Why do gear users have different Protein requirements

[rogue06]

This may be a stupid question, I’m just curious and trying to learn. Why is it that so many people on gear eat like 250+g protein? As a natural, do we need less, if so, why? I’m someone that naturally just loves protein and gravitates towards it, so at 160 I tend to eat 200g no problem

 

[crescent_moon]

@rogue06 Dr. Mike has a fairly short video that highlights diet between natural vs enhanced bodybuilders:

To answer your question specifically, using gear doesn’t really affect your optimal protein amount. People on gear may eat more protein as they weigh more and have more lean muscle mass, but the optimal ratio (about .8g/lb of bodyweight) doesn’t change.

For you specifically, there’s nothing wrong with going over this ratio (you may even want to go closer to 1g/lb if you’re cutting to a really low body fat %), but it’s suboptimal to do so. The “extra” protein just gets converted to energy and it’s better to swap that protein for extra carbs to better feed your workouts

 

[lordofw4rrior]

@crescent_moon The other factor to consider as well is that a lot of these guys have huge caloric requirements and eating 3500+ calories per day, you're probably going to automatically end up eating additional protein by proxy with the extra carbs and fats just from eating more oatmeal, pasta and shit like that.

If you're 200lbs and don't have any dietary restrictions (ie, not vegan or vegetarian) you would probably actually have to work to ONLY eat 160 grams of protein on 3500 cals.

 

[dj_mcdaniel67]

@lordofw4rrior What does eating protein by proxy mean? That the pasta contains some proteins?

 

[lordofw4rrior]

@dj_mcdaniel67 Yeah exactly. So by consuming higher intakes of certain carbs or fats to hit a higher amount or calories, you'll likely end up eating additional protein automatically by consuming additional amounts of those foods.

Avg serving size of pasta has about 6-15 grams of protein depending on the type you buy, so just by simply getting more calories from a larger serving of pasta, you're automatically going to eat more protein.

 

[bobgail]

@crescent_moon Dr. Mike also sat down with Menno Henselmans not too long ago and talked about more of the nuances. I believe Menno ends up recommending enhanced individuals do take more protein:

 

[frcs]

@crescent_moon Dr. Mike Isratel has an updated video with Henselmans where it's stated you need a lot more protein if you're enhanced.

 

[livingme7]

@frcs Especially if you do crazy 3h workouts

 

[eighty]

@livingme7 so basically it’s an 8 hour arm workout…

 

[jey]

@crescent_moon it did definetly affect his hair tho bro rocks 1970s grandpa look

 

[kvolm]

@rogue06 We actually don’t know for sure if gear users need more protein.

Some bodybuilding coaches anecdotally notice that gear users grow more with more protein. Others say it doesn’t make a difference.

Theoretically, a gear user may need more protein because the exogenous hormones are driving more muscle protein synthesis than there would be in a natural hormonal environment, and more protein can be utilized.

On the other hand, and I personally disagree with this, some people believe that gear users may actually need less protein, because the gear is directly stimulating MPS rather than purely relying on diet and training to elevate it.

 

[stevens8705]

@rogue06 They don’t. They can just utilize more if they want to.

 

[eighty]

@stevens8705 yeah I’m sure they don’t want to, just sticking needles in their butts for fun

 

[danish84v]

@rogue06 Steroids increase muscle protein synthesis. More muscle being created means more protein needed.

 

[waiting4]

@danish84v I'm surprised this isn't obvious. If I'm taking 3 months to make 5 pounds of muscle, I need less protein than if I make 10 pounds of muscle.

 

[tamarav]

@rogue06 From what I understand the protein synthesis is much faster. On steroids you recover faster/ protein gets synthesized faster. So where a natural body can process only so much protein, on gear that amount changes.

 

[selahgirl]

@rogue06 Their bodies need more raw materials to make more muscle

 

[zsju]

@rogue06 If they build/repair muscle tissue faster it would seem to make more sense they'd require more protein and energy to do so

 

[icd]

@rogue06 Gear users are usually much heavier then naturals. More weight = More calories = More protein.

 

[johnc101]

@icd idk why downvoted - if you have 200lbs of LBM compared to a natural 160Lbs of LBM, you're gonna need more protein to sustain that, let alone build even more