| How much protein should I take consume per day? |
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This will depend on your activity level, whether you on a high or low carb (or fat) diet and many other factors. In general, for bodybuilding, we recommend 1 gram per pound of bodyweight daily as a starting point. After a few weeks, you can adjust the amount up or down by 10 grams or so and watch the mirror/scales and your energy level. If you listen to what your body is telling you, you will know when you have reached the optimal level for you.
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| But I have yoghurt for breakfast and a chicken sandwich for lunch - isn't that enough? |
No - Your chicken sandwich - even if it contained a whole breast of chicken which weighs, say, 200 grams, only contains around 45-50 grams of protein. Much of the rest of that weight is water, fat, minerals, etc. In all likelihood, you are probably eating a much smaller portion than that and getting 20-25 grams at the most.
As for yoghurt - which we love by the way - it only has between 6 and 10 grams per 100g of actual protein.
Both of these foods are worthwhile additions to a bodybuilding diet. But they only go part-way to supplying the protein you need.
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| How much protein should I consume from food, and how much from supplements? |
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We always aim for a balance of whole foods and supplements - say half of your protein from food, and the other half from supplements. Of course, if you are on a very high protein diet (i.e. 250grams daily or more), this will be hard to achieve, and you will need to get 60%, 70% or more from a supplement.
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| How many times a day should I take my protein supplement? |
The easy answer is three meals a day with a portion of protein in each, and three protein shakes. But because everyone has a different schedule it's not always that easy. Some for example start the day with a shake because it's easy to prepare and drink, and save the heavier foods (i.e. chicken, meat, fish) for later in the day.
So the answer for you is, whenever it is convenient. Just make sure that you get some kind of protein - whether that be supplement or food - 5 to 6 times a day.
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| I can only afford to use protein powder once per day - when should I take it for best muscle-building results? |
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This is a tough one. Normally we would say split the protein up between breakfast, and pre and post-workout. But if you can genuinely only afford it once per day, we would take it first-thing in the morning to take advantage of the period of high protein-synthesis and high anabolic hormones at that time. Others might prefer to take it post-workout, but if we had to chose only one, that would be it.
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