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...regular protein intake slows down muscle loss?

If you want to build muscle, you need to stimulate them through exercise. This applies regardless of age or gender. In order to maintain the stimuli produced by training, a sufficient amount of protein needs to be consumed in recurring portions: Ideally, 4 to 5 portions of protein should be consumed throughout the day. This corresponds to a portion of 0.3 to 0.4 g per kilo of body weight and 20 to 40 grams per portion overall for athletes. Consuming more than this amount doesn't appear to have any additional benefit. The build-up rate of muscle protein over several hours can only be increased through training.

What happens if you don’t train?

But what happens if you aren’t training or can't exert yourself due to injury? A loss of muscle mass is inevitable if the muscles aren't used. However, you can slow down the rate of degradation by regularly consuming protein.

What can we learn from this?

• To build muscle, we need to stimulate them
• To optimise muscle building, you should consume 4-5 portions of protein a day with each portion measuring 20 to 40 g
• If you aren’t able to train, aim to at least consume the right amount of protein
• Try to incorporate protein into your main meals and combine different sources as this reduces the quantity of individual components

The following contain 25 grams of protein

• 100 g chicken breast
• 120 g beef
• 65 to 80 g jerky
• 115 to 130 g fish
• 25-40 g protein powder (whey or casein)
• 250 g low-fat curd
• around 4 eggs
• 170 g tofu
• 190 g oats
• 110 g lentils
• 120 g almonds