Leucine: Maximize Your Strength

As an athlete, you work your tail off throughout the season to perform your best in that A race. The first part of your season consists of building a solid base – gaining strength in the gym that will transition to power on the bike or during a run. The second half of the season is devoted to speed and continued aerobic improvement.

For some athletes, performing their best means losing fat mass to get to a lean, healthy race weight. Without proper nutrition, however, you’ll not only lose fat but muscle mass as well. This could lead to substandard performance because of decreased strength and aerobic capacity. Not ideal.

No matter what your plan entails, the one piece that should never be left out is nutrition. Depending on what phase of training you’re in, your fueling may change to help promote muscle gain and muscle maintenance.

Muscle & Leucine

Skeletal muscle responds to exercise in a variety of ways. Endurance training alters muscle cells to be more fatigue resistant, be able to use fats for fuel, and have the capacity for more efficient use of carbohydrate fuels. Resistance-trained muscles use primarily chemical reactions for power rather than carbohydrates or fat, and these exercises increase muscle fibers to generate greater force.

In fact, resistance exercise is a potent stimulant of Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS), or the building of muscle, and this process is further enhanced by specific nutrients. This is where leucine comes into play. Leucine is an essential amino acid that is theorized to be the limiting factor of MPS. Meaning that while all amino acids are necessary to build protein, if there isn’t enough leucine, muscle accretion is not nearly as great.

Leucine content of different protein sources differs dramatically (grams Leucine per 100g product):

• Whey Protein Powder: 9.0 g

• Pea Protein Powder: 8.4 g

• Dried Egg White Powder: 6.83 g

• Soy Protein Isolate Powder: 6.78 g

• Casein Protein Powder: 6.65 g

• Dry Nonfat Milk: 3.54 g

• 2 Whole Eggs: 2.17 g

• Dry Black Beans: 1.72 g

• Ground Beef (95% Lean): 1.67 g

• Whole Wheat Flour: 0.89 g

As you can see, whey protein powder (made from the liquid that is left behind when milk is curdled and the solids [casien] are removed) provides the highest concentration of leucine. The good news for vegans is that pea protein powder holds a very close second in leucine content with 8.4g per 100 grams.

Leucine: Amount & Timing for Muscle Gain

The above graph, created as a review of nine studies, shows resistance training-induced changes in lean muscle mass using different protein sources, with whey supplementation post-exercise creating the highest gains.

Along with the type of protein, the amount consumed also plays a key role. Studies have found that MPS plateaus with anything above a single dose of 20 grams of protein (about 8.5g of essential amino acids), consumed after resistance training. Any extra protein ingested at one time is burned as fuel and not used to build more muscle.

Timing your protein supplementation is also important for MPS. Consume 20 grams of high-quality protein within 1-2 hours after a workout for optimal gains, and/or 30-45 minutes before a workout.

However, I do not recommend taking in protein before a workout as much as I recommend carbs be taken at this time. Carbs give you the energy to perform your best; allowing you to have increased intensity, perform max lifting, and give you the fuel to get the most out of your workout. Protein does not provide the glucose your body needs to train hard — so I recommend taking in protein after and carbs before.

So what does this mean for YOU?

Training: Strength Phase

During the strength blocks of your training plan, when muscle accretion is an important factor, focus on having 20 grams of high-quality protein (preferably whey protein or pea protein powders, or another powder that has added leucine) within an hour of your resistance training session. This will help you make the most of your time in the gym.

Training: Speed & Aerobic Capacity

During the second half of your season, as time in the gym diminishes and time out on the road becomes more valuable, it’s equally important to focus on nutrition. During this time, fuel your workouts with a pre-workout carbohydrate snack, and refuel with a 4:1 or 3:1 ratio of carb: protein recovery drink.

To help maintain muscle mass during this time, have a protein shake before bed using whey or pea protein powder. Night time is when the body releases human growth hormone to help rebuild and repair muscles – this is your body’s anabolic (muscle building) time. Having some protein before bed may help with the muscle recovery and build process.

9 Tips for Healthy Holiday Eating

by ADMIN on OCTOBER 26, 2011

Prevent the Holiday Bulge!

Halloween marks the official beginning of big splurge season. The next 12 weeks leading up to Superbowl Sunday are filled with holidays and celebrations that all involve lots of food as well as many added demands on your time that can cut into your exercise, sleep and regular meal routines — a perfect trifecta for weight gain. If you don’t want to end this season a couple sizes larger than you start it, now is the time to equip yourself with some new text messages designed to spare you that one gift you can’t give back, added weight.

Holiday events and family gatherings are fun, and you should absolutely enjoy them, but with discretion.

Many times, one’s degree of discretion is directly proportional to the number of alcoholic beverages consumed.

Having the first drink on an empty stomach accelerates indiscretion – which may lead to transgressions at the buffet table. Moral of the story: Alcohol fuels overeating. Keep it to one drink then water and you’ll be doing your waistline a favor.

Another sign of indiscretion is judging the foods you eat by their size.

Hors d’oeuvres may look like innocent little morsels of food, but when eaten without caution, those tidbits can make your clothes tighter by morning. If you placed all those “morsels” on a plate, they’d fill it! So to help keep track of what you’ve eaten, hold on to the toothpicks.

To defend yourself against the caloric overload delivered in those endless cocktails and canapés this holiday season, just program these codes into your phone for simple reminders of how to avoid the holiday bulge.

BYO: Bring Your Own low-calorie goodies as a party favor so you’re sure to have something safe to munch on all night.

LWL: Little White Lies told to refuse extra food that is passed on trays, especially if it looks like it’s been deep fried or smothered in cream sauce. Try “I’m allergic to gluten,” or “I’m lactose intolerant.” Though it may not be true, these can help you stick to your healthy vision.

MIH: May I Help? Your way to avoid eating by helping the hostess. Now you can pass around some of those tasty tidbits and hear all the reasons people give for eating more than their share – or giving up their share!

WYN: What’s Your Name? A perfect conversation starter and an opportunity to become engrossed in a conversation so you won’t be caught with your mouth full. Boredom may lead to overeating.

NTY: No Thank You is the way to respond to any offers for another drink, some homemade cookies or anything else you do not want to eat. Say it politely, but firmly, to get your point across and remain in control over your choices.

WYH: What’s Your Hurry? A reminder to slow down at meals and savor each bite. You also can slow the pace by arriving 15-20 minutes late for the event so the first few rounds of hors d’oeuvres will have been served and making a point to get on the end of the buffet line when many of the chafing dishes are depleted and what’s left looks much less appetizing.

ETG: Eat The Garnishes since party platters are always surrounded by edible vegetables, like radishes roses and carrot curls. It’s your one hope of finding something that’s actually low in calories and unadulterated by sauces, coatings and crumbs.

KIT: Keep It Tight, as in your belt buckle, or wear a fitted dress or slacks to help keep your appetite under control.

IBG: It’s Been Great, but it’s time to leave. The best way out of a tempting eating or drinking situation is the same way you came in — through the front door. Explain you have another commitment, then just walk away from the temptation and arrive home with your discretion intact for another night.

Now go out and enjoy the holidays! Just remember, with a little effort you can come out on top for the New Year!

Mindful Eating: What is it?

by ADMIN on MARCH 10, 2016

Eating has become a race in our society. We want to get it done faster so that we can get back to work, get the kids to practice, or just simply get it over with. We grab breakfast on the run. We take lunch to go.

In fact, many of us have forgotten that eating is more than just a necessary fuel, it’s also for nourishment. It enhances mental acuity. It helps keep our emotional integrity. Food play a role in just about every aspect of our lives whether we want it to or not.

Adults spend only about 1 hour and 12 minutes per day eating. Kids are just as rushed and eat in only 11 minutes during school lunch period.

But it’s not just the speed of our eating that’s the problem. We’re a nation of multi-taskers. We eat while watching TV, reading a book or magazine, responding to email… and even driving! Today, upwards of 66% of Americans eat dinner in front of the TV.

With food at the center of American culture, it’s important to look at not only what we eat, but how we eat. Especially since scientists are beginning to see how complex the mind-body connection is in eating behavior.

What is Mindless Eating?

Mindless eating is eating without awareness. Like when you munch on a snack in front of the TV and all of a sudden it’s gone – and you don’t remember finishing it. It turns out that when we eat mindlessly, or when our mind it ‘tuned-out’ during meal time, the digestive process is 30% to 40% less effective. This can contribute to gas, bloating, and bowel irregularities.

Am I hungry?

The brain and central nervous system receive signals from body when food is needed or desired. These signals may have several different triggers, from actual hunger to our mood. Once eating is underway, our brain monitors the signals coming in from the body to determine when we’re about to be full, and will send out a signal to stop eating.

However, if the mind is multi-tasking during eating, these critical signals that regulate food intake may not be received by the brain.

If the brain doesn’t received certain signals during eating, such as the sensation of taste and satisfaction, it may fail to register the event as ‘eating’. This scenario can lead to the brain continuing to send out additional signals of hunger, increasing the chance that you’ll over eat.

What is Mindful Eating?

Eating mindfully means eating with awareness. Deliberately paying attention to not just what’s on your plate, but the experience of eating. Being present for each sensation: food preparation, the colors on your plate, the aroma, the taste, and swallowing. It’s also paying attention to our body’s response to the food: Where are we hungry in the body? Where do we feel satisfied? What does full feel like?

To be fully in the moment you also have to acknowledge what emotions come up as well. Do you like the food? Are you eating it only because it’s ‘healthy’? Do you feel guilty for eating it? Acknowledging these responses without judgement , no matter what they are, can help free you from the control food may have over you.

It’s important to avoid criticizing yourself when eating, or to compare yourself to someone else.

The goal is to give yourself permission to eat something, eat it mindfully, and be able to stop when you feel satisfied

Know that your body will tell you to stop when your satisfied, you just have to start slowing down and trusting your intuition. This is something that we as adults have lost along the way – the ability to sense when we’re full or satisfied. Food plays such a huge role in our society and lives that we’ve learned to over eat rather than enjoy.

It actually takes 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain that it’s full. Twenty full minutes. So if you wolf down your food in less than 10 without acknowledging or experiencing, then you may eat more than your body needs.

Eating slower and without distraction is the key to mindful eating. Simply by thinking more fully about your meal, and all the emotions and senses that go into it, you’ll be more likely to eat without guilt, enjoy the experience, and make more nourishing decision for your body.

References:

The Center for Mindful Eating

Mindful Eating; Psychology Today