Wednesday Workout -- Know Your Protein Intake

The LTR's weekly column on health and fitness.

The muscle making tip of the week pertains to the nutrition side of the equation. In addition to resistance (weight) training, consistent muscle growth requires ample supplies of protein. Now I’ve seen recommendations all over the board, but my rule of thumb is that you need to get one gram of protein per pound of body weight, especially on days that you lift.

That will require – at least in the short term – to keep a log of your daily caloric intake. A free, online diet calculator can be found at www.fitday.com It will calculate your diet, protein, carb and fat intake, and the calories you burn daily. That will at least let you know if your consumption patterns are in the ballpark. If you are on the low side of the protein equation, that will definitely be limiting the muscle you can pack on as a result of your lifting.

And now, if I may digress for a moment, I have a question for the Friday Fashionista. Has it become hip, mod, or otherwise trendy to walk around cloaked in strong man-smell? The reason I’m asking is that a number of guys at the gym are consistently showing up in the morning cloaked in “eau du homme.” I mean strong man scent – at 6:30 in the morning.

It just strikes me that if you are consistently rolling out of bed smelling like that, you might be intentionally missing certain body parts when you do occasionally shower. So my question is this: If flitzing around the gym while oozing man-smell is “in,” are there any parts of my body I can still wash and be considered “hip.”

Just curious, and can’t wait to hear your answer. Kiss kiss.