PROTEIN- The Building Blocks of the Body

The protein you eat becomes the building blocks of the body. That is why it is so important to feed yourself properly. Intense muscular activity causes the body to react by sending signals that it is under stress. You will want to have enough protien in your system so that it can rebuild.

It is also important that you have a high Carbohydrate diet for energy for athletes who engage in periods of hard, intense training. For now I will be talking about proteins.

When you train hard the proteins act like an army and provide energy for muscular contraction, recovery, and building. The body reacts by building stronger tissue that was used by training.

Think of protein like a bundle of bricks (they are actually a chain of something called amino acids). They have several different "bricks" that do different things. Some are for growth, some are for repair, ect. The exercise process uses energy from two things, the bricks (amino acids) of the protein bundle and glucose from the carbohydrate intake (which I will talk about at a later date). Some of the amino acids are maufactured by the body. There are 9 which cannot be made and they are called ESSENTIAL amino acids. We get them from what we eat. Intense workouts cause a supression of protein synthesis (building), and tissue destruction. This means it is important to have enough bricks (amino acids) on board. The exercise causes exhaustion of the muscles, so the body destroys them and replaces them with bigger and stronger muscles. You have a window of opportunity after an intense work out (approximately 1 hr) to increase growth with a good protein source. This is when a protein supplement will assist with recovery. WHEY protein is best. It is usually assimilated into the body within a couple of hrs. Supplements that are casein based cause a bloated feeling, nausea and gas for many hrs. They also decrease your appetite for solid foods.

One important element I must mention is the need to keep your body hydrated. When you take high amounts of protein it causes the body to become acidic so hydration is crucial. Water helps transport nutrients and flush waste products from the body. An average adult body is usually made up of 70% water (about 12 gallons). Lean muscle contains more water than fat tissue. Sweating depletes that fluid. Be sure to sip water as you exercise. On the average we need about 1200 ml per day, but with exercise our requirements increase by 5 or 6 times that amount. It is the mechanism by which the body cools itself. Normally we lose about 350 ml through the skin, but an intense workout will increase that significantly.

In conclusion the body needs protein for building. It is also important to have enough carbohydrates and to hydrate the body for proper fuction.