The Relationship of Lean Body Mass and Protein Feeding: The Science Behind the Practice

Abstract

The development of lean body mass (LBM) is closely linked to protein feeding. Along with resistance exercise protein feeding, or amino acid provision, stimulate muscle protein synthesis (MPS). Repeated stimulation of MPS above protein breakdown results in lean mass accretion. Many athletes aim to build or maintain LBM. The aim of this thesis was to better understand the relationship between LBM and protein feeding in trained individuals. This aim was studied in the applied setting and at whole body, muscle and molecular level.

Chapter 2 revealed differences in total body mass and LBM between young rugby union players competing at different playing standards. Protein consumption was higher in players that played at a higher standard. The protein consumption of players at both playing standards was higher than current protein recommendations for athletes. The Under 20 (U20) rugby union players in Chapter 3 also consumed more protein than current recommendations state. Their dietary habits changed depending on their environment and they consumed more protein while in Six Nations (6N) camp compared with out of camp. Also, there were changes in dietary habits for individuals, however, those changes did not occur at the group level. Using the camp as an education tool for good nutrition habits could be advantageous.

As a group, rugby union players’ body composition did not change from pre to post a 6N tournament. However, there was individual variation, which could be meaningful for the individual players. We provide evidence suggesting that in elite sport, athletes should be considered as individuals as well as part of a group if appropriate. The protein ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (p70S6K1) is part of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) pathway, which regulates MPS. The response of p70S6K1 activity was 62% greater following resistance exercise coupled with protein feeding compared with protein feeding alone in Chapter 3. P70S6K1 activity explained a small amount of the variation in previously published MPS data. The activity of the signalling protein p70S6K1 was unchanged in response to different doses of whey protein in Chapter 4 and 5. These data suggest that resistance exercise is a larger stimulus of p70S6K1 activity and when manipulating aspects of protein feeding p70S6K1 activation may be a limited measure.

Consumption of 40 g of whey protein stimulated myofibrillar MPS to a greater extent than 20 g after a bout of whole body resistance exercise. The amount of LBM that the trained individual possessed did not influence this observed response. These data suggest that the amount of muscle mass exercised may influence the amount of protein required to increase MPS stimulation. For those engaging in whole body resistance exercise 20 g of protein is not sufficient to maximally stimulate MPS. The athletes in Chapters 2 and 3 of this thesis consumed more protein than current recommendations that do not take into account whole body exercise. Current post-exercise protein recommendations may no longer be optimal given this new information. Future work should directly investigate the MPS response to protein ingestion following resistance exercise engaging different amounts of muscle mass in well trained and elite populations. Identifying the protein dose required for maximal stimulation of MPS following whole body exercise would be an informative area of future research.