Protein Demands for Bodyweight Athletes

Bodyweight training is becoming progressively more popular in the fitness community. With an outdoor gym popping up in nearly every suburban neighbourhood how can we really resist not getting out there and pumping out some pull-ups?

The question does arise - what are the protein requirements for bodyweight athletes?

We know that weightlifting protein requirements are tied to the number of workouts per week and the athlete's bodyweight - but since callisthenics is generally lower intensity does this mean that the protein demands are lower?

In this article, we will break down the specific amount of protein you should be taking in order to maximize your strength and break training plateaus.

Demands of Bodyweight Workouts

If you are training properly, bodyweight training will put just as much stress on your body as any other style of training.

The main difference is the amount of resistance you are putting on the muscle. In traditional workouts with barbells and dumbbells, you are using a base-level of weight to put the muscle under stress and try to create adaptations through that process.

With bodyweight training, the goal is generally to only use the person's actual bodyweight to create stress through basic movements like pushups and pull-ups.

In many cases, these exercises can still be at a similar intensity, but the main difference will come due to resistance.

In the bodybuilding and strength world, the more resistance you have the greater demand you are putting the body under and the more nutrition the body will need in order to recover (in the form of macronutrients).

Example: someone who is a strongman and lifts stones for a workout will burn more calories than the average joe in the gym who is using machine resistance.

Since bodyweight training usually uses lower intensity (from the perspective of resistance) we can justifiably say that the protein demands may be slightly lower.

With that said the basis for your protein demands should always be based off your bodyweight - this helps us to justify that the heavier you are, and the more muscle mass you have, the greater the intake of protein to support that mass.

Below is a basic chart to help you determine how much protein you should be consuming if you are a bodyweight athlete.

Here you can see that the heavier you are, and the more frequent your workouts are (with a sliding scale of intensity) the higher your protein demands.

Keep in mind - an excess of protein will not be stored in the body as fuel. You will likely end up losing this protein as waste. Be sure to stress test and find the protein demands that work best for you and for your recovery.

For a complete and wholesome approach to your protein supplementation, we suggest the purity and high potency of FUEL X30.

Not only is it packed with protein, but it is sugar-free, carb-free, gluten-free and lactose-free.

You can find more information about FUEL X30 here.