The Best Diet for Maximum Muscle Growth (ft. Dr. Eric Helms)

Summary

In this interview, Dr. Eric Helms, a WMBF Pro bodybuilder and author, discusses the optimal bodybuilding diet. He emphasizes the importance of energy balance, sustainable lifestyle choices, and the muscle and strength pyramid for nutrition. Beginners should focus on macronutrients and energy balance before micronutrients. Dr. Helms advises setting a caloric intake based on weight loss or gain goals, and adjusting as needed. He also touches on the significance of protein, fat, and carbohydrate intake, micronutrients, and the role of supplements like creatine and caffeine.

Takeaways

• 🏋️‍♂️ The optimal bodybuilding diet should be sustainable and fit into your lifestyle, whether it's paleo, keto, or any other diet.
• 🧠 Behavioral and lifestyle factors are crucial for long-term adherence to a diet and achieving desired results.
• 🔄 Energy balance is the primary determinant of weight gain or loss; consuming more calories than expended leads to weight gain, and vice versa.
• 📉 For fat loss, aim for a moderate deficit that results in a 0.5 to 1% reduction in body mass per week.
• 📈 Beginners can gain weight faster than advanced lifters, with a recommended rate of 1 to 2% of body weight per month for novices.
• 🔍 Tracking your calories and macronutrients for a few weeks can help establish a baseline and adjust your diet for specific goals.
• 🥩 A minimum of 1.6g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day is suggested for muscle growth.
• 🥑 The minimum fat intake for most people should be around 40 to 60 grams per day to support hormonal balance.
• 🍠 Carbohydrate intake should be at least 3g per kilogram of body weight per day when in a caloric surplus.
• 🌈 Prioritize a diet rich in micronutrients by eating a variety of fruits and vegetables and aiming for at least 10g of fiber per 1000 calories consumed.
• ⏰ Nutrient timing is important, particularly the consumption of carbohydrates before a workout to enhance performance.

Q & A

What is the most important factor in a bodybuilding diet according to Dr. Eric Helms?

The most important factor in a bodybuilding diet is energy balance. To achieve weight gain, one needs to consume more calories than expended, and for weight loss, consume fewer.

What is the significance of behavior and lifestyle in the context of the nutrition pyramid as described by Dr. Eric Helms?

Behavior and lifestyle form the base of the nutrition pyramid and are crucial for sustainable dietary habits. They influence the ability to follow a diet long enough to see results.

What is the recommended rate of weight loss to avoid losing muscle mass?

For most people, losing approximately 0.5 to 1% of body weight per week is recommended to minimize muscle loss.

How fast can one gain weight without just gaining fat, according to the 2002 study by rosnick and colleagues?

Untrained men in the study gained roughly a pound a week of body weight and lean body mass over 8 weeks with an additional 2,000 calories and resistance training.

What is the recommended rate of weight gain for different levels of training experience?

For novices, gaining up to 1-2% of their body weight per month is recommended, while intermediates should aim for about half of that, and advanced lifters may need to adjust further based on their progress.

What is the '3500 calorie rule' mentioned by Dr. Eric Helms and how is it used?

The '3500 calorie rule' states that losing or gaining a pound of body weight requires a surplus or deficit of roughly 3500 calories. This rule helps estimate daily caloric adjustments for weight loss or gain.

What is the suggested minimum protein intake for muscle growth as per the meta regression by Morton and colleagues?

The suggested minimum protein intake for muscle growth is 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.

What is the minimum fat intake recommended to support absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and provide essential fatty acids?

The minimum fat intake recommended is between 20 to 30 grams per day.

What is the significance of carbohydrates in a bodybuilding diet, especially in relation to training performance?

Carbohydrates are important for providing energy during training. Consuming carbs pre-workout can lead to better performance, especially after a long fasting period or during higher volume training sessions.

What are the two main recommendations for micronutrient intake in a bodybuilding diet?

The two main recommendations are to 'eat the rainbow' by consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables and to aim for at least 10 grams of fiber per 1000 calories consumed.

How does Dr. Eric Helms view the role of supplements in a bodybuilding diet?

Dr. Eric Helms considers supplements as supplementary and not essential. He recommends focusing on whole foods first and only considers creatine and caffeine as supplements that may provide benefits, with creatine being the most supported by evidence.

Outlines

00:00

💪 Optimal Bodybuilding Diet and Nutritional Perspective

Dr. Eric Helms, a natural bodybuilding Pro and author, discusses the optimal bodybuilding diet from a nutritional perspective. He emphasizes the importance of behavior and lifestyle in the nutritional pyramid and advises that the chosen diet should be sustainable and fit into one's lifestyle. The most crucial factor in bodybuilding nutrition is energy balance, which dictates weight gain or loss. Dr. Helms suggests that diets that work do so by manipulating energy balance, and he recommends a gradual approach to weight loss or gain to ensure muscle growth or fat loss without sacrificing muscle mass.

05:02

📊 Energy Balance and Weight Manipulation

This paragraph delves into the concept of energy balance, explaining that most diets work by either creating a calorie deficit for weight loss or a surplus for weight gain. Dr. Helms points out that behavior and lifestyle are central to managing energy balance. He also discusses the Dual Intervention model and its asymmetry in humans, making weight gain easier than weight loss. The paragraph provides guidelines on the ideal rate of weight loss and gain, suggesting a 0.5 to 1% body mass change per week for fat loss and adjusting this rate based on training experience for muscle gain.

10:02

🍽️ Setting Caloric Intake and Macronutrient Distribution

Dr. Helms advises on setting caloric intake by tracking food and understanding portion sizes and macronutrient contents. He suggests a four-week period for assessing maintenance calories and then adjusting for a desired surplus or deficit. The '3500 calorie rule' is introduced for estimating weight change targets. The paragraph further discusses the distribution of macronutrients, emphasizing the minimum daily protein intake and the importance of fats and carbohydrates in a diet, with specific recommendations for their quantities.

15:04

🥗 Prioritizing Micronutrients and Dietary Patterns

This section highlights the importance of micronutrients like vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, which are often associated with whole foods and dietary patterns. Dr. Helms stresses the significance of eating a variety of fruits and vegetables and maintaining a high-fiber intake. He introduces the '80/20 rule' for balancing unprocessed and processed foods in one's diet, advocating for flexibility to prevent dietary adherence from being threatened by restrictive practices.

20:04

🏋️‍♂️ Nutrient Timing and the Role of Supplements

The final paragraph addresses nutrient timing, particularly the impact of carbohydrates on workout performance. It suggests the benefits of a pre-workout meal containing carbohydrates, especially after a long fasting period. The discussion also touches on the optimal number of meals and protein intake, including the myth of casein as a slow-digesting protein. Dr. Helms downplays the necessity of protein intake before sleep unless there's a specific need. The paragraph concludes with a brief on hydration and the limited but effective role of supplements like creatine and caffeine in muscle building and performance enhancement.

Keywords

💡Nutritional Perspective

The nutritional perspective refers to the way in which food and drink are considered in relation to health and physical performance. In the video, Dr. Eric Helms discusses the optimal bodybuilding diet from a nutritional standpoint, emphasizing the importance of a balanced diet for muscle growth and maintenance. It's a key concept as it underpins the entire discussion on diet for bodybuilding.

💡Muscle and Strength Pyramids

The Muscle and Strength Pyramids are hierarchical models developed by Dr. Eric Helms to prioritize various factors affecting muscle growth and strength training. In the script, these pyramids serve as a framework for understanding the relative importance of different nutritional components and behaviors in achieving bodybuilding goals.

💡Behavior and Lifestyle

Behavior and lifestyle are emphasized as foundational to the pyramid of nutrition. The script mentions that sustainable dietary habits and life skills are crucial for long-term adherence to a diet, which is essential for achieving bodybuilding results. This concept is central to the video's message, suggesting that diet is not just about food but also about how it fits into one's daily routine.

💡Energy Balance

Energy balance is a concept that refers to the state where total energy intake (from food and drink) is equal to total energy expenditure (through physical activity and metabolic processes). In the video, Dr. Helms explains that manipulating energy balance is fundamental to weight gain or loss, which is a critical aspect of bodybuilding nutrition.

💡Macronutrients

Macronutrients are substances required in large amounts for normal growth and maintenance of the body, including carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. The script discusses the role of macronutrients in bodybuilding diets, highlighting protein as particularly important for muscle growth, while also considering the necessary intake of fats and carbohydrates.

💡Micronutrients

Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals needed by the body in small amounts. The video script touches on the importance of micronutrients for overall health and their role in supporting the body's functions, including muscle function and recovery in bodybuilding.

💡Calorie Surplus/Deficit

A calorie surplus or deficit refers to the difference between the number of calories consumed and the number of calories burned. The script explains that a surplus typically leads to weight gain (and potentially muscle gain), while a deficit leads to weight loss. This concept is crucial for understanding how to adjust diet for bodybuilding goals.

💡Protein Intake

Protein intake is discussed in the context of its role in muscle repair and growth. The script cites a specific recommendation of 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day for optimal muscle growth, illustrating the precision required in a bodybuilder's diet.

💡Hydration

Hydration refers to the body's water balance, which is essential for health and physical performance. The video mentions that dehydration can negatively impact performance, emphasizing the need for adequate water intake, especially for those engaged in intense physical activities like bodybuilding.

💡Supplements

Supplements are products added to the diet to increase the intake of nutrients. The script discusses creatine as a supplement that can support muscle building, while also cautioning about the potential for supplement contamination and the importance of choosing reputable products.

Highlights

Optimal bodybuilding diet should fit into your lifestyle and be sustainable.

Behavior and lifestyle are crucial for sustainable nutrition practices.

Energy balance is the primary factor for weight gain or loss.

Most diets that work manipulate energy balance.

For weight loss, aim for a 0.5 to 1% change in body mass per week.

Beginners can gain weight faster than advanced lifters in bodybuilding.

A study showed untrained men gained about a pound a week with a 2,000 calorie surplus.

Advanced lifters should not gain more than 1% of body weight per month.

Weigh yourself at least three times per week for an accurate average weight.

Use the 3500 calorie rule to estimate weight loss or gain targets.

Protein intake should be at least 1.6 g per kilogram of body weight per day.

Minimum fat intake should be between 40 to 60 grams per day for most people.

Carbohydrate intake should be at least 3 g per kilogram of body weight per day if in a surplus.

Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables covers many vitamin and mineral needs.

Aim for at least 10 g of fiber per thousand calories consumed daily.

Nutrient timing is important, especially the presence of carbohydrates before a workout.

Having at least three servings of protein per day is recommended.

Creatine is the most convincing supplement to help build muscle.

Caffeine can improve workout performance but its long-term effects on muscle growth are unclear.

Supplements should be third-party tested to avoid contamination.

Transcripts

Dr Eric HS Dr Milo wolf we all know

you're knowledgeable we can see your

shredded in a good guest I look for

feathers veins check okay and you

recently won your natural bodybuilding

Pro cord but I want to hear today from a

nutritional perspective what is the

optimal bodybuilding diet what are the

most important factors good question

yeah I

think that's Dr Eric Helms wmbf Pro

bodybuilder author of the muscle and

strength pyramid

I had the chance to interview him to ask

him how to diet for maximum muscle

growth um I have a hierarchy of

importance called the muscle and

strength pyramids we got one for

training we got one for Nutrition a

really important and underrated quality

of the nutrition pyramid specifically is

that everything sits under what I

describe as behavior and lifestyle um

the most common mistake that people make

in my opinion is that they will get some

of the quantitative big rocks in place

but they won't necessarily have the um

life skills and nutritional literacy and

behavior modification to make those

things occur with less restraint so that

they're sustainable and they can follow

the diet long enough to actually get the

results they want or keep those results

the diet you pick should be the one you

can make fit into your lifestyle and

stick to whether that's paleo keto or

any other diet it fundamentally needs to

be something you can do for long enough

to even matter import importantly if

you're new to dieting for building

muscle and losing fat keep things simple

at first you probably don't need to

worry about minute details like

micronutrients and minerals of different

foods instead focus on the bigger rocks

first up the most important factor in

your pyramid is energy balance could you

expand a little bit around that yeah and

this is a contentious one because you'll

hear people saying listen it's more than

SEO calories in calories out and it

absolutely is and that's why behavior

and lifestyle is everything sit with it

most diets that quote unquote work they

either implicitly or explicitly

manipulate energy balance that's right

when it comes to weight loss and weight

gain whether you're doing a vegan diet

carnivore diet a paleo diet or any other

diet in the long term to achieve weight

gain you need to consume more energy or

calories than you expend to achieve

weight loss you need to consume fewer

calories than you expend and we have

multiple metabolic W studies where when

we control everything we see the

strongest predictor of losing fat mass

is the size of the energy deficit and it

almost scales perfectly with the changes

in body composition on the flip side of

that we also see if your goal is muscle

gain that not sufficiently fueling the

process of building muscle providing the

actual energy content of the muscle

you're going to be building and

offsetting the energy increase sorry the

energy expenditure increases that come

from training and potential uh

compensatory increases in energy

expenditure that some people experience

while they are in a surplus if you don't

do that it can shortcircuit your gains a

little bit indeed in support of what

Eric is saying here a meta regression by

murphyan colleagues found that being in

a calorie Surplus tends to help with

muscle gains from lifting whereas being

a deficit tends to reduce muscle growth

weight gain helps you gain muscle

whereas weight loss facilitates fat loss

however weight gain is typically easier

for most despite your body having

homeostatic mechanisms in place to keep

you at a similar body weight because we

are not prey animals uh historically

we're much better at defending lower

body weights set points than than upper

body weight set points the Dual

intervention model is not perfectly and

symmetrically well regulated in humans

like it might be in say a rat you

overfeed a rat and you make them

actually fat then you get them back to

an ad lium diet they'll come back to a

lower body weight us humans you overfeed

us we probably will maintain a higher

body weight unless our environment is

drastically changed meaning not being in

modern Western Society or post

industrial society yes while an energy

balance is the primary denominator that

is going to dictate whether or not

you're going to lose body fat you

actually need to think about how do I

manipulate my behaviors my perspective

uh my habits and my environment at least

in my home and what I do on a regular

basis that is conducive towards getting

into either the small Surplus or small

deficit whatever my goals are to achieve

that but how fast should you actually

lose weight for fat loss so you don't

lose muscle for most people depending

upon their body mass that's going to

correlate to somewhere between a05 to 1%

change in body mass per week so what

your deficit should produce and this is

a way of kind of backchecking that it's

not too large or too small is on average

and maybe not looking at an average

every week but every two weeks just to

eliminate some of the noise in that

signal from water weight changes is

losing roughly between 05 to 1% of your

body weight per week so if you weigh 200

lb pound that's 1 to2 lb a week very

simple when it comes to weight gain Eric

highlights the ideal rate of weight gain

may depend on your training experience

beginners can gain weight faster than

Advanced lifters how fast can you gain

weight without just getting F there's a

study in 2002 by rosnick and colleagues

where they took untrained men in a

university setting and just gave them an

additional 2,000 calories and had them

start resistance training it didn't

matter if it was pure maltodextrin or a

mix of maltodextrin and protein and they

gained rough l a pound a week of body

weight and lean body mass over 8 weeks

they put on 3 kilos of both in more

trained lifters however things are less

positive both a study out of Eric's own

lab and a previous study by GTH and

colleagues both suggested that the

gaining weight at faster than around 1%

of body weight per month mostly

increased fat gains without much of an

improvement in muscle gained so what I

recommend is scaling the rate of weight

gain to your training experience are you

progressing quickly you're probably a

noice are you progressing at a moderate

pace you're probably an intermediate are

you taking a lot of time to see gym

progress you probably been training for

a while and I would generally recommend

for the novices to be gaining as much as

1 to 2% of their body weight per month

not per week and then roughly half of

that as you move to the intermediate and

advanced stage but hold up what do these

figures actually mean how do you figure

out a starting place of how many

calories to eat great question and this

is challenging the best way to do this

in my opinion is to actually invest some

time and this will if you were not

experienced with tracking your calories

weighing your foods and getting an idea

of Weights associated with portion sizes

that you might habitually use and what

the energy and macronutrient contents of

nutrition are this is actually a really

important learning skill to develop and

what I'd recommend is taking somewhere

between two to four weeks minimum two

but preferably closer to four and

actually weighing yourself at least

three times per week to get an average

and then looking at your average body

weight week to week just like you would

if you're trying to see that weight loss

rate that we recommended and seeing am I

in a slight Surplus deficit or am I

roughly at maintenance over this

four-week period and then you can

estimate what your rough intake is so if

you're in a slight Surplus or you're in

a slight deficit you can determine that

and then you can set a reasonable

Surplus or deficit based upon that once

you've determined what your maintenance

calories are a great way to set a calor

Target to aim for is the 3500 calorie

rule while it isn't perfectly accurate

gaining or losing losing a pound of body

weight will require a surplus or deficit

of roughly 3500 calories if you want to

lose a pound per week for example that

would simply be 3500 calories divided 7

for a daily 500 calorie deficit subtract

500 calories for maintenance calories

congratulations those are your fat loss

calories and on the other side of it if

we wanted to go into a slight Surplus a

general rule of thumb is if you're

trying to gain in that intermediate

phase you maybe increase over your

maintenance cap is 5 to 10% or if you're

in the beginner phase maybe twice that

10 to 20% those are decent rules of

thumb but the most important thing is

then adjusting so if you're finding that

you're gaining at faster than the rates

we recommended or if you're losing

slower or faster than the rates we

recommended you just increase things

down or up 50 to 100 calories on a week-

toe basis once you're looking at these

14-day averages and it'll autocorrect

pretty quick so you've set your calories

and you're successfully gaining or

losing weight what should you be out

next well calories come from somewhere

and those are the macronutrients we're

going to talk about protein carbs and

fat and a decent approach here is to

figure out okay what are the functional

minimums I need for protein carbs and

fats in different contexts and then from

there I'm just trying to hit roughly

something close to my calorie Target say

plus or minus 100 calories and then I

can have the individual flexibility to

have either a higher fat higher carb or

higher protein or whatever approach I

want but so long as I meet those

minimums they're probably going to be

equivalent outcomes for protein for

example a meta regression by Morton and

colleagues suggests that muscle growth

from lifting can be maximized with 1.6 g

of protein per kilogram of body weight

per day for someone who weighs 100 kilog

for example that would be 160 g of

protein per day what about the other

true macronutrients fats and carbs for

fat this is something I got to give a

big shout out to the other Eric Dr Eric

Trexler he did a pretty deep dive on the

literature to try to determine what's a

minimal fat intake that we should have

what's the lowest you can put your fat

if you're willing to really cross your

te's and Dot your eyes and have a really

good balance without having too much of

a negative effect and that's somewhere

between 20 to 30 gram is what's

necessary to probably support the uh

absorption of fat soluble vitamins and

also provide sufficient essential fatty

acids for human function right now it

will require a meticulous intake of

essential fatty acids and being very

thoughtful about what foods you consume

and anyone who's consumed

a diet that only has 20 to 30 gram of

fat it doesn't really feel like you're

intentionally eating fat you're just

kind of eating and you be like I'm

already at 17 G maybe I should have like

you know some fish oil and I'm done but

for 90% of cases of when you're dieting

you probably want to be even one step

above that uh which is the the gram

intakes associated with our best guess

at where we are preventing hormonal

drops in testosterone and estrogen so we

have a few different meta anal policies

looking at low testosterone uh and low

estrogen in women associated with fat

intakes and when you convert those

percentages absolute grams based upon

average intakes that's somewhere between

40 to 60 gram and you could probably

scale that to body mass so that I think

for most people should be like the

functional lowend range depending on

your body weight you should probably

fall between 40 to 60 gram of fat or

more per day most of the time unless

you're performing a short-lived extreme

diet for some reason good good fat

sources include things like avocados

extra virgin olive oil and peanut butter

what about carbohydrates the way you

want to view carbohydrate is a little

bit different when you have fewer

calories or more just because you're

kind of budgetarily restricted right if

you're dieting you're going to have

fewer calories to play with if you're in

a surplus you're going to have more and

I'm very comfortable saying you probably

want to get around at least 3 G per

kilogram of carbohydrates if you're in a

surplus but for some people who are just

not gifted as far as their energy

expenditure even that is a low-end range

when you're hitting the two other

minimums might be challenging in still

constructing a well well balanced diet

to summarize here's how to build your

diet once you've got your calories in

place first set your ideal protein

intake of at least 1.6 g of protein per

kilogram of body weight per day subtract

the calories that come from the protein

from your daily Target there are four

calories in a gram of protein next set

your minimum fat intake remove the

calories from your daily budget for

carbohydrates aim for up up to 3 G of

carbs per kilogram of body weight per

day if you have the calories for it if

you still have calories left over great

as far as muscle growth goes you can use

up your remaining calories however you

wish do you enjoy higher fat foods have

more fat do you enjoy carbs instead have

more corbs viewing things in terms of

minimums allows for greater diet

flexibility interestingly though there

might be a benefit to having some corbs

right before walking out one thing we'll

talk about when we get to nutrient

timing is there does seem to be some

relationship

between the volume of strength training

you can perform when you're given

open-ended sets say four sets to failure

at 70% of squats or whatever that if you

have a pre-workout meal that contains

carbohydrates you're more likely to

perform more volume than if you don't

but the actual dose of carbohydrate

doesn't seem to matter quite as much

it's just the presence of that meal at

all the next most important thing to pay

attention to diet-wise is micronutrients

so this is things like vitamins minerals

phytonutrients uh and things that are

related to the food Matrix I think it's

really important to acknowledge that

just because we take a reductionist

approach to nutrition especially in

Sports Nutrition and we talk about grams

per Gil kilogram of carbohydrate fat

protein

Etc we don't eat macros we eat foods and

probably more importantly we follow

dietary patterns and certain dietary

patterns are going to produce different

effects even if they're similar in

macronutrients to illustrate Eric's

Point let me tell you about a study by

Hall and colleagues Hall and his

colleague took people to the lab and had

them consume an ad libitum diet with

either more processed or less processed

foods when consuming less processed

foods participants ended up in a 500

calorie deficit in contrast when

consuming more processed foods

participants ended up in a 500 calorie

Surplus so clearly the kind of food you

eat can play a big role in the real

world so some of the reasons for that

are differences in fiber differences in

energy density which is going to be

largely influenced by the water content

of foods and their fiber content and

their fat content also the uh

micronutrient content may have some

influence on that as well there's some

data to indicate that if you're not

getting sufficient nutrients from your

food you might seek out higher calories

to compensate from that but that's

probably a minor player compared to

energy density as well as fiber content

so what should we do two solid

recommendations first eat the rainbow

eating a variety of different fruits and

vegetables will cover many of your

vitamin and mineral bases

and provides you with plenty of fiber a

good starting point is your five a day

five surveying of fruits and vegetables

across the day at a minimum second the

10 G rule aim for at least 10 G of fiber

per thousand calories you consume at

minimum try to have at least 20 gram of

fiber per day so this goes back to

behavior and lifestyle even though we

want to be eating primarily unprocessed

foods that have a low energy density are

satiating and have fiber you don't want

to actually start to view foods that

don't fit that profile is quote unquote

bad for you cuz like I said Foods aren't

good or bad we follow dietary patterns

and you can have a quote unquote bad

dietary pattern but having a Snickers

bar on Thursday is not going to matter

in the grand scheme and in fact it might

matter if you're so restricted that you

feel you can't have a Snickers bar so if

you think adherence to your diet is

going to be threatened by you being too

restrictive and you want a cookie go

ahead and have that cookie a great rule

to follow is the 8020 rule 80% of your

diet should consist of relatively

unprocessed single item food ingredients

and the remaining 20% of your diet can

come from more processed foods what's

next what else is there now we got

nutrient timing and this is kind of a

catch-all term for anything where we're

thinking about when are we eating

fortunately for us Andrew King one of

Eric's PhD students specifically did his

PhD on the effect of carbohydrate before

working out on performance what did he

find and the overall findings there were

that you're more likely to get more

volume when consuming a carbohydrate

meal either pre or during a training

session if you've had a long fasting

period longer than 8 hours and if you're

doing higher volumes but again the

dosage really didn't seem to matter so

this probably has more to do with either

uh carbohydrate mouth sensors in the in

the mouth uh that respond to maybe the

perception of energy availability uh or

potentially uh hunger which can inhibit

performance in some ways there's some

basically oral cavity brain gut

connections that we don't fully

understand hand that do seem to

influence performance around training if

you have a late day especially or if you

haven't eaten in a while if you're

training first thing in the morning

probably a good idea to have a

pre-workout meal that contains

carbohydrate so you at least don't feel

hungry but it's not something that

actually interferes with your digestion

and makes you feel heavy or sluggish in

in the workout what about protein how

many meals should we have per day we

kind of land upon a minimum frequency of

saying having at least three servings

per day of a rough spread of a decent

protein bolus and that's pretty easy to

do I wish this wasn't true because it

would make me feel better about the

years I spent ensuring I got at least

four equal protein boluses per day but

here we are folks besides protein post-

walkout which Eric doesn't think is

necessary if you're having at least

three protein feedings per day another

common time to recommend protein intake

is right before bed is there any

validity to having more protein before

sleep or even consuming casine a slow

digesting protein to get more muscle

growth in your sleep yeah casine is

often talked about because it's

positioned by supplement companies as

much slower than whey and it is it's the

fraction of milk that is digested much

more slowly it kind of clots into a ball

in your stomach and the amino acids are

peeled off much slower however it's not

substantially slower in fact it's a

little bit faster than other common

protein sources like most meats and in

fact if you were to consume a omelette

for example it would probably take if

it's you know four eggs or more 8 hours

plus to digest D and if you were to

consume say like a typical like Porter

House steak at a steak house where

you're getting 60 g of protein that

might take half the day to digest the

first answer to your question is that

casine is not necessarily a quote

unquote slow digesting protein and the

grand scheme of things I'd say it's an

intermediate digesting protein

definitely slower than whey so you don't

have to go out of your way to get a

quote unquote slow digesting protein

this the second answer is do we need to

have a protein serving before bed and

the answer is probably not it turns out

that if you're consuming mixed meals

which tend to digest slowly anyways

alongside a sufficient amount of protein

across the day you'll probably still be

digesting plenty of protein while you

sleep leading amino acids to your

muscles and growing your muscles

additionally there's some concern around

eating before sleep disrupting sleep the

only concern I would have is that some

data indicates eating food late at night

can interfere with sleep but most of the

time the potential negative effect is

more related to the carbohydrate fat and

calorie content so if you're having

let's say you know lowfat skier it's

only going to be like 200 calories and

it's unlikely to have a negative effect

on sleep based upon the data we have I

don't have a lot of robust data but I

would be surprised if that was the case

it's not like having a cheeseburger at

midnight right I believe there's only a

couple more variables in nutrition

pyramid specifically hydration and

supplements I've heard if you're super

dehydrated you

die whoa I've got no study to prove that

I actually need to see a meta analysis

on them having a zero water or a water

condition or I won't believe it but I

think you could make a reasonable

argument that maybe hydration is

important for Life uh but no more

importantly hydration does have a

potential impact on all body systems and

we do know that being dehydrated has a

negative impact on performance um and

you can't train effectively if you can't

perform well a really useful rule of

thumb though is just the urine color

chart so after your first urination

first thing in the morning that'll

probably pretty yellow cuz you haven't

drank water in a while you want to see

pretty clearish urine for multiple

urinations per day probably more than

three at least per day if you're doing

that you're probably drinking a

sufficient amount of fluids why doesn't

Eric provide a specific recommendation

well previous research has shown that

water intake requirements vary

substantially depending on body mass

factory Mass altitude at which you live

the climate and more and no coffee won't

dehydrate you most beverages do about a

good as the job of hydrating you as

water does the final step of the pyramid

though is supplements so yeah

supplements they're pitched to us but

they are truly like their name suggests

supplementary and there's very few that

will clearly and consistently uh be

shown in the evidence to support your

goals of hypertrophy or strength

development which ones do help which

ones do help you build muscle so the the

one that is most convincingly helpful to

build muscle is creatine um that is

present in meat um it is something that

is produced naturally in our body the

creatine phosphate system it's an energy

system we use um and it is something

that is very challenging to optimize the

levels of muscle creatine without

actually taking it supplementary unless

you're actually following like the

carnivore diet because the cooking

process degrades the creatine in meat a

little bit so unless you're just

crushing Sushi or you got way too into

the liver King and for some reason or

also watching this channel you probably

would need to supplement with it to get

to a decent level of creatine and that

is as simple as taking like you know 3

to 5 gram per day for most body masses

besides creatine the only other

supplement Eric potentially recommends

is caffeine pre-workout while caffeine

has been shown to reliably improve

performance in the gym there's little

evidence that it improves muscle growth

or strength in the long run yet likewise

make sure you take caffeine early in the

day a recent meta regression by Gardino

and colleagues suggested that caffeine

can impact your sleep as late as 12 to

14 hours later if you consume a large

dose a good dose might be 3 to 4 Mig of

caffeine per kilogram of body weight

reserved for your morning walkouts only

unfortunately other supplements don't

have nearly the same evidence I really

don't put much stock outside of uh

creatine and I don't consider protein a

supplement and like in my conception of

the muscle and strength pyramids things

like fish oil would fall under essential

fatty acids in the micronutrient level

uh protein powder would fall under

protein than macronutrient level a

multivitamin would would fall under

micronutrients so those you can get from

supplements but I'd recommend first

checking in with your doctor making sure

you actually have a deficiency before

you start supplementing uh and remember

that the contamination rates of

supplements are surprisingly High

especially in countries that have a post

Haw regulatory system where not until

there's a problem and someone reports it

is anything done about it like the US

Australia New Zealand it's better in the

EU but your role in the dice especially

as a drug tested athlete uh when you buy

these things they may not even be

meeting the label claims and 20 to 30%

of pro of supplements especially from

the US are estimated to roughly be

contaminated meaning that you could be

taking something and actually thinking

oh man this muscle building supplement

is awesome yeah that's because it might

have steroids in it and you're thinking

oh that's a good thing right yes yes it

absolutely is on a serious note if

you're going to get any supplement look

for third party testing labels you don't

want to end up accidentally bold

anything

else I think we're going to call it

there man I think that's good beautiful

Eric it's been a pleasure where can

people find you and your books well you

can find my books at muscle and strength

pyramids. if you want the digital

they're also on Amazon if you want the

physical copies if you want to stay up

to-date with the research mass resesarch

review.com and if you want to find me

talking about all the cool projects that

I'm doing on other people's channels

like this one follow me on Instagram at

Helms 3dmj