Exercising & Healthy Eating for the Casual Gym Goer

Written by Jonathan Neddo
Part of National Nutrition Month 2013






Today’s society has evolved rather dramatically over the past few decades regarding nutritional fallacies and dietary fads.  Some of which you have heard of or maybe even tried at one point.  These fad diets are often promoted via blogs and various other media outlets (books, news, etc), and are typically presented without scientific validation (such as the Paleolithic Diet).  One of these grossly overemphasized points is that there is an “anabolic window” of sorts after a casual gym goer’s lift, and that you need a protein shake with some carbohydrate cocktail to fully recover and maximize muscular growth.   This common occurrence, while not detrimental in its adherence, is not entirely necessary.

The primary focus should instead be the dietary intake throughout the entire day, outside of this “window” and whether it meets the needs for growing musculature.  While diets are very individualized based on varying degrees of activity and dependent upon goals, following MyPlate recommendations (illustrated by the image below) alongside a slightly improved protein intake (preferably from lean meat sources such as chicken, fish, or steak – totaling 0.55-0.73g of protein/lbs total bodyweight per day) will provide optimal nutrients for muscle growth.  So long as you eat a balanced meal within 4-5 hours either way of your lift, the amino acids (muscle’s building blocks) from this meal will still be circulating and thus able to rebuild your muscles from taxing them during a workout. 

Bodyweight	Daily Protein Intake
125 lbs	69 – 91g
150 lbs	83 – 110g
175 lbs	96 – 128g
200 lbs	110 – 146g
225 lbs	124 – 164g

The message is to eat as you feel necessary, whether that includes adding a post-workout shake in or instead waiting a few hours to prepare a balanced meal.  Both will notice the same muscle gain while the latter may even garner more micronutrients if the meal includes fruits and vegetables.  To assist meeting the daily intake, a quick rule of thumb is a deck of cards being equivalent to 3oz of meat and roughly 20g of protein.  

References

De Lira-Garcia, C., Bacardi-Gascon, M., & Jimenez-Cruz, A. (2012). Effectiveness of long-term consumption of nuts, seeds and seeds' oil on glucose and lipid levels; systematic review. Nutr Hosp, 27(4), 964-970. doi: 10.3305/nh.2012.27.4.5781

Erskine, R. M., Fletcher, G., Hanson, B., & Folland, J. P. (2012). Whey protein does not enhance the adaptations to elbow flexor resistance training. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 44(9), 1791-1800. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e318256c48d

Meal [Photograph].  Retrieved March 21, 2013, from:  http://img2.timeinc.net/health/images/slides/lean-chicken-digestive-400x400.jpg

MyPlate [Digital image].  Retrieved February 21, 2013, from:  http://www.choosemyplate.gov/images/MyPlateImages/JPG/myplate_white.jpg

Weisgarber, K. D., Candow, D. G., & Vogt, E. S. (2012). Whey protein before and during resistance exercise has no effect on muscle mass and strength in untrained young adults. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 22(6), 463-469.

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