The main component of muscle fibres (myfibrils) is protein. Proteins are made up 20 different (so-called proetinogenic) amino acids. Beef protein is a nutritional supplement extracted from beef. Why is it different from whey? For one thing, it can be consumed by lactose and whey sensitive people on a dairy-free diet. In addition, beef contains high levels of the amino acid creatine and iron, which is essential for maintaining proper blood oxygen levels.
Creatine plays a role in energy production by allowing the body to store extra ATP bound to creatine (creatine ATP). ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is the main source of energy for the muscles. However, the muscle's ATP store is sufficient for the first few seconds of exercise. After that, creatine ATP is used, the two compounds are separated and ATP is used up, so that creatine ATP stores last for as little as half a minute. If creatine is also used up, glycolysis (sugar breakdown) then provides energy - which lasts for about 3 minutes. If there is a load after that, aerobic (oxygen-mediated) energy production kicks in. Creatine can therefore be effective in increasing power output in short duration workloads - most commonly in the range of 1-8 repetitions, 100m flat running, etc.
Why is protein intake important?
During exercise, the proteins that build up the muscles are damaged (so-called micro-tears). To heal this, an inflammatory process occurs, during which the inflammatory cells digest (catabolize) the damaged muscle fibres and new protein is produced (synthesized) to replace them. - This explains muscle fever.
The processes of protein synthesis (building) and protein catabolism (breaking down) occur in parallel in our body.
The main requirement for building muscle is that protein synthesis is positive, i.e. more new protein is built than is broken down - a growing number of studies are finding that even a calorie surplus is not necessarily required to build muscle, so with the right diet and training protocol, you can increase muscle and reduce fat mass at the same time.
With adequate protein intake, stimulating muscle growth can help preserve muscle during weight loss. Adequate protein intake is essential for all people.
