Protein and Muscle Building

Protein is a major component of all muscles, tissues and organs and is vital for practically every process that occurs within the body from digestion to the transportation of nutrients and oxygen in the blood.

Protein is also essential for immune system function. And, most importantly for you, it is absolutely vital for muscle repair and growth.

Protein is stored in your muscle tissue, and when you do not supply your body with sufficient protein it will steal it from your muscles. This is known as ‘muscle breakdown’. To avoid this you will need to provide your body with a constant supply of protein throughout the entire day.

When you exercise your muscles, what you are doing is breaking down muscle fibres, a process known as ‘catabolism’. The breakdown includes the physical separation of the fibres that comprise the muscle structure. The subsequent repair of the damaged muscle is ‘anabolism’, the building up and the growth of the existing and previously-damaged fibre.

When you do not provide your body with the right nutrition at the right time or over-train, your body might go into a state commonly known as a ‘catabolic state’. As mentioned earlier in the guide, this is when excess muscle protein breakdown occurs, something you want to avoid as much as possible.

Contrarily, when you provide the right nutrition and training to your body you are most commonly in the more favourable ‘anabolic state’, the building and repair of muscle.

You may have heard the term ‘protein synthesis’ before. Basically, that is the term used for the repair of fatigued muscle tissue. When the body produces more synthesised protein than it consumes through its catabolic processes, muscle will be developed.