More Protein or More Calories?

[flexn]

I have a question.

Im quite small in size right now and i try to frequently workout as much as possible(w/o overtraining).

The question is. Should i concentrate on more protein intake or more calorie intake in a shake?

What would the be the difference if i concentrated only on protein and if i only concentrated on calories?

[Silverback]

What are your goals?

Ideally you should aim for both ample amounts of protein and calories, but then again it depends on your overall goals

You say your small and that you workout as much as possible, why? more doesnt=better especially in the bodybuilding world.

If your a hard gainer then and want to gain then calories are the key along with the protein, i decent shake for a hard-gainer would have about 40-60g protein and 600-900 cals.

B-R

[amfipyros]

You need enough maconutrients and enough calories throughout the day to grow. Consume 1.5 to 2.0 grams per kg. Info on protein intake:
http://www.wannabebig.com/article.php?articleid=54&pageid=1

You need the following amount of cals per pound of bodyweight to loose, maintain or gain weight respectively:
To lose - 12 x BW
To maintain - 15 x BW
To gain - 18 x BW

Of course the amount of cals you spend and the the rate of your metabolism play a key role. Check this:
http://www.wannabebig.com/article.php?articleid=3

I'm not sure on this but I think that the general rule of thumb is to consume 110% of the cals you spend in order to grow.

Now considering a shake, there's a limited amount of protein that your body can use to feed the muscles in each meal so this is why you should spread your daily protein intake throughout the day. Someone else can fill in on what that amount is. The same goes for energy intake. You should also take into consideration that you need some carbs in your post w/o shake for faster glycogen repletion. Check fitday.com for useful calculators.

Although I haven't given you numbers on how much macronutrients and cals in a shake, the bottom line is that you should concetrate on both protein and cals with a variation on their amounts in regards to when you have that shake. (eg. you need more cals, carbs and fast digesting nutrients in your post w/o shake and chiefly slow digesting protein in your bed time shake)

[bradley]

Here is an article on post workout nutrition that might help you:

http://www.thinkmuscle.com/articles/haycock/postexercise.htm


The question is. Should i concentrate on more protein intake or more calorie intake in a shake?

I would concentrate on getting an adequate amount of simple carbs to help refill muscle glycogen, and a quick digesting protein like whey. If you just concentrated on more protein then the body would just use the protein as energy. What I mean is that if you don't have enough carbs in your postworkout shake then the protein will be converted to glucose as protein would be the next best source of energy.

[bradley]

You need the following amount of cals per pound of bodyweight to loose, maintain or gain weight respectively:
To lose - 12 x BW
To maintain - 15 x BW
To gain - 18 x BW


I would recommend using these as a rough estimate only. Different people will require different calorie levels based on many different variables. If you want to gain then just increase cals in small increments each week until you are gaining the desired amount of weight each week.

[flexn]

wow bradley you know your abc's !


got any pics?
are you ripped?

[bradley]

Originally posted by flexn
wow bradley you know your abc's !


got any pics?
are you ripped?

You I have some pics in my journal, and no I am not ripped by any means.;)

[Holto]

props to Bradley

on his way to ripped no doubt