After today's riverside walk I treated myself to a half rack of ribs at the Outback Steakhouse in Danville. Beef is obviously a great source of protein. And here's why protein is important. When you lift weights, your muscles think, "If were going to lift all these heavy weights, we'd better start to build some bigger muscles to make this easier." This "adaptive response" is sort of like when you learn to play the guitar and your fingers begin to develop calluses, or when you grow up surfing longboards in Hawaii and your knees and feet begin to develop bumps or "knobs" due to all the knee paddling you do.
Now when it comes to your muscles, the science is very simple. To build muscles you need "building blocks," and these building blocks are called amino acids which you get by eating protein. As you begin to lift weights, you're telling your muscles you need them to get bigger, and when you eat protein you're giving your muscles the tools they need to make them grow. Incidentally, I try to get about 100 grams of protein each day. This means that I usually have protein in all of my meals -- breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I know that nothing I've said here is groundbreaking or exciting, but it's good to be reminded of the importance of protein in our diet as we chase down our goal of building muscle at the most efficient rate. You don't need to be perfect with your nutrition or diet, of course, but no matter how you slice it, protein synthesis is something you'll always want to keep in your mind on the dietary side of things.