I just had a sports nutrition seminar this Friday, and boy was it thought provoking. One of the things I can't help but do is listen to all kinds of nutritional evidence or advice and relate it to individuals with disabilities. There is not a ton of research based information out there for persons with disabilities, especially when it comes to athletic performance. Most of the time athletes with disabilities get told what everyone else gets told. I find this unacceptable and look to give my best judgement when it comes to nutritional advice!
Building muscles mass...we all want those muscles. The most common answer I get from the ordinary athletes with not much nutritional education about what is most important to get muscles is protein. Strike one. When ask these same kinds of people what they try to do in order to build muscle mass, a lot like to go after fad diets, which right now one of them is the Paleo Diet. Strike two. Finally, these same people will come to me saying "what supplements, vitamins, and minerals do I need to take?" Strike three.
When it comes to building muscle it comes down to one idea: More energy in than energy out. The largest part of anyone's diet (percentage wise) should be carbohydrate. I've said it before but using a ratio of at least 3 gram of carbohydrate per 1 gram of protein is ideal. Protein is great at repairing and rebuilding muscle, but it still needs material to work with! That material should be increased calories in general without avoiding carbohydrate (I'm looking at you Paleo!). The upper limit to protein that doesn't show any positive results when it comes to body function is 2 grams of protein per kg weight. I would recommend about 1.5 grams of protein per kg daily, or about 110 grams of protein for a 160 lb athlete.
What I learned at my seminar is that adding mass starts at calculating calorie needs to be 45 calories per kg for the able-bodied athlete in season. (If you need a quick conversion factor: 2.2 lbs = 1 kg; divide your weight by 2.2 to get your weight in kg) So if you weigh 160 lbs, you're looking at beginning to building muscle mass at about 3300 calories per day. For athlete's with disabilities, we are using on average maybe 60% of our body's muscles when exercising. For this reason, I would suggest that our calorie needs in order to begin mass building starts at 40 calories per kg. This is my best estimate given it is not research based. This would put that 160 lb athlete at needing at least 2900 calories a day to start mass building.
Finally, to cover my strike three, of you are getting about 3000 calories a day into your body, you will find that you will more than cover all the vitamins and minerals you need. Most supplements are expensive and, let's not forget, unregulated which makes them unnecessary and dangerous. For a quick boost in energy before working out, I prefer coffee and a granola bar or fruit along with a Gatorade for during practice.
So take these numbers and try to track yourself for a couple days to see where you lie in getting your calorie needs. Don't get frustrated when you "plateau" in weight. Regardless of how this mass building works, you don't put it on your frame! Lastly, the registered dietitian in me must say, keep the diet varied and wholesome to the best of your ability and you'll see maximum improvement!
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