If you’re going to start building muscle, you’ll have better luck if you understand the process. This way, you can manipulate it to build the body you desire. Muscle protein synthesis is the process of building proteins to repair your muscles after exercise.
How do we engage in muscle protein synthesis (MPS)?
As you may have guessed, we need protein in order to have muscle protein synthesis. Protein alone is not enough, however. Have you ever seen a muscular person who did zero exercise? In order to begin the process of MPS, we must engage in physical activity and consume protein.
What about muscle protein breakdown (MPB)?
It is true that exercising causes damage to our muscles and they breakdown. Luckily, the MPS response from our bodies is considerably larger than the MBS response, so it is typically of little consequence. There is really only one way to minimize MBS and that is to not be in a very low insulin state. The only thing you have to do is have a bite or two of food or a nutritious drink and you are good to go. Note that this excludes pure protein, as you need some carbs and/or fat. Having just a small amount of insulin will minimize your MPB, and further consumption will have zero benefit.
How to maximize muscle protein synthesis for massive gains
The correct protein at the correct time
The height of your MPS comes immediately after your workout, and it is most important to consume easily digested protein at this point (or just prior to your workout). I highly recommend whey protein isolate for this (25 grams of protein), and you can check out my best recommendation here! It is very high quality and low cost due to lack of ad volume. I have an article dedicated to helping you choose your protein powders here for more information!
After your initial burst of MPS, you will have sustained MPS for the next 24-72 hours. During these hours, it is imperative that you have protein to be digested for as much time as possible. For this, I recommend casein protein as it is absorbed most slowly. The less adjusted your body is to your training, the longer this period will last. Think back to anytime you have tried to get back into shape after an extended break and feel sore for days and days. This is why people who are out of shape can experience so many results so quickly, while body builders have much more difficulty making progress years into their training.
Optimizing your Workout for muscle protein synthesis
To increase the effectiveness of your workout in regards to muscle protein synthesis, you will need to take into account the following tips.
- Intensity is most important. If you are doing an exercise that requires 40% of your strength or less, you will not be affecting your MPS. On the other hand, reps that require 60% or more of your one rep maximum will greatly increase your MPS. (Source)
- In general, having more sets is better and you should stick to rep ranges of 8-12. If you are doing more reps, then the exercise is likely too easy for you. If you are doing less, then you do not have enough volume to trigger a high amount of MPS.
- Doing reps to failure should be reserved for the end of your workout. They contribute less to MPS and more towards other benefits I will cover in a later post.
- A longer rested is correlated with higher MPS. This does lead to very long workout times, however. You will also miss out on cardiovascular benefits by giving yourself too much rest. If your only concern is gaining muscle mass, then consider resting 3-5 minutes after each set. Here are two science articles to study if you are in as much disbelief as I was to learn this: Article 1, Article 2.
- Train each muscle group at least twice a week.
Afterthought
With this information, you can build your own workout from scratch. All you have to do is find a few good exercises for your targeted muscle groups and go for it. Keep in mind that maximizing muscle protein synthesis is a body building technique. If you are more interested in becoming a true athlete, building endurance and cardiovascular health, then you should consider other strategies. Think about higher rep sets, lower rest times, and actual cardio with your workouts. With that said, here is the shortest path to building your muscles! Be strong, healthy couch potatoes!
