Protein intake for a mass gaining phase

[Gains4Days11]

Salt doesn’t necessarily cause water retention either.

Dude, I was actually thinking of this thread today so I’m glad @EpicFlash responded. Listen to EliteFTS Table Talk podcast where Dave Tate has Dr Todd Lee on. He talks about a lot of this stuff. The bulk and cut method actually messes you up in the long run because it’s constantly resetting your calories and screwing up the hunger hormones grehlin and leptin. Give it a listen. It’s interesting.

Yeah, I was thinking about adding some salt back into my diet when I start adding calories. Right now it’s just in my pre-workout shake and post-workout meal. I’ll check out that podcast now. Thanks man.

 

[EpicFlash]

Salt doesn’t necessarily cause water retention either.

Dude, I was actually thinking of this thread today so I’m glad @EpicFlash responded. Listen to EliteFTS Table Talk podcast where Dave Tate has Dr Todd Lee on. He talks about a lot of this stuff. The bulk and cut method actually messes you up in the long run because it’s constantly resetting your calories and screwing up the hunger hormones grehlin and leptin. Give it a listen. It’s interesting.

Agreed about salt. Definitely not a bad thing and when I am in a deficit, I sometimes add salt as I am eating pretty clean. I was just referring to scale weight and when guys dirty bulk, usually the food is not necessarily healthy food. They think the bulk is working because the body picks up extra water weight. Example is let’s say my body averages 2grams of salt a day and that keeps the electrolytes balanced and I add another 3 grams of salt(via the “dirty bulk” food), my body has to then hold on to extra water to try to keep the balance.

 

[Gains4Days11]

Agreed about salt. Definitely not a bad thing and when I am in a deficit, I sometimes add salt as I am eating pretty clean. I was just referring to scale weight and when guys dirty bulk, usually the food is not necessarily healthy food. They think the bulk is working because the body picks up extra water weight. Example is let’s say my body averages 2grams of salt a day and that keeps the electrolytes balanced and I add another 3 grams (via the “dirty bulk” food, my body has to then hold on to extra water to try to keep the balance.

Makes sense. My bulk diet is still super clean, with the occasional cheat meal here and there, but I wouldnt consider my diet “dirty” by any means, and no cheat days or cheat weekends. I do enjoy sweets once in a while, but everything in moderation.

 

[JDLift]

Since EliteFTS was brought up I also add that OP should listen to the ones with Justin Harris where he worked out the math on how much muscle tissue you can build per day even on gear and the way protein is used to create this tissue so he came to a conclusion that your real protein intake requirement can be as low as a few grams per day and you'd still have a massive surplus of it. It's a lot more than I can try to type from memory here, but incredibly interesting and worth watching/listening.
Personal opinion is: If you're growing, you're eating enough. If you stop growing, eat more. Add one extra meal, or just increase the size of an existing meal, with another protein source; Add another half chicken breast to a meal, buy larger steaks, use another scoop of powder if you really can't stomach more solid food, drink an extra cup of milk, simple stuff. If it slows down or stops again, add a little bit more.

 

[Ateam2024]

im doing 1.5 g per pound , and have upped my carbs to around 200+ after being in a calorie defecit for 2 years, lol , i love how full i look and feel, been flat so long cutting bf , but im down to 10% confirmed by dexa

 

[Westdeshh]

I’ve had good results sticking with around 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. I go slightly higher if I'm running gear, just to cover the extra recovery demands.

 

[facinghardships]

+1 for the 1gram per pound of body weight

 

[AlexDavis43]

Since EliteFTS was brought up I also add that OP should listen to the ones with Justin Harris where he worked out the math on how much muscle tissue you can build per day even on gear and the way protein is used to create this tissue so he came to a conclusion that your real protein intake requirement can be as low as a few grams per day and you'd still have a massive surplus of it. It's a lot more than I can try to type from memory here, but incredibly interesting and worth watching/listening.
Personal opinion is: If you're growing, you're eating enough. If you stop growing, eat more. Add one extra meal, or just increase the size of an existing meal, with another protein source; Add another half chicken breast to a meal, buy larger steaks, use another scoop of powder if you really can't stomach more solid food, drink an extra cup of milk, simple stuff. If it slows down or stops again, add a little bit more.

Who knows how much of it is true, but Ronnie said his dietitian told him to increase meat at meals from like 12 to 16 ounces when growth stalled

Just to say, simply increasing portion sizes could help. Don't need a calculator for that (unless you like to micromanage like a lot of guys here which is fine imo)