I have read much of your material related to the optimization of MPS and have the following question. Do the recommendations regarding spacing of protein feedings, amount of protein per feeding in order to supply the appropriate dosing of Leucine, and total daily recommended amount of protein to optimize MPS vary for a teenage female weighing in the vicinity of 125-130 lbs as opposed to a 200 lb male? Does this younger, lighter female still require the same amount of leucine per feeding, or is the amount of leucine required lass due to size and gender differences? I am currently coaching my daughter who is 15-1/2 yrs old and has expressed an interest in powerlifting, having attended a few of my meets. She is a bit fluffy to fill out the 132lb class and we plan to take her to a meet in the winter at or below the 123 lb limit. Thank you in advance for your response.
Thanks for the post and thoughtful question. A few things come to mind here:
Our default protein recommendations are 1.6-3.1 grams of protein per kilogram body weight per day. We would recommend individuals to aim towards the lower end if they’re in a calorie surplus and eating high quality protein. Conversely, we’d recommend individuals to aim towards the higher end if they’re very lean, frequently train very hard, are vegan/vegetarian, and/or have significant anabolic resistance secondary to age, disease, or training status that does not otherwise contraindicate high protein intake.
We do not strongly recommend any particular meal frequency, per meal protein intake, BCAA or EAA content per meal, or meal timing. Micromanaging these variables tend to be time wasted on useless details when otherwise hitting the recommended protein intake.
Since people will ask anyway, it is reasonable to recommend shooting for 2-5 meals per day with relatively equal amounts of protein at each meal.
We do not recommend a protein supplement over whole food or vice versa. They are equivalent in our eyes based on personal preferences and calorie needs.
We do not recommend BCAA supplementation in the context of an individual meeting the aforementioned protein targets. In situations where protein intake may be low due to medical condition or dietary restriction, BCAA or EAA supplementation may be useful.
There are no additional gender, race, age, or ethnicity-specific protein recommendations.
A post workout protein shake is not preferred to a post workout meal unless it is preferred by the individual and/or improves dietary adherence.
I tried to field a similar question in the unmoderated nutrition section yesterday, and it looks as though I was a few degrees off on a couple of these points. I guess the ole web articles and the newer podcasts didn’t bring me to where I could reflect your current recommendations to the degree I’d like to be able to, and I’ll have to start poring over your forum responses again. OTOH, it seems her conclusions after reading my input line up with your recommendations here so, more good than harm.
I tried to add this info (female, young, petite trainee looking to maximize MPS through nutrition, what do?) to the FAQ sticky, but it’s locked
