Should I up my protein intake?

[HlynurT]

Hi!
I'm 1.83 cm and 98 kg, and I bicycle to work and home each day (total 20 km).
I go to the gym three times a week and I was wondering if I should start taking extra protein after my gym workouts ?
My ultimate goal (which I know is going to take a few months) is to go down too 80 kg and gain some muscle as well.
I'm just wondering which should have higher priority, gain muscle now or later when I've skimmed some of that fat of my body after all these bicycle sessions (I usually take a long 30 - 40 km ride during the weekends) and focus now on burning fat with bicycling and strict diet.

Thanks!

Best regards,
Hlynur T

[festeri]

How are people supposed to determine whether your protein intake is adequate if you do not post your protein intake? It is indeed a decent idea to eat something containing protein after a workout.

Generally for most people coming from an overweight state, it is preferable to diet down to a normal weight lean state and then start putting on muscle from there. However, lifting helps retain muscle so it's a good idea.

[GotWood]

Hlynur,

There is no reason why you can't burn fat and build muscle with your current workout routine. Your daily protein volume comes back to how much protein you need to meet your macronutrient requirements.

I’m have a similar routine, I’m carrying more weight and ride a bit further per week, and have been able to lose weight and build muscle. The weight goes down slower, but the BMI% drops just as fast.

I’m not sure if you are already across macronutrient discussion; skip this paragraph if you already are. The short version is work out how many calories you need to maintain your weight, then you can work out how much you need to reduce to cut back to lose weight. Once you’ve set a cut back calories figure, work out how much fat, protein and carbs is required. What you find is that once you have a fat and protein figure, you fill the remainder with carbs to fill your calorie count.
The details are found in the forum topics titled 'The Simplest Weight Loss Guide Ever Made...' and 'Calculating Calorie Needs and Macronutrients'.

You may find that you can add some protein because you are cutting more calories through cardio. You may not. I know that I had more calorie room to add some protein because I was burning heaps. Most days I’d burn 1/2 of my daily calorie needs riding to and from work. You’ll be fine as long as ‘your daily calorie intake’-‘cardio’=’your cut calorie needs to lose weight’. Each person is a little different, but general weight loss and muscle gain principles remain the same. You will need to consume less then you do now to lose weight and you will need to lift more in the gym to tear/repair=build muscle.

For myself, I was riding 5 days a week to work + a long ride on the weekend (35-65km per work day depending on what office I was in) and lifting mon-wed-fri. I found that my off-gym days on Tue and Thu wasn’t enough for my arms/shoulders to recover, due to general riding requirement of gripping handle bars and the like.

Good luck and just keep working at it. As long as you don’t have any medical impediments, you will reach your goals.