolic just allocates more metabolic
energy toward digestion and less to performance and output.
We need to optimize and time
our digestive function just right so we can channel as much energy into
performance, endurance, and mechanical strength as possible.
If you time your carbohydrates and fats, fiber, and
micronutrients around your workout and daily routine, you will get fewer
cravings, better controlled sustained energy levels, and better pumps in the
gym. More strength and recovery result in better muscle growth with a
well-rounded plant based diet.
I often get asked, “When is the
best time to get my protein for my workout, before, during, or after?” There is
no real timing or strategy with most people — it’s just an over saturation.
A blanket approach with the
idea is, “I’m not really sure what I need, how much I need, or when I need it,
so I will just throw everything at it, including the kitchen sink.” While this
can work, believe me, it doesn’t yield the BEST results you could get either.
So, let me explain a bit more about timing.
Adjusting Protein for
More Gains
Let’s say you are at 1 gram of
protein per pound of body weight (200 lb.), so approximately 200g of protein
per day. For the time being, forget the total calorie intake too. For all
intents and purposes, let’s say you drop to 0.64g/lb., approx. 120-130g.
You now have about 280 extra
calories that you can now time in and around your workout to help you overreach
and overload the amount of weight and reps you can do — and therefore,
outperform, which is key for muscle growth.
For example, let’s take that
70g of protein lost and replace it with 70g of carbohydrates. We could do two
servings of coconut water during the workout for electrolyte replacement (90
calories).
This leaves us with 190
calories of fruits, along with any whole food plant protein like sweet peas or
shelled edamame we can pack into a post-workout smoothie for glycogen and amino acid
replacement, helping with recovery and driving more sugars and vital
nutrients to repair muscle tissue.
This helps you train
harder and lift heavier, which creates that vital progressive overload needed
to even build muscle in the first place.
Research indicates that even
setting protein requirements at 0.64g/lb. has shown NO muscle loss or lack of
nitrogen retention. Obviously, total calorie intake comes into play here too,
which is the next point.
My Approach — Calorie
Cycling
When we are either trying to gain muscle or
get leaner and hold muscle,
allow protein intake to move up and down like a sliding scale as your total
calorie intake tapers up or down.
The reason for this is just
logistics. It’s much easier to focus on one variable change than to try and
coincide two together: focusing on total calories going up and down over total
calories + every single macronutrient ratio remaining totally intact.
Again, if you are that 200 lb.
guy going from 120-160g of protein based on total calorie intake increasing or
dropping, it is fine, it’s what I do! This is another strategy to building more
muscle with a lower
intake, even when we are sometimes in deficit too.
Beyond the calorie deficit are
peaks/calorie spikes where by you can “refeed” (a higher calorie meal or day)
and fuel up around workout time to really enhance performance.
Traditionally, when people are
trying to get lean, they pull carbs to try and drop water weight, and by doing
so, replace those lost calories with protein. If the calories are uniform each
week, protein remains high and carbs low. It doesn’t have to be this way, but
it is how most fitness people approach things.
If you cycle through periods of
calorie deficit (example, 1800 cal.), calorie maintenance (example, 2200 cal.),
and calorie surplus (example, 2600 cal.).
You can use the sliding scale
approach with your protein, so dipping lower on a deficit day won’t be an issue
like people think, because you come back up to maintenance and peak into spikes
of surplus calories/protein at strategic times during your training week.
It also allows for the body to
rest and digest (on lower calorie days), enhancing the parasympathetic nervous
system on rest days to bring stress responses down and allow the body and gut
to regenerate.
Then it spikes higher into a
caloric surplus on days where you need to over reach and train hard (a hard leg
session, for example).
This way, you allow the body to
tap into fat stores and heighten insulin sensitivity on rest days, which then
helps partition carbohydrates more effectively anyway — and on training days,
you fuel yourself for maximum performance, so you can create more progressive
overload during your training.
Calorie cycling with a sliding
protein target and not stressing over the tiny details is a great way to make
gains without the constant fear and obsession about grams of protein.
This way, your protein intake
can be set lower, and by spiking carbs and fats on certain days, you fuel
performance and output. Realize that once your body adjusts to a higher carb
ratio (but also be aware of your sodium intake alongside this), you won’t
retain water like you may have in the past.
It’s like someone who is
dehydrated in an attempt to dry out for a competition. If they spent a long
time dehydrated coming into their show, they can often end up holding MORE
water.
The way to shed more water is
to consume MORE, so the body doesn’t struggle to find balance when you pull it
suddenly right at the end.
The same rings true
for macronutrients too. Give the body time to adapt and it will, but
keep changing up the variables, and the pendulum will swing wildly as the body
tries to find homeostasis (balance within the body).
When it comes to undulating
calories to help you overload during your training sessions, think of all the
macronutrients as a sliding scale.
What I mean by this is that
yes, you can fix your protein intake at a certain number and just add in more
carbohydrate and fats, but often a lot of plant foods come with some protein
too.
So to allow for a wider,
more diverse range of food choices, be okay with your protein intake peaking
and dipping as your calorie totals do.
For example, it might look like
this:
- Low day — 2200cals
— 100g protein / 300 carb / 66 fat
- Moderate Day —
2600cals — 120g protein / 380 carb / 66 fat
- High day —
3200cals — 150g protein / 450 carb / 88 fat
Don’t Pigeonhole
Yourself
Now obviously, this is just for
demonstration. Some people might elect for more fats or taper their protein up
more depending on their body composition and training output.
The take home point is: be okay
with your protein intake sliding up and down a scale to allow for the inclusion
of more plant foods into your diet.
You can keep it fixed and add
in more fruits too; a lot of this will come down to your own unique biofeedback
and how your body and hormones handle the various nutrients.
I coach people on an elite
level, high-performing business people, and I would tell them to not stress
over total calorie adjustments AND try to hit specific macro ratios too. It
becomes so time consuming and stressful trying to find foods and measurements
to make it all fit.
As I said earlier, focus on
total calorie adjustment and allow for a sliding scale (a range) of your
macronutrients.
Take-home point: Protein
can dip and peak based on your calorie intake, and if done right, you lose no
muscle. In fact, you gain some.
Muscle Growth HACKS with Less Protein
It is important to understand
not all carbohydrates or fats are created equal and that different kinds of
carbs will play different roles in the body based on when they are used. Think
of these two macronutrients like fuel sources that enable us to perform at a
higher level.
I generally consider
carbohydrates like an explosive fast-acting fuel source perfect for acute bouts
of high performance. Fats are a more sustained release energy source, ideal for
longer endurance work or stable blood sugars through the day outside of the
training session.
A key mistake I see people make
when trying to get lean is they pull their carbs or fats right down and
increase protein, with the notion that more protein will have a muscle sparing
effect and that is all we need to focus on.
While in some cases, this is
true, the lack of carbohydrate and fats for training often means the person
loses strength. Stamina drops.
The workout capacity decreases,
and this is the perfect environment for no muscle gains and even some muscle
loss, because the progressive overload aspect to muscle growth is absent as the
body adapts, sometimes in a way we do not want.
Our body tends to hold
muscle best when there is a physiological need for strength and regular
stimulation. As your strength drops via lack of fuel to progressively overload,
so too does the need for high levels of muscle mass. Now, it’s not to say if
you lose strength, you lose muscle.
Sometimes this is a nervous
system recruitment response, but the best way to make amazing
muscle gains will
always be progressive overload in the gym, and the best way to fuel that is
with carbohydrate and fats and bringing that high protein intake down to allow
for that.
Alongside carbohydrates, we
have to factor in micronutrients (Minerals/Vitamins).
Most fitness people think in
the realm of macronutrients (Protein/Fats/Carbs) only, often not paying
attention to vitamins and minerals and how they can help us recover, over-reach
in the gym, and give us the ability to contract our muscles with more force and
duration.
Without a well-rounded
micronutrient intake in your diet, all the protein in the world won’t build
muscle optimally, because we will be in a constant state of under performance
in the gym needed to stimulate muscle growth.
It’s Very Rarely a Lack
of Protein (What Is It, Then?)
A great example of this is the
mineral sodium. Sodium is looked upon by most people as a bad thing, but in the
right amounts at the right times, it is a powerful weapon.
The amount of times I’ve heard
someone say, “Oh crap, I’m losing strength, I must be losing muscle, do I need
a second protein shake!?” Sigh. I remember watching a video by famous
powerlifter/bodybuilder Stan Efferding.
Though he is far from Vegan, he made a fundamental point about the
need for micronutrients in relation to sodium before a powerlifting meetup.
He had been dehydrating to try
and cut water weight to qualify for his weight class and with that, lost sodium
(electrolyte) levels in his system. He began to cramp and lose strength during
his opening lift and barely made the lift. It wasn’t a strength issue, he had
the strength base, it was a software issue.
Sodium plays a key role in
muscle contraction, and without that, we cannot overload or over reach. If you
have good sodium levels in your diet with a focus being right around training
time, you won’t need that extra protein shake! It’s not the cause or solution.
It is a lack of micronutrients.
Micronutrients are another term
for vitamins and minerals, from Vitamin A, B, C, D, and so on to magnesium,
iron, calcium, potassium, sodium, and many more. A great way to see your
micronutrient intake is to track for food in an application like Cronometer.
This way, you can then
troubleshoot the low areas, get them optimal so you can recover faster, improve
sleep, improve strength, and as a result of all of this, grow some more muscle
— and potentially get leaner in the process.
Take-Home Points!
1.
The
average fitness goer or training will always overshoot their protein
requirements. I have tested the theories in this blog on myself over years and
countless clients with great success.
2.
It
is one thing to read something on the internet and tout it as absolute truth.
It is another thing entirely to get in the trenches and live it. Do not let the
fear of muscle loss or the supplement industry push for you
to buy protein
powder
out of your eyeballs. It is a money-making industry backing this way of
thinking. There isn’t profit to be made in eating whole plant foods to get minerals and
vitamins! But there sure is money to be made in protein powders, drinking
dairy, and eating meat pushed by animal agriculture research funding to promote
the “need” for these products. Connect the dots.
3.
At
the end of the day, plant-based proteins like animal proteins are all
just chains of amino
acids.
You can still get the same results and effects using plant-based proteins over
animal protein. Do not buy into the belief that plants are less
superior. I believe they
are far more superior.
4.
Adapt,
test, and master your own calorie cycle; allow for your protein intake to move
along a sliding scale as your total calorie intake goes up or down.
5.
Get
a wide range of micronutrients and food choices in your diet to help
boost recovery and performance. Avoid eating one dimensionally like a lot of
fitness people do.
6.
Time
your food choices the right way. Certain foods used at certain times can
enhance output and muscle growth. You can interchange fats with carbs once your
protein intake drops based on your goal, output, and needs — don’t be locked
into one paradigm of thinking.
7.
Stop
sweating over the small stuff. All the most successful people in any endeavor
often got there by doing the basics consistently and with accuracy and not
stressing over minor details. “Success is a habit.”
8.
Use
a tracking app like Cronometer to track your food to see where you can optimize
mineral and vitamin numbers. Track your performance in the gym: weight lifting,
circumference measurements, and so on. Tracking these things is feedback, which
gives you means by which you can adjust your diet, nutrient timing, and calorie
intake to make some serious vegan gains, all with less protein!
9.
If
you are truly paranoid about muscle loss while tapering protein down, just use
a good BCAA
supplement
while you work out. I suggest Clean Machine BCAA, as it is a high-standard
vegan brand, owned and operated by a vegan of 31 years.
10.
Get
a coach. If this all sounds appealing to you but outside of the realm of your
understanding or ability to apply it, invest in a coach like myself to
streamline that process for you, expedite your results, and get you to your
goals
To get more vegan muscle
building tips,
watch this video - VEGAN
BODYBUILDING MACROS 101 | How much Protein!?
Written by:
Fraser
Bayley is the founder Plant Strong Fitness and Evolving
Alpha and a contributing writer for VegetarianBodybuilding.com and other
fine plant-based fitness publications.
Author
Bio:
Chris
Willitts (creator of V3), is the founder and owner of Vegetarian Bodybuilding.
V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System is a
mixture of science and author’s advice, providing users with
optimal diet and exercise. This system is designed for vegans and vegetarians
only.
A
lot of research has been put in this program. Furthermore, a lot of
professional bodybuilders and athletes tried and tested the program, praising its
progressiveness and efficiency.
The
program is about taking control of your own body and health according to your
potential and needs. And worry not; you’ll get plenty of proteins with this
system. It will boost you with energy, and you’ll feel just a strong as any
carnivore would (perhaps even stronger, depending on how much you invest in
your exercise). It avoids vitamins deficiency and provides you with a lot of
proteins, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Instead
of saying things like “I think a plant-based diet is good for athletes and
bodybuilders,” the V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System claims “I know a
plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders, and I have results to
prove it.”
To
find out more, visit the website at V3 Bodybuilding – Vegan Muscle Building Tips
