The Benefits of Uphill Running and Sprinting

With winter fast approaching, maybe the last thing you have on your mind is getting exercise outside. Maybe the weather isn’t (and won't get) bad where you live  - It’s still fairly warm here in Korea, with typical early November weather upon us. I’ve written about this because I've noticed that many runners avoid inclines, but I’ve found this running approach to be beneficial in a number of ways. My recommendation is definitely not revolutionary, but a lot of individuals don’t place enough value on the benefits of the activity of incline or hill work.

Although running strengthens your lower leg muscles primarily, your upper leg muscles are especially stressed by running up hills. Each one percent increase in the elevation angle on your treadmill requires four percent more energy. So, running say 8 km/h at a 15% grade requires as much effort and energy as running at 12.8 km/h on a flat surface.

Here is a useful treadmill calorie and hill gradient calculator: 42.195km.net/e/treadsim

A major advantage of incline running is less compressive forces being applied to the joints and soft tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments) as opposed to running on flat surfaces. I have also found that there is less risk of injury (even with a high output of energy) because stride rates (speeds) are reduced and more control can be used than when performing a specific exercise such as running, cycling, walking, and even the elliptical.

Let’s think about it this way. If a car is on a flat surface and is going at 80 km/h then hits an incline, the speed of the car slows down due to the incline, yet the RPMs are still quite high. If the car were to continue at 80 km/h it would have to work even harder to maintain that speed requirement on the incline.

In our case, we are looking to keep our body’s “RPMs” high but not the speed. Incline/hill sprints targets the backside, strengthening and toning the booty and the hamstrings, not to mention the abdominal muscles and torso. 

Another selling point for running hills (if toning your butt wasn't enough) is that the muscle groups you use to climb hills are virtually the same as those you use for sprinting, so hill work enhances your speed by building strength. In other words, the benefits of running uphill will help you to running flats. And of course, there’s the obvious stimulation to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

How to start running uphill: think 'Eyes up'!

Most runners’ lean into the hill when they start running up it, usually by bending forward at the waist. While some degree of forward lean is necessary when running up a hill, a lot of people lean much too far forward. This negatively affects your uphill running ability in several ways. You decrease your working lung volume and can't open up as well. 

You'll want all the oxygen you can get going uphill. As well, leaning over at the waist causes strain on the lower back and overworks the hamstrings. By standing tall running uphill, you're better able to engage your glutes to help power you up the hill and helps open up your lungs to get in the oxygen you need.

A helpful mental cue to maintaining proper form is to think about “standing tall” when you run up a hill, since you’re unlikely to be leaning too far back. This is one of those mental cues that, while technically inaccurate, is still very helpful. Other helpful cues include “drive your hips” which reminds you to focus on using your hip muscles to power your way up the hill and extend your leg fully behind you. 

Once you’ve reached the top of a hill, be sure not to slouch over, since that will wreak havoc on your efficiency on the flats, too. Remember that your stride length and stride rate will decrease. So it is important to maintain form and keep using quick light steps up the hill versus trying to take longer steps.

When using a treadmill when running uphill, DON'T HOLD ON TO THE BARS! If you're holding on to the bars, you are angling your body in such a way that you're effectively reducing the gradient you are working at. If you have to hold on to them, the exercise you are doing is too difficult. Reduce the gradient or the speed. 

Drawbacks:

The common suggestion coaches give to run hills doesn’t always deserve quite the attention it gets. If you're training to compete on only flat surface, running on flat terrain is better than running uphill.

The reason for this is that running flat is less hard on your body. The reduced intensity allows for more training, and more training is a bigger stimulus for improvement to running performance at a VO2max pace than the relatively small difference in intensity. More training is better for pretty much any athletic goal you have, as long as you can rest adequately.

One thing that can be said about uphill running is that it doesn’t have quite the impact of flat running. Because it yields good gains to running on flat terrain it may still be a good supplement to normal running. And, of course, if you plan on competing in any event involving running on hills, practicing running uphill is essential, make no mistake.

So there you have it. I've been trying to switch up my cardio workout, alternating between biking and running uphill on the treadmill. I was once an avid flat-surface runner, but I find running uphill to be less hard on my joints but gives me the sweat and exertion I crave. What are your thoughts on the different ways to get your cardio fix? Leave me your ideas in the comment section! Until next time :)

"No Pain, No Gain?": How to Avoid Workout Injuries

So you got yourself a gym pass, or have invested into some workout equipment. Congrats, you've made the commitment to take your physical fitness to the next level!

You jump into your new routine feet-first, putting lots of ambition and energy into seeing results. Before you know it, "ouch"... a workout injury stops you dead in your tracks. But before you go blaming yourself, know that a workout injury can happen to anyone, regardless of their experience or fitness level.
How did it happen?

I have just finished suffering from a pretty bad back strain, the first workout injury I've had in a long time. The cause: I thought I could go without stretching and warming up before my workout. Have ay workout injuries ever happened to you? What is your warm-up and stretching philosophy?

It could be that you've become so used to working out that you've forgotten about preventing injuries. Some injuries happen when you do the right activity too much or too often. Or it can be that you did the right activity the wrong way. Maybe you chose the wrong activity for your particular body type, or you weren't quite ready for that exercise.
 

There's all kinds of ways you can get hurt during work out. Muscle pulls and strains, sprained ankles, shoulder injuries, knee injuries, shin splints, tendonitis and wrist sprains and dislocations are the most common injuries.
 

In this post we'll look at some simple things you can do to work out and prevent fitness injuries.

Preventing Workout Injuries

There are simple steps that can help keep you injury-free during your workout. To make sure you're healthy enough to work out, check with a doctor before you start an exercise program if you haven't exercised for a long time, are out of shape, or if you're a woman over the age of 55 or a man over age 45.

 

Here are guidelines for avoiding injuries during your workout:

 

Warm-up and cool-down. You should warm up before every workout, and end with a cool-down period. A warm-up gets your body ready for exercise by gradually increasing your heart rate and loosens your muscles and joints so that your muscles are less likely to be injured when handling stress.

 

Some ways to warm up:

• ride an exercise bike
• jump rope
• jog in place for five to 10 minutes

A cool-down after you work out is important to bring your heart rate back to normal at a slow rate. Walking at a gradually slower pace for five to 10 minutes after you work out is one way to cool down.
 
Stretch. Stretch before and after you workout. This will:

• increase flexibility
• reduce risk of muscle soreness and injury

It's best to stretch after you warm up and cool down.

Ease into it. It starts out as just wanting to get more exercise. Then, you’ve forgotten about all those years since the last time you exercised and you do too much too quickly for too long with too much intensity. This end result to this is often injury.
 

When you begin an exercise routine or start a new workout program, start slowly. Then gradually build on the intensity, duration, and frequency. Don't push yourself too hard. As your fitness abilities increase, you will be able to challenge yourself more.

 

So if you’re new to weight training for example, start with weights you can lift for 8-12 reps, and do no more than three sets. When that gets easy, increase the weight by just a little bit at your next session. Almost everyone thinks they are in better shape than they are, which is how and why injuries occur.

 

If you overestimate your strength, you are more likely to injure yourself because of improper technique and the use of secondary muscles.

  

Vary your workout. While doing one exercise over and over will certainly help you perfect it, it can also set you up for a workout injury. Repeating the same muscle movements can lead to overuse and repetitive use injuries, such as shin splints, tendonitis, and never-ending muscle soreness.

Varying your workouts helps give your muscles adequate rest between workouts.

This is called cross training. If you overuse one set of muscles, you repeat the same muscle movements over and over which can lead to overuse and repetitive-use injuries such as shin splints and tendonitis. 

Some ways to vary your workout:

• run on day one
• lift weights on day two
• swim or cycle on day three

Know your body and its limitations. Customize your workout for problem areas. For example, if you have arthritis in your knees, you'll want to build up strength. But don't do exercises that actually hurt. And be sure to start out lightly.

Listen to your body. Know what your weak areas are and avoid activities that are going to push hard on that weakened area. If you're unable to slowly build up the intensity and difficulty of the exercise on the weakened area, then, to avoid injury, you have to avoid the activities that stress them.

For example, let's say you have a bad back, you should avoid doing back stretches on a stability ball. If you have weak wrists, weight lifting may not be your sport. And hip problems may make it impossible for you to join a spinning class. 
 

We all love to follow the "no pain, no gain" philosophy (I know I do, anyway.) Soreness is good, but pain is bad.
These two are different, and not knowing the difference can set you up for an injury. Assuming it isn't actual pain, as in torn ligament/cracked bones pain, the soreness that comes after a good, hard workout is a good thing, in a sense. While exercise makes the muscles work and use energy, microscopic damage to the muscle fibers drives muscle growth.

However, after intense exercise the muscles need to replenish their stores of fuel. Make sure to feed your body well. And proper rest is crucial - this is when your muscles repair the microscopic damage and grow.

If you don't rest and refuel properly, this could push you to the point of pain. If you feel pain, stop your workout and rest for a day.

Fuel your body. Drink plenty of water before, during, and after you work out. A good rule of thumb is to drink this amount of water:

• 8 ounces (about 250ml/1 cup) about 20 to 30 minutes before working out.
• 8 ounces (about 250ml/1 cup) every 10 to 20 minutes during your workout.
• 16 ounces (about 500ml/2 cups) after your workout.

Eat a small meal or snack every two to three hours to keep a steady source of fuel for your body. After your workout, eat a healthy carb and protein snack to replenish your energy stores.

See a trainer. Before starting a weight-lifting or exercise routine, consult a trainer. He or she can show you how to work out correctly. The trainer will help you create a safe and realistic exercise program.

Keep in mind that while almost any pro can give you some pointers worth listening to, you should make certain your trainer is aware of your personal characteristics, including your age.

There is such a thing as a trainer pushing you too hard, and that can increase the risk of injury. Be sure to voice any limits, trouble spots or concerns that you have.

Dress right. Wear the proper gear for your workout. If you are a runner, wear a good pair of properly-fitting running shoes. If you are a biker, always wear a helmet.

Rest: Working out every day is fine as long as you’re not feeling pain, But remember that tired muscles are an invitation to injury. So give yourself adequate time for particular muscle groups to rest and recover. Rest days give your body a chance to recover between workouts, thereby helping prevent injuries.

Treating Workout Injuries

No matter how careful you are, injuries can happen. If you develop a workout injury, follow the RICE method to keep your injury from getting worse:

• R: rest the injury
• I: ice the injury to lessen swelling, bleeding, and inflammation
• C: apply a compression bandage to minimize swelling
• E: elevate the injury to reduce swelling

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen can be taken to ease pain and inflammation from the injury.

Most workout injuries will heal on their own in four weeks or less. If the injury has not improved within a week, or if it gets worse, seek medical care. And always use common sense. It's best to seek medical advice if the injury concerns you.

Until you are fully healed, avoid doing the activity that triggered the injury. And avoid any activity that puts strain on the injured area.

You can still be active as long as you don't stress the injury. Staying active may help you heal quicker than if you take to the couch. Try a new workout while your injury heals. For example, if you sprain your ankle, exercise your arms instead. If you hurt your shoulder, work out your legs by walking.

After you have fully recovered from your injury -- pain-free for more than a week -- start back slowly. Don't try to work out with the same intensity you did before your injury. You will need to rebuild your muscle strength and endurance. It may take a few weeks of regular exercise to regain your pre-injury fitness level. If you push too hard and too fast, you may injure yourself again.
 

Care of www.webmd.boots.com/fitness-exercise/guide/avoid-workout-injuries?page=4 here are some tips for avoiding injury while performing six types of common exercises. 

 

1. Jogging

Potential injuries: Knee and foot problems, including torn meniscus or cartilage injury.

How to avoid them: Wear good shoes; rest between sessions; don’t work through the pain; ice your knees.

2. Ski machines and air-walking devices (like the Gazelle)

Potential injuries: Hip, leg, lower back problems due to hyperextension; knee injuries due to locked in position.

How to avoid them: Don’t pull your legs apart farther than you would during a natural stride. Try to keep some flexibility in your knees -- don’t lock them tight.

3. Yoga

Potential injuries: Wrist sprains and hip problems.

How to avoid them: Don’t put excess weight on your wrists; reinforce them with supports; don’t let anyone "push" your body into a position it doesn’t naturally go into without pain.

 

4. Leg extension exercises and leg press machines

Potential injuries: Kneecap dislocation or bruising; aggravation of arthritis in knee; disc problems; tendinitis.

How to avoid them: Never lock your knees. Don’t put your foot under a bar or other rigid equipment that forces your leg into an unnatural position.

5.   30-minute circuit training workout (like at Curves)

Potential injuries: Torn rotator cuffs; shoulder damage from doing too much too soon.

How to avoid them: Don’t feel obligated to do the whole 30-minute routine when starting out, especially if you feel pain. Stop, rest, and don’t push down too hard.

6. Assisted dips

Potential injuries: Shoulder, elbow, wrist dislocations; muscle strains; ligament tears.

How to avoid them: Don’t use a dip machine that requires you to drop down so low that your shoulders come up to your ears.

Continue reading below...

 

 

 

 

Want Better Speed, Endurance and Power? Pushing your Anaerobic Threshold for Optimal Training

Can people really be "fit and fat"?  Is it possible for someone to be able to exercise a lot, be in good shape, but just not look the part? I would definitely say that this is the case. At the risk of sounding judgmental, I find that more and more, I see people who are quite "thin" or "slim", but they really can't pull their own weight when it comes to fitness.

Case in point my commute to work: I bike a short distance of about 3 Km. On the way there are a few hills - nothing too excruciating but difficult enough to get my heart pumping a wee bit and give my legs a bit of a burn. A few students of mine also take this same route. In Korea, students are required to take PE class a few times a week: I often see them running laps, playing sports, or hiking the nearby mountain.

In my mind, I gathered my students were in decent shape. So I was surprised to see many of them have to walk their bike up the hill! And considering I lug around a lot more dead weight from my upper body's dead than they do, it made me realize that perhaps I'm in better shape than I thought. It begs the question: are these kids and teenagers at the fitness peak of their lives? If that's the case, what will they do after high school and PE class? (In the case of Korean men, compulsory military service.)

There are six generally accepted aspects to fitness; these are:

Aerobic Endurance / CRE (Cardiorespiratory Endurance): how good your heart and lungs are at working for a long period without tiring

Muscular Endurance: how able a muscle or group of muscles are able to work continuously

Strength: the maximum force a muscle or group of muscles can apply against resistance

Speed: how fast your body or a part of your body can move

Power: combination of strength and speed

Flexibility: the ability to move a joint through its full range of motion

Hand-eye coordination, Accuracy, Reaction time, Agility and Balance are five other components of fitness.

Of all the aspects of fitness, CRE is (arguably) the most important to develop as it enhances all the other fitness components.

To develop CRE you have to make sure that you are in your training zone.

Training zone you ask? This means that optimally, your heart should beat between 70% and 85% of your maximum heart rate to be able to stress your cardio-vascular system enough to train it.
 
If you exercise at an intensity of between 50% and 70% you are in the "aerobic zone".

We find our maximum heart rate by going 220 minus your age.

How do you find your pulse? You don't need no fancy-shmancy machine. All you need is a timer/stopwatch and two fingers for this...

From www.wikihow.com/Check-Your-Pulse

Use your fingers when finding a pulse. Don't use your thumb when finding it, as it has its own pulse. 

Find the radial pulse. This is also known as the pulse on the inside of the wrist. Use the pads of two fingers. Place these just below the wrist creases at the base of the thumb. Press lightly until you feel a pulse (blood pulsing under your fingers). If necessary, move fingers around until you feel the pulse. 

Find the carotid pulse. To feel a pulse on the side of the neck, place two fingers, preferably your index and middle finger, in the hollow between the windpipe and the large muscle in the neck. Press lightly until you feel a pulse. 

1. Check and record your heart rate. Use a watch or clock with a second hand. Make a note of the rate of the pulse, which is the number of beats per minute.
2. If you don't have a watch or a clock around, the Cleveland Clinic Health System recommends counting the beats you feel for 15 seconds and multiplying this by four to get your heart rate per minute:

Your pulse is: (beats in 15 seconds) x 4 = y (your heart rate) You can count beats for 30 seconds and multiply by 2.

Determine your normal heart rate. For adults, normal heart rate is 60-100 beats per minute. For children under age 18, normal heart rate is 70-100 beats per minute. This is your heart rate when you are at rest. Determine your beats per minute by following the steps listed above.     

Take a 40 year old person having a peak heart rate of 180. Seventy percent of 180 is 126 while 85 percent of 180 is 153, meaning this person's heart should beat between 126 and 153 beats per minute to be in the optimal training zone.

Age 20 years	HR Zone 70-85% 140-170 beats per minute	Maximum HR 200 beats per minute
30 years	137-162 beats per minute	190 beats per minute
35 years	133-157 beats per minute	185 beats per minute
40 years	126-153 beats per minute	180 beats per minute
45 years	123-149 beats per minute	175 beats per minute
50 years	119-145 beats per minute	170 beats per minute
55 years	116-140 beats per minute	165 beats per minute
60 years	112-136 beats per minute	160 beats per minute
65 years	109-132 beats per minute	155 beats per minute
70 years	105-128 beats per minute	150 beats per minute

CRE can be developed using interval training, continuous training or fartlek training. Both Fartlek and interval training put extra stress on your system, eventually leading to faster speeds and improving your anaerobic threshold. (It's also called lactic threshold). Remember my students who have to walk their bike up the hill? Part of what we witness here is a low anaerobic threshold (muscular endurance and power also definitely come into play, but we'll discuss this another time).

Your anaerobic threshold is a powerful predictor of performance in aerobic exercise.

To explore further, let's start with a brief, oversimplified, review of physiology. Your muscles can "burn" glucose for energy in two ways, aerobically ("with oxygen") and anaerobically ("without oxygen").

From rice.edu: (skip this part for the TL;DR)

An all out sprint, which requires a great deal of power output in a short period of time, uses the anaerobic system. The energy is quickly available, but the anaerobic pathways are not very efficient; short term energy stores are rapidly depleted, lactic acid builds up, and exercise soon comes to a halt. After a brief rest, the system is recharged and ready for the next sprint.  

Distance running, which requires a steady power output over a long period of time, uses the aerobic system. These pathways can't generate the speed of the anaerobic, but they do possess a great deal more efficiency and endurance. Depending upon the distance, and effort, the body can use different proportions of both of these systems. Those who have raced the 800 meter know it's too long to be a sprint, but too short to be distance. This is right at the cross-over between the aerobic and anaerobic systems. 

While running at a comfortable pace you use both systems, but the anaerobic:aerobic ratio is low enough that the lactate generated is easily removed, and doesn't build up. As the pace is increased, eventually a point is reached where the production of lactate, by the anaerobic system, is greater than its removal. The AT, also known as the lactate threshold, is the point where lactate (lactic acid) begins to accumulate in the bloodstream.

The AT varies from person to person, and, within a given individual, sport to sport. Untrained individuals have a low AT (approximately 55 % of VO2 max), and elite endurance athletes, a high AT (approx. 80 - 90% of VO2 max). You can train your body to remove lactate better and to juice up the aerobic mitochondrial enzymes, thus raising the AT. Don't worry you still get to experience the joy of lactate-laden legs that won't move, but it will happen at a faster running speed. Applying the right types of workouts is the key to properly shape your AT.

TL;DR: Improving your anaerobic threshold can increase high intensity endurance performance.

How do you push your anaerobic threshold? The anaerobic threshold, the point at which lactic acid starts to accumulate in the muscles, is considered to be somewhere between 80% and 90% of your maximum heart rate and is approximately 40 beats higher than the aerobic threshold. The anaerobic threshold is the point at which your body switches energy sources from oxygen to glycogen.

Let's compare the three types of training sessions: interval, continuous and Fartlek.

Interval training session

An interval training session is a short/medium bout of high-effort exercise over a set distance or time followed by a short rest period. This is then repeated a set number of times throughout the session.

For example, do 8 sprints of 100 meters at 90% effort, then allowed yourself a 60 second recovery between each sprint.

How interval training is progressively overloaded:

• Training an increasing amount of times each week.
• Increasing the length of your sprints, for example from 100 meters to 110 meters.
• Increasing the number of sprints, from 8 to 9.
• Increasing the intensity of each repetition, from 90% to 95% effort.
• Increasing the recovery time between repetitions, for example from 60 to 50 seconds.

Continuous training session

Continuous training involves training (running, swimming, cycling) over a long distance at a steady pace.

For example. running continuously for 20 minutes, at a steady pace in your training zone.

How continuous training is progressively overloaded:

• Training an increasing amount of times each week.
• Increasing the length of time in your training zone.
• Increasing the pace, from a 5 minute/km pace to 4.5 minute/km pace.
• Increasing the length of time ran during each session, for example from 20 to 25 minutes.

Fartlek training session

This either sounds foreign to you, or downright weight. Fartlek is a Swedish word meaning “speed play”. If you're familiar with Tabata or HIIT, Fartlek training is similar in that it's another form of varied pace training. It involves steady pace training over a long distance, during which short bouts of fast, intense training is included. This is not a new concept, it's been around for decades.

It differs from traditional interval training in that it is unstructured; intensity and/or speed varies however you wish.

For example, running at a varied pace for 20 minutes, alternating between recovery walking, jogging, mid-paced running and sprinting.

How Fartlek training progressively overloaded:

• Training an increasing amount of times each week.
• Lengthening the sprint sections of my Fartlek run
• Running the sprint section at an increased incline (steeper hill)
• Reducing the recovery walk section.
• Increasing the length of time ran during each session, for example from 20 to 25 minutes.

This is my preferred form of aerobic conditioning because it suits many sports having frequent changes in the predominant energy system, for example frequent short sprints throughout the game of soccer. This random approach is also good because it tricks your metabolism into working harder, and actually burns more fat than just running at a continuous pace.

It's very important that you warm up and cool down with any type of running, but because Fartleks are especially intense, you especially need to warm up before doing any Fartleks. Do a thorough stretch, focusing on your hamstrings, calves, ankles, and shins. This is somewhat of a high-intensity run, so it's not recommended for people who haven't ran before--you should get used to running by doing a few miles a day for a few of weeks before attempting to do Fartleks.

Although Fartleks are often used in running, but theycan be used just as effectively in bicycle or elliptical training too.

What’s your favorite way to do cardio?  Add your comments below, then GET OUT AND RUN! (or ride)

Protein: Nectar of the Tough

You might be asking yourself many questions about protein: 

• What is protein?

• What does it do and why is it so important?

• Where do we get the protein we need?

• How much do we need?

• Can you get too much protein?

Bear with me if some of this brings you back to high school bio or chem. I'll really try not to get too technical on y'all without needing to.

What is protein?

Proteins are a type of nutrient made up of amino acids, which are smaller molecules made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen atoms. These atoms combine into different patterns to make 20 different amino acids. The amino acids our body can't make on its own have to be taken in through diet. These are called essential amino acids, of which there are 9. The rest of them can be made by the liver if all the necessary chemical components are available.

Why is it so important?

The body depends on protein for a variety of reasons. Most importantly, proteins are responsible for growth and maintenance of structures such as muscle, blood cells, skin, hair and nails. Although the outer part of your bones are hardened with minerals like calcium, the basic rubbery inner structure is protein.

Enzymes are a type of protein which helps facilitate many of the chemical reactions within the body, including digestion. The production of hormones like insulin, thyroid hormones, estrogen and testosterone also depend on proteins. Even red blood cells contain hemoglobin which is a protein compound that carries oxygen throughout the body.

It's clear that protein is no joke; even the word itself is derived from the Greek word protos meaning first. 

Where do we get the protein we need?

Protein comes from two different sources: plant based (soy, nuts, beans and grains). With the exception of soy, only animal based proteins contain a sufficient amount of all the essential amino acids. Plant-based proteins also contain every amino acid but some of them may not provide sufficient amounts for our dietary needs. 

This website from Scooby, a fitness and bodybuiding guru, has an interesting and very helpful protein calculator. This allows you to calculate the protein-density of any food as well as its amino acid profile.

scoobysworkshop.com/protein-calculator/

Although it's more of a challenge for animal product abstainers to get all the essential amino acids they need to build muscle, it's actually not as hard as people think for a vegan to meet the recommendations for protein. Nearly all vegetables, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds contain some, and often much, protein. 

Protein Content of Selected Vegan Foods
FOOD	AMOUNT	PROTEIN	PROTEIN
		(g)	(g/100 Cal)
Tempeh	1 cup	31	9.6
Soybeans, cooked	1 cup	29	9.6
Seitan	3 ounces	21	17.5
Lentils, cooked	1 cup	18	7.8
Black beans, cooked	1 cup	15	6.7
Kidney beans, cooked	1 cup	15	6.8
Chickpeas, cooked	1 cup	15	5.4
Pinto beans, cooked	1 cup	15	6.3
Lima beans, cooked	1 cup	15	6.8
Black-eyed peas, cooked	1 cup	13	6.7
Veggie burger	1 patty	13	18.6
Veggie baked beans	1 cup	12	5.0
Tofu, firm	4 ounces	11	10.6
Tofu, regular	4 ounces	10	10.7
Bagel	1 med. (3.5 oz)	10	3.9
Quinoa, cooked	1 cup	8	3.7
Peas, cooked	1 cup	8	6.6
Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP), cooked	1/2 cup	8	15.0
Peanut butter	2 Tbsp	8	4.1
Veggie dog	1 link	8	13.3
Spaghetti, cooked	1 cup	8	3.7
Almonds	1/4 cup	8	3.7
Soy milk, commercial, plain	1 cup	7	7.0
Whole wheat bread	2 slices	7	5.2
Almond butter	2 Tbsp	7	3.4
Soy yogurt, plain	8 ounces	6	4.0
Bulgur, cooked	1 cup	6	3.7
Sunflower seeds	1/4 cup	6	3.3
Cashews	1/4 cup	5	2.7
Spinach, cooked	1 cup	5	13.0
Broccoli, cooked	1 cup	4	6.7

What you -do- have to be careful with non-animal sources of protein is that you need to consume a lot of calories to get protein from some of these sources. For those concerned about calorie consumption look for high values in the 4th column (protein g/100Kcal).

Getting enough protein is one thing but we have to remember that many of these foods are not a complete protein source; the muscle building process stops if your body is lacking any essential amino acid. There are a few non-animal sources that offer complete proteins, so it's important to get your fill of soybeans, blue green algae, hempseed, buckwheat, and quinoa if your diet is meat-, milk-, or egg-free. 

You don't need to fret if you can't get complete proteins in your diet! Overall, the combinations available to vegetarians and vegans to get all your amino acids are:

• Dairy and grains (great)
• Dairy and seeds (good)
• Dairy and legumes (good)
• Grains and seeds (good)
• Grains and legumes (great)
• Legumes and seeds (great)

And don't forget about Scooby's protein calculator: it suggests foods that work well with any food without a complete amino acid profile. Research suggests that you don't necessarily need to eat complementary proteins at each meal; what's important is that you get enough throughout the day to meet your daily needs.

How much protein do we need?

The amount depends on your age, size, and activity level. Nutritionists estimate our minimum daily protein requirement by multiplying the body weight in kilograms by .8, or weight in pounds by .37. This is the number of grams of protein that should be the daily minimum. According to this method, a person weighing 150 lbs. should eat 55 grams of protein per day, a person weighing 90 Kg should get 82 grams, and a 250-pound person should eat 92 grams.

According to this, my daily protein need is 167 lbs * .37 = 61.8 grams of protein.

Some authors argue that the lean body mass (that is, the non-fat portion of the body) is the primary determinant of protein needs. 

Click here to go to the protein calculators.

According to the formula used by Sears, the pounds of lean body mass should be multiplied by the following, depending on activity level, to get the daily protein requirement in grams:

• Sedentary - multiply lbs of lean body mass by .5 (1.1 when using Kg)
• Light activity (e.g. walking) - multiply by .6 (1.32 when using Kg)
• Moderate (30 minutes of vigorous activity 3 days per week) - .7  (1.54 when using Kg)
• Active (1 hour per day 5 days per week) - .8  (1.76 when using Kg)
• Very Active (10 hours of vigorous activity per week - .9  (1.98 when using Kg)
• Athlete - multiply by 1.0  (2.2 when using Kg)

Using me as an example, I would be in the "active" category. 

While my weight is 76 Kg (167 lbs), I have a body fat reading of 17%, giving me a lean body mass of 63 Kg (138.7 lbs). I would multiply 138.7 lbs by .8 to give me 110.9 grams of protein a day.

Can you get too much protein?

Since many low-carb diets tend to be high in protein, this is an important question for low-carbers. A high-protein diet encourages eating more protein while avoiding carbohydrates. 

Avoiding carbohydrates such as fruits and grains, however, decreases the intake of important nutrients, including fiber, vitamins and minerals.

Any extra protein will be broken down into glucose in a process called gluconeogenesis. On low-carb diets, this happens continually. One benefit of obtaining glucose from protein is that it is absorbed into the bloodstream very slowly, so it doesn't cause a rapid blood sugar increase. 

However, some diabetics find that an excess of protein at once causes blood sugar spikes, and low-carbers sometimes find that as time goes on they do better with a moderate protein intake right than eating large amounts of protein.

Although not directly related to protein intake, here are some of the negative effects of high protein diets:

• Cancer:  Since people who consume more protein often also consume more fat, populations who eat meat regularly are at increased risk for colon cancer, and researchers believe that the fat, protein, natural carcinogens, and absence of fiber in meat all play roles. The 1997 report of the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research, Food, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Cancer, noted that meaty, high-protein diets were linked with some types of cancer.
• Osteoporosis and Kidney Stones: Eating protein triggers the release of acids in the body. Too much protein causes acid levels to rise. To neutralize the acidity, the body releases buffering substances such as calcium phosphate. To produce enough calcium phosphate, the body pulls calcium from the bones. Decreasing the amount of calcium available in the bones increases the risk of osteoporosis. Since high-protein diets don't usually provice well-balanced nutrition, the lack of vitamins and minerals, along with the effects of high protein levels could contribute to chronic health problems. To prevent osteoporosis, it is important to follow a healthy diet that provides all the essential nutrients that promote bone health, including adequate amounts of protein, vitamins and minerals
  

The National Academy of Sciences, for instance, recommend that 10 percent to 35 percent of daily calories come from protein. 

What did you think about this post? What are some of your favorite (and most delicious) ways of getting enough protein in your diet?

If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook. Thank you!