Well, it’s time for Friday Q and A and since I’ve been getting a ton of questions (and always have) surrounding my thoughts on protein, I’ll go ahead and dedicate this week’s Q and A to Protein and Building Muscle.

Ever since I got my hands on the newly redone book, “How Much Protein“, by Brad Pilon, I’ve been in crazy disbelief mode…

After all this time I was lead to believe that we had to take in a certain amount of protein before and after a workout, but the true answer was ALWAYS in front my face…

Before I get down to some of the things I want to share and drop a few take-away’s from Brad’s newly updated book, “How Much Protein”, I want to go over my Top 5 Muscle Building / Fat Shredding Proteins.

It’s a fact and will always be true that we DO need protein to get leaner, stronger, and build more muscle.   What’s not true is the fact that we need so much of it….

I can remember buying up this Post Workout Shake from GNC back in the day that had something like 60g of protein in one serving!  Thinking “more was better”, I would have two servings plus the extra protein I was adding in throughout the day!

Did I see twice the muscle gain and twice the strength gain??  No…

I’m sure a TON of you reading this post right now can feel for me as YOU too have done the same things as well…..

  • Eating twice the recommended amount of protein…
  • Doubling up your servings of protein mix…
  • Grabbing the protein shake or bar that had the MOST protein in it…

It’s cool, becasue we didn’t know any better, but now I’m about to share how you can finally reveal the TRUTH about protein!

BUT first, before you run off and start measuring out just how much protein your taking in right now, make sure you’re eating the RIGHT type of proteins first!  Here’s my Top 5 Protein Sources….

1) Grass Fed Beef – This is by far one of the BEST sources one can get solid protein from.  Grass fed beef is a great source of not only protein but also many other nutrients.  Grass fed beef also gives you more Omega 3’s than regular beef and the cholesterol (which isn’t evil) contained in Grass Fed Beef is also very nutritious for us as it aids in both helping increase testosterone production and improves brain functioning.

That’s just what we need – A bunch of Smarter Meatheads walking around!  LOL!

2) Organic Chicken – This is not only a great LEAN source of a high quality protein but also high in EFA’s as well.  Just like Grass Fed Beef, organic (skinless) chicken breast is a much healthier and beneficial source than your normal chicken meat.  If it’s raised right, it’ll be much healthier for you so make sure it’s Organic and cage free!

3) Cage Free Eggs – This is simply the chicken before it hatches!  Make sure you go with FREE RANGE / CAGE FREE eggs as I stated above.  Also, quit being a sissy and eat the WHOLE egg!  Don’t be shy here!  The whites contain most of the protein (which is one of the HIGHEST quality proteins you can find) but the yolks have all the powerful nutrients and fats.  These fats, like the fats coming from Grass Fed Beef, are healthy so don’t be scared…  Instead Eat Up and Get LEAN and MEAN!

4) Wild Caught Salmon  – First important point here is to make sure your salmon is WILD CAUGHT not “Farmed” salmon.  Think of this as the same thing between “grass fed beef” and regular beef.  Anything that has been raised in a better environment will be better for you plus the protein from salmon is one of the riches sources you can get!  The fats you get from salmon are great for your body as well!  Unfortunately, I HATE fish so hardly ever eat it….  I’ll have my chicken and steak thank you!

5) Tuna Fish – Again, same thing here with the source of where it came from…  If it’s in a can, it’s been manufactured and probably raised in a huge factory and thus has more toxins in it.  I would go for the wild caught tuna and cook it up yourself instead of grabbing it from the shelves in a bag or can.  But if you must, you can always resort to that as well…  Again, I’ll stick with my beef and chicken…

HUGE TAKE-AWAY – I can’t  stress enough that the SOURCE of where you get your protein from is vital to the way it will treat your body in the end!  Get it from a crappy, disease infested source, you’ll get unwanted results.

So, those are my 5 top sources of protein…

Now that you know where to get your protein, I want to share some of the major “Ah Ha” take-away’s I got from Brad Pilon’s book, “How Much Protein”. (I can’t share the specifics as that would be wrong and unethical, you’ll want to find out yourself by reading the book!)

  • The amount of protein you eat doesn’t matter, but rather, it’s the SOURCE of protein that matters most
  • The more protein you eat DOES NOT EQUATE to more muscle gained
  • In order to gain muscle…  it doesn’t always come down to how much protein your taking in but rather, how much testosterone your body is producing (So do things that help your body produce more testosterone – NO STEROIDS though!)
  • The more protein you eat, the better you body is at absorbing it…
  • It’s a MYTH that you can only absorb 25g -50g of protein at one time…
  • Just because supplement drink X has 50g of protein vs. supplement drink B, which has only 25g of protein doesn’t make it any better than the other.  It could actually be worse….  on your wallet…
  • FINAL take away…. YOU are ultimately the deciding factor on how much muscle and strength you’ll gain as well as how much fat you’ll lose…  not protein..

Bottom Line – TRAIN H.A.M. and eat more balanced meals (I recommend eating Paleo) and spreading your protein intake out throughout the day.

If you want to find out just how much protein YOU need in order to gain muscle, then I would highly recommend getting Brad Pilon’s Book – “How Much Protein“

QUIT blaming protein as the culprit for when you’re not gaining muscle or seeing results!

< ======  Find out the TRUTH!!!

 

 

Live Aggressive and Get Strong!

PS – Let me hear about some of your CRAZIEST protein stories and also drop your FAVORITE protein source in the comments!