Regardless of age, exercises and training programs can be crucial to increasing your body’s safety and protection over time. Protein synthesis plays an important role during these workouts.
Muscles are much like the building blocks of protein. As your exercise damages some brickwork, your body repairs them to be stronger. This makes exercise an important practice for growing children, aspiring athletes and fitness enthusiasts looking to grow and better handle different environments and situations.
Developing a regimen that works with your body’s natural processes may be the key to effective muscle protein synthesis. This guide explains how protein synthesis works and how to build a workout routine and meal plan that enhances muscle protein synthesis.
What Is Protein Synthesis?
Protein synthesis is a fundamental process in which cells create proteins. Proteins are the building blocks of amino acids and are used to make various structures and functions of the body. They contain chemical messengers like the hormone insulin and contractile proteins like myosin to promote muscle contraction, which helps maintain internal balance.
Why Is Protein Synthesis Important?
Protein is essential to the human body, especially for developing children, because it builds, maintains and repairs muscles and tissues. It is also an important energy source and macronutrient for fats and carbohydrates. To help the body function correctly, proteins function as hormones, enzymes, structural components, antibodies and nutrient transporters.
Protein degradation typically increases with exercise, which promotes protein synthesis (the repair of muscle loss and damage), ultimately aiding in building stronger or bigger muscles, depending on your daily lifestyle.
Protein synthesis is also essential to renewing dead cells. For example, old skin cells flake off while protein synthesis works to create healthier-looking skin in its place as newer cells get exposed.
How Does Protein Synthesis Work?
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and Ribonucleic acid (RNA) help assemble proteins in three different stages and processes. For a deeper understanding, here’s how protein synthesis occurs to ensure the body functions properly.
1. Transcription
Transcription has three steps in which messenger RNA (mRNA) is made from DNA:
- Initiation: This stage signals the DNA to unwind so an enzyme can read the bases of a DNA strand in order to form a similar strand of mRNA.
- Elongation: Elongation is when nucleotides attach to the mRNA strand.
- Termination: The RNA transcribes the terminator and detached from the DNA to complete the mRNA strand.
2. Post-Transcription Modification
This stage, also called pre-mRNA, is a process in which the new mRNA must undergo more processing and modifications before it becomes a mature mRNA. These modifications allow numerous proteins to be made from a single gene.
3. Translation
During translation, each genetic code in mRNA makes a protein. The mRNA leaves the nucleus where the DNA is and travels to a ribosome. The ribosome reads the mRNA and transfer RNA (tRNA) brings corresponding amino acids to the ribosome to match particular mRNA.
This process is similar to transcription — it also has three steps called translation initiation, elongation and termination. These steps work to enhance the mRNA to break down so its building blocks can be used to make new proteins.
How to Achieve Muscle Protein Synthesis
While your body will naturally make protein, there are ways to encourage protein synthesis depending on your goal. For example, you might use methods that allow your muscles to turn the protein you eat into new muscle. Here are four effective strategies for achieving muscle protein synthesis.
1. Consider the Appropriate Protein Intake for You
Protein intake should be based on various factors to effectively boost muscle mass:
- Body weight: You may require more protein when you weigh more. Harvard Health suggests individuals consume 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of their body weight each day.
- Activity level: Vigorous resistance training, cross-functional fitness programs and cardio exercises that warrant more strength and caution may require more protein intake.
- Fitness goal: Protein may benefit fitness goals like increasing muscle mass and weight loss. Injuries may also require a higher intake to help prevent muscle loss.
It may help to consult a dietitian about your protein needs and goals to get evidence-based protein recommendations according to your health history, activity levels and food preferences.
2. Pick Nutritious, Protein-Rich Foods
Studies show that one should consume 15-30 grams of protein with each meal or snack. You might get this from high-quality food sources like nuts, eggs, seafood, poultry or legumes. Otherwise, you could opt for protein supplements since one serving may equal 24 grams of protein.
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It’s important to check their nutrition facts and ingredient lists to ensure they align with your preferences and needs. If you’re a vegetarian, plant-based protein options may be suitable and include a variety of flavors, such as vanilla or chocolate.
Once you understand which foods and protein supplements your daily meal plan includes, try to divide them equally into meals throughout the day to optimize protein synthesis.
3. Prioritize Rest and Recovery
While exercise and food choice are large contributors to muscle protein synthesis, rest and recovery are also crucial to optimizing results. Notable muscle growth and protein synthesis may occur while you're recovering. With regular rest and recovery, your body may be able to recover, replace and regenerate as needed.
Fortunately, there are also protein supplements that contain the right amount of essential amino acids to help your body recover after a workout. Collagen protein shakes may also decrease joint pain and inflammation during recovery and balance your protein ratios, depending on your diet.
4. Time Your Protein Properly
Research shows that you may be able to increase muscle protein synthesis during a 48-hour window after exercise when your body is more sensitive to protein. This makes it beneficial to include a meal as part of the post-workout routine, making it easier to spread protein intake across meals and snacks throughout the day.
Enhance Protein Synthesis for Improved Health
Protein synthesis can be a great tool for your fitness routine. Understanding how to trigger it and enhance results, whether it’s damaging your muscles during a workout and eating protein-rich foods to repair and build muscle back stronger or simply ensuring your protein intake is appropriate for your circumstances and body, could be the key to success.
Author Bio
Jack Shaw is the senior health and fitness writer at Modded as well as a coach and sports enthusiast. For the past 6+ years he's studied and written extensively about how people of all ages and skill levels can stay fit and maintain mental and physical health. In recent years his athletic expertise has been featured in BarBend, TrainHeroic, SimpliFaster and more.