Protein and running

When training for an event or running for enjoyment it is vitally important to always keep your energy levels high and your muscles fed with the required fuel in order to keep progressing and make sure that you are staying at the top of your game.

Protein, unlike fat and carbohydrates, isn’t stored for later use meaning it is used almost immediately by your body and because of this there is a limit to the amount that your body can use at any one time. A lot of scientific studies have shown that an amount between 25-35g grams is the kick start point for the body to begin repairing the used muscles and start to rebuild the muscle mass with your protein intake.

This can differ depending on your body type and your metabolism speeds, so a smaller runner may only need 20 grams and a larger runner may need 40-50 grams for your body to start the rebuilding procedure and really make use of the high quality protein. These amounts are a guideline to maintaining a lean body mass and keeping your weight at a useful and working weight, as having too much muscle mass can be counter productive when in running training.

With your your intense periods of training whilst running it can be hard to sustain a steady flow of amino acids to your body but the key is to spread them across many meals throughout the day. The amino acids are the building blocks of protein and there a useful addition to your training regime as the more you have in your system you will recover at a quicker rate and hold onto your muscle mass during stressful training periods.

As a guide then for your training regime we can use the below table for your diet supplementation during running exercise and training.

Time training / Quality protein intake

Up to 1hr                                 0.5g per lb of bodyweight

Up to 3hrs                               1g per lb of bodyweight

4hrs or more                           5g per lb of bodyweight

Obviously your intake will vary and you’ll be experimenting with your training for a short while before finding your optimum level on intake to continue your progression. So find what’s best for you and make sure your levels are high enough to maintain your muscle mass and keep progressing your training goals and levels. Importantly for those who are vegan or vegetarian it can be very difficult to have a steady intake of protein just from your diet alone during training and so it can be helpful if you are able to supplement your dietary needs with available proteins and aminos from elsewhere, like Rice protein.

BioTechUSA offers up some of the best products around when considering supplementing your training and, with the zero sugar and protein mix found in their Zero Bar, this quick and effective hit of high grade protein can add to your intake on the go and be a great pre or post workout kick during your regime. The zero sugars means that you can focus on maintaining your lean muscle mass and the protein hit can help toward joint maintenance which can be key when you’re running or on track in pursuit of your lap times/next event.

You can check out the Zero bar and all it’s benefit’s here.

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