Just when you start to sit back and think that all the old archaic myths, are startin' to die off, they seem to spring back to life and surprise you. This is one that I heard from a client the other day, as was told to her by a family member and a by a friend, all on the same day. It goes something like this: "Protein has too many calories" or "I don't want to bulk up" or, lastly "Protein powder will make me fat" These three myths are generally used as objections to the guideline of consuming 1gram protein / 1 lb bodyweight First let's took a look the calorie issue, a scoop of protein powder generally has between 80-120 calories per scoop. Here are some food items that someone may likely be already eating that this could equate to calorically: -1/2 of a banana -1 slice of bread -1 of those little 100 caloric snack packs -1/2 of a 20 ounce bottle of regular soda As you can see the bang for the buck as far as quality nutrients are concerned is by far and away on the side of that 1 little scoop of protein. (While we are on the topic protein a preferable, the source of protein powder is one of the many versions of whey or casseinate protein powders available. They are simply of higher quality, generally taste better, and are more usable by the body than the soy versions) On last 'food for thought' moment with this first statement, carbohydrate and protein carry the exact same calorie amount per gram.

Next, let's take a look at the myth of protein causing one to become bulky. Let's look at if from a couple different angles. First let's define 'bulk' I think we can safely define bulk as taking up more space or becoming 'larger' by volume. It is also accurate to say that fat takes up a lot more space than lean muscle tissue. Thus the fastest way to gain 'bulk' would be to stop/reduce exercising and increase/or even maintain nutritional intake.

If you take a look around you'll see that most Americans have a pretty good handle on the 'bulking' aspect, we're not so good at the lean muscle part. There is no relevancy of protein to 'bulking' While it is true the protein is critical for maintain and building lean muscle; which is exactly what we hope will happen, because muscle is metabolism. If your thought process is that you will through the simple act of consuming protein gain mounds and mounds of muscle miraculously, you have sorely misled.

Either that or I need to find some of that 'miracle protein powder', I wouldn't mind not having to do any work and have muscle appear on my body through the simple act of drink protein powder. If you are a woman who is 30, 40, or even 50 yrs old, you have nothing to worry about. Packing on the muscle, and turning in Arnold Schwarzenegger's twin sister is not likely to happen, if it was there would be plenty of 25yr old testosterone soaked males that would be loving life as an Arnold look-alike. The short story is: if putting on heaps of muscle were that easy a lot more males would have some. The real hang up most individuals have with all this is that they are being asked to significantly change one of their most closely held, highly engrained habits of being emotionally and physically attached to carbohydrate. They are being asked to perform a caloric swap between carbohydrate and protein in order to get their protein intake up to appropriate levels, many people especially women may need to up their protein intake 50%-200% depending on their current status.

What does this look like by the numbers - take a 160lb women (which just happens to be about the weight of the average American women.) She is likely only taking in 40-80 grams of protein per day not good. She needs to be in the 160 gram range. What does this look like, well let me give you a couple instances of what this might look like in the real world. (these are only example to show you what this might look like a daily scale.) It could be 8 scoops of protein powder containing 20grams of protein per scoop.

Or It could be 4- 4 ounce chicken breast (about the size of your out stretched hand per day. Or a variety of other animal source lean proteins.) The goal of this article was to crush one of the long held myths in fitness and to shed some light on how truly valuable protein is in the quest for leanness. If you work on breaking some of your old habits and work on getting your protein content right.

A new leaner body will thank you. Copyright (c) 2008 Anderson Training Systems.

Troy M. Anderson is the owner of Anderson Training Systems, LLC, a fitness coaching business based in Tempe, Arizona. Troy is often referred to as "the MacGyver of coaching" for his unique ability to build effective fitness programs using only the most basic equipment. For more articles and instructional video, visit http://www.atscoaching.com Fitness Ain't Pretty-RESULTS ARE!