My Jealously Guarded Secrets About Protein

I wish I knew THEN what I know KNOW!

I find myself thinking that about many different aspects of my life, but it's especially true with bodybuilding. One of the biggest reasons I had trouble gaining all those years was my diet. I simply did not realize how much protein and food it took to gain muscle!

Back in March I decided to bulk up and started lifted as heavy as possible. (Prior to that I had been "giving my joints a break"...translated..."I'm a little burned out and getting lazy so I'm gonna slack off and use easy weights!")

So after making the decision to bulk up, I increased my food intake and protein (a little bit). I started getting stronger in the basic exercises but wasn't getting any bigger! What gives????

Think about it like this: Let's say you want to fill up a water glass so you go outside because it's raining...but it's only drizzling a little. How fast is that water glass going to fill up? Pretty slowly, huh?

Now go outside in a DOWNPOUR and see how fast your glass fills up!

Get the idea?

When I really got serious about my bulking cycle I was eating a little over 350 grams of protein per day...and Lord knows how many calories! (I didn't count calories). And this was at a starting body weight of 165 at 5'6" tall with a VERY light bone structure.

I'm not going to lie to you and tell you it was easy to stay on my schedule and eat all that food day in and day out, but was it worth it?

I'd say so. By the middle of May I weighed 190 at about 13% body fat. Granted I put on some body fat, and SOME of that was lost muscle mass re-gained, but that's A LOT of muscle put on in only about 3 months! I was definitely in a "bulked up" condition with a body fat % that high, but boy was I a lot bigger! Now I've been dieting to lose the body fat for the summer.

So I've said it before and I'll say it again...

TO GAIN MUSCLE MASS YOU GOTTA EAT A LOT OF HIGH QUALITY PROTEIN SPREAD OUT OVER 5 TO 8 MEALS EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!

(Got it? Can I take off my caps lock now???)

If muscular weight gain is your goal, try increasing your protein intake to 1.5 grams or 2 grams per pound of body weight.

If you're worried about putting on a lot of body fat, keep the carbs to a 1.5 or 1:1 ration, 40-60 grams protein and 10-40 grams carbs five or six times daily.

Can you do this without supplements?

Sure, but it's a lot easier to eat three major food meals and two or three minor ones, supplementing the minor ones with a high quality complete protein shake or meal replacement powder like our new MyoLean.

One of the easiest, yet most neglected ways to use protein supplements is to take them right along with your meals.

Is this too much protein at on time? Only if you want to stay small! Forget the myth that you should only use thirty grams of protein at one time. You'll never get anywhere with that kind of thinking. I think fifty grams or more per meal is the way to get big!

Hope that helps!