When it comes to building muscles protein is extremely important for you. From the large and bewildering variety of protein supplements available, all with endorsements by big brands in the bodybuilding world, to the local gym regular who swears by chicken and eggs for his protein intake, all of them will tell you that “protein is THE most important ingredient you can eat when you are building muscle”.  Yet few can tell you why.

Thankfully they are right – protein is one of, if not the most, important ingredient for building muscle in the human body.  After water it is the most common ingredient in the human body and it is vital that you keep the supply of this ingredient up when going about any muscle building or bodybuilding routines. There is a multi-billion dollar industry of protein shakes, protein supplements and other products (high on protein) available to help you out with this, as well as the humble chicken and egg!

So lets address the question again – Why is protein so important when muscle building?

How your body uses protein?
To answer this question it is important to know what your body uses protein for. The best way to explain the importance of protein is that it is used for maintaining your body, repairing it and building it.  Consider it the building block of all your muscles and you won’t be wrong.

How muscle building affects your muscles?
Now consider what happens to your muscles when you are weightlifting and body building.  Basically each lift or bit of exercise pulls and tears the muscle fibers in your body in tiny, minute strands.  This causes the body to need to repair itself, but rather than just repair it as it was it reinforces the area as well as bridging the tear.

How to repair your muscles while body building?
I’m sure you can see this coming but what ingredient does your body use to repair and reinforce the muscles broken down like this in muscle building exercise?  Protein.  So if you want to ensure that your muscles are being repaired and reinforced like they should be then you need to make sure that you give your body a good intake of protein, and not just when you are exercising.

Why and when your body requires protein?
The reason your body needs protein is that your body is actually fixing, reinforcing and building muscle when you are resting, not exercising.  Although it is the exercising that encourages the muscle growth (indeed without the muscle building exercises your body wouldn’t be improving your muscles at all) it is actually during rest periods that such building takes place.  So you have to ensure you have plenty of rest and protein (either through protein supplements or a high protein diet) to get the most benefit from your weight lifting regime.

What are the best sources of protein?
Look for high protein diets, important foods and especially protein supplements and protein shakes.  These will help ensure that you have the steady supply of protein that is needed for muscle building and bodybuilding.

List of the Top 10 sources of protein:

1. Greek Yogurt
2. Cottage Cheese
3. Swiss Cheese
4. Eggs
5. Milk
6. Whey Protein
7. Steak
8. Ground Beef
9. Pork Chops
10. Chicken