Improve Vertical Jumps From The Inside-Out: Protein Consumption

History has reflected our eating habits with a corresponding increase in certain types of disease; English King Henry VIII is said to have suffered gout due to too much red meat in his diet. Cases such as that are much less common in modern times; sadly Diabetes and other related conditions seem to be on the up. Chances are however, that if you're training seriously to improve vertical jumps and not getting anywhere it could be that there just isn't enough protein in your diet.

In terms of classification of foods, we're going to be discussing the macro-nutrients. These are compounds that the body needs in large quantities to function effectively. (Micro-nutrients are required in smaller quantities, such as vitamins and minerals)

There are three key macro-nutrients; Carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Notice the order they're listed in; when we're working out and performing strenuous exercise, this is the order that the body will use them up for energy. Straight away you can see how low-carb diets work - by decreasing the carbohydrate consumption the body defaults to the next source of fuel, fat. More on that another time.

If you're one of those lucky people who carries low body fat and has a high metabolism, the importance of the right carb intake suddenly becomes even more crucial. If you go short on carbohydrates and are naturally lean, the body may start to try to get energy from it's protein content. These people usually call themselves the "hard gainers" in the bodybuilding community.

Still, we're here to focus on protein so I'm assuming that you're going to make sure you get enough carbs to stop that happening. As a quick rule of thumb, about 8 grams of carbohydrate per pound of bodyweight per day is recommended for serious athletes.

On to the meat of the issue. "How much protein should I consume in a day to improve a vertical jump?" The chances are, at the moment you're not getting anywhere near enough. Most experts agree that between 0.75grams and 1 gram per pound of bodyweight are ideal for competing athletes. Ravenous bodybuilders are in a class of their own (in many ways) for protein intake, but these figures work for basketball and volleyball players.

So, as a worked example , a player weighing in at 180lbs would need between 135 and 180 grams of protein per day for healthy tissue repair and growth. Let's work with the mid-point for a moment because there's more to it than that. There are two other factors to consider: the source and the frequency of consumption.

Not all proteins are created equal unfortunately; they can be either complete or incomplete. Protein is made up of 22 Amino Acids - think of them as building blocks. Of that 22, eight are considered essential as they cannot be made within the body and need to be present in the diet. You guessed it, the complete proteins contain at least the 8 essential Amino Acids, the incomplete ones don't.

Complete sources of protein are generally derived from animal sources - chicken, beef, fish, dairy and so on. Incomplete sources mostly come from plant sources - nuts, seeds, grains and legumes. This makes muscle growth challenging but not impossible for vegetarians.

Finally on to frequency of consumption. The body is unable to break down and process more than a certain amount of protein in one go. Typically this is about 25-30 grams every three hours. If we go back to our example of the 180 pound athlete who needs, on average say 160 grams per day, you can see that at least five meals per day are in order. This is one of the major reasons why athletes don't get enough protein - they're too wrapped up at work, college or training to improve vertical jumps to eat!

Divide your entire protein intake up across 5 or 6 meals a day, select it from a complete source and see your jumping ability shoot through the roof.

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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'><html><head><title>Articles Back Link | Improve Vertical Jumps From The Inside-Out: Protein Consumption</title></head><body><h3>Improve Vertical Jumps From The Inside-Out: Protein Consumption</h3><br><br> By: Glenn Devey<br><br><p><p>History has reflected our eating habits with a corresponding increase in certain types of disease; English King Henry VIII is said to have suffered gout due to too much red meat in his diet. Cases such as that are much less common in modern times; sadly Diabetes and other related conditions seem to be on the up. Chances are however, that if you're training seriously to improve vertical jumps and not getting anywhere it could be that there just isn't enough protein in your diet.</P><p>In terms of classification of foods, we're going to be discussing the macro-nutrients. These are compounds that the body needs in large quantities to function effectively. (Micro-nutrients are required in smaller quantities, such as vitamins and minerals)</P><p>There are three key macro-nutrients; Carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Notice the order they're listed in; when we're working out and performing strenuous exercise, this is the order that the body will use them up for energy. Straight away you can see how low-carb diets work - by decreasing the carbohydrate consumption the body defaults to the next source of fuel, fat. More on that another time.</P><p>If you're one of those lucky people who carries low body fat and has a high metabolism, the importance of the right carb intake suddenly becomes even more crucial. If you go short on carbohydrates and are naturally lean, the body may start to try to get energy from it's protein content. These people usually call themselves the "hard gainers" in the bodybuilding community.</P><p>Still, we're here to focus on protein so I'm assuming that you're going to make sure you get enough carbs to stop that happening. As a quick rule of thumb, about 8 grams of carbohydrate per pound of bodyweight per day is recommended for serious athletes.</P><p>On to the meat of the issue. "How much protein should I consume in a day to improve a vertical jump?" The chances are, at the moment you're not getting anywhere near enough. Most experts agree that between 0.75grams and 1 gram per pound of bodyweight are ideal for competing athletes. Ravenous bodybuilders are in a class of their own (in many ways) for protein intake, but these figures work for basketball and volleyball players.</P><p>So, as a worked example , a player weighing in at 180lbs would need between 135 and 180 grams of protein per day for healthy tissue repair and growth. Let's work with the mid-point for a moment because there's more to it than that. There are two other factors to consider: the source and the frequency of consumption.</P><p>Not all proteins are created equal unfortunately; they can be either complete or incomplete. Protein is made up of 22 Amino Acids - think of them as building blocks. Of that 22, eight are considered essential as they cannot be made within the body and need to be present in the diet. You guessed it, the complete proteins contain at least the 8 essential Amino Acids, the incomplete ones don't.</P><p>Complete sources of protein are generally derived from animal sources - chicken, beef, fish, dairy and so on. Incomplete sources mostly come from plant sources - nuts, seeds, grains and legumes. This makes muscle growth challenging but not impossible for vegetarians.</P><p>Finally on to frequency of consumption. The body is unable to break down and process more than a certain amount of protein in one go. Typically this is about 25-30 grams every three hours. If we go back to our example of the 180 pound athlete who needs, on average say 160 grams per day, you can see that at least five meals per day are in order. This is one of the major reasons why athletes don't get enough protein - they're too wrapped up at work, college or training to improve vertical jumps to eat!</P><p>Divide your entire protein intake up across 5 or 6 meals a day, select it from a complete source and see your jumping ability shoot through the roof.<br></P></p> <br><br> <b>Author Resource:-></b>  <br><br><b>Article From</b> <a href='http://www.articlesbacklink.com/'>Articles Back Link</a><br></body></html>