At the moment I’m training for my Varsity Rugby team. I play Prop. I also weigh 230 lbs (having lost 25 lbs over the last 3 months) at 5 feet 8 inches tall (not good). I’m trying hard to lose body fat but not muscle. I’ve never used any supplements.
My question is that is it alright for me to use Protein bars like Nitro-Tech on days that havn’t been nutritionaly balanced. I’m on a low carb (20-30grams/day,)high protein diet but never know how much protein i’m ingesting on a daily basis. Nor do I know how much I should be ingesting. Any help would be appreciated.
dude, the low carb thing will probably tear chunks out of your performance in season. you’ve probably figured that you’ll use all the running in your rugby games and trainings to cut up right? well, you’re probably better to leave the drastic, rapid weight loss low carb diet until after season is over. you’ll still lose a decent amount of fat with a moderate amount of carbs and the increased activity level. Most rugby players drop weight naturally during season anyway, if they can avoid the after match pissathons that inevitably follow - believe me, nothing could be worse for your goals. I don’t know what your exact lean mass is, but if 230lbs is ‘not good’, then we’ll work on 190lbs. Shoot for about 200 grams of protein per day, and 250 grams of carbs per day. Try to take in about 30 grams of fat, from either flax or fish oils. This is about 2200 calories, in a roughly 35/45/20% protein/ carb/ fat ratio. If you’re training twice a week and playing a game every saturday, then this should drop the fat off you while still leaving you plenty of power for mauls and scrumming. try to include a couple of days of weight training in there if possible, to help hold muscle - someone in your club is bound to be doing something like that - join in with them. As for protein bars - sure, they’d make a good snack, while you’re on a moderate carb approach - probably best after a match, but i’d avoid them when you go on an off season low carb diet - all but the most prohibitively expensive contain a fair bit of sugar.