Sustainable fitness playbook
Current consensus for sustainable body recomposition: 2 full‑body resistance sessions per week, 150–300 minutes of moderate–vigorous cardio, and protein at ~1.2–2.2 g/kg while running a ~500 kcal deficit to preserve muscle. (x.com) Fueling notes: take protein+carbs before training (shake + banana) and protein after for optimal repair. (x.com)
Recent randomized-trial meta-analyses quantify a dose–response between daily protein and lean-mass gains: an increase of 0.1 g/kg/day was associated with ~0.39 kg more lean mass below ~1.3 g/kg/day, with diminishing returns above that level. (academic.oup.com) Large systematic reviews of resistance‑training prescription conclude weekly training volume is the primary driver of hypertrophy and strength, with differences between training frequencies small when weekly volume is equated. (bjsm.bmj.com) Acute MPS studies support distributing protein across meals, with a single‑meal dose of roughly 0.25–0.40 g/kg (about 20–40 g for many adults) maximizing post‑exercise synthesis and a leucine “trigger” of ~2.5–3 g to activate mTOR signaling. (frontiersin.org) Randomized trials testing pre‑ versus post‑workout protein show similar long‑term strength and hypertrophy when total daily protein is matched, and reviews now describe the post‑exercise “anabolic window” as hours rather than minutes. (peerj.com) Endurance‑nutrition reviews report that pre‑exercise carbohydrate increases time‑to‑exhaustion compared with low‑CHO or fasted states and that carbohydrate feeding during prolonged efforts (>60–120 min) at rates of ~30–90 g·h−1 improves performance. (frontiersin.org) A 2025 randomized trial in college athletes undergoing a 25% energy restriction plus resistance training found no clear advantage for higher protein intakes (≈1.2 vs 1.6 vs 2.2 g/kg) on fat‑free mass over six weeks, but population‑level meta‑analyses still show higher protein during energy restriction generally preserves lean mass better than lower protein. (nature.com)
