Originally Posted by Tom Stormcrowe
A Quick reminder:
High protein intake requires a high H2O intake or you can damage your kidney's! At my weight, I take in a minimum of 1 gal water a day and more if needed under exercise! If your pee is DARK like German Beer or Black Coffee, you need to up the water.......fast!
For a high protein diet, not only do you need to boost your water intake, but also make sure that you're getting enough calcium.
Excess protein that gets excreted requires calcium for removal from the body. If it's not in your diet, then it will get leeched from your bones.
Big guy + hard sprint + weak bones = bad fractures
If you're really looking to bump up your protein intake, then aim for 1.5 to 2 grams of protein daily for every kilo of lean body mass. Match that with minimally 1 ounce of water for each kilo of total body mass.
100 kilo rider at 85% lean mass = 128 to 160 grams daily protein and at least 100 oz. daily water.
Unfortunately, I am not sure of the calcium ratios. Possibly looking into a bodybuilder's forum would turn up the answers since that's where the info on protein and water to body mass came from. I used to do a lot of heavy weightlifting, and these were the standard minimum ratios that the competitive powerlifters used.