To build muscle optimally, you need more protein than the average person. The consensus in the bodybuilding world is that you should consume 1.6-2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight (about double the normal recommendation). Here, 1.6 g/kg/d is enough for most people: eating even more protein can’t hurt, but it won’t help you build even more muscle mass. Coach and scientist Greg Nuckols of Stronger by Science is the first to add a caveat to this: eating more protein than 1.6 g/kg/d and even more than 2.2 g/kg/d may actually give you more muscle mass.

RESEARCH

The recommendation of 1.6 g/kg/d to 2.2 g/kg/d comes from a 2018 meta-analysis by Morton et al., which included 49 studies. The cutoff point for protein intake is 1.62 g/kg/d. But according to Greg Nuckols, the study has not been analyzed thoroughly enough:

The Morton meta-analysis itself also presents data suggesting that the breakpoint (if it exists) is likely higher than 1.62 g/kg/d. But these data are only found in a few additional figures that have not received nearly as much attention as the breakpoint analysis, so I think most people have missed them entirely.

An extensive analysis can be found in this article on Stronger by Science (summaries on Instagram: part 1 and part 2).

RECOMMENDATIONS

Nuckols concludes that the average natural bodybuilder can achieve maximum gains with a protein intake of about 2 g/kg/d. To be more precise: between 1.7 g/kg/d and 2.35 g/kg/d as a man. As a woman between 1.5 g/kg/d 2.05 g/kg/d. If you want to be better safe than sorry, then you aim for 2.35 as a man and 2.05 as a woman.

In practice, you will never measure your food so precisely that it concerns figures after the decimal point. If you eat around 2 g/kg/d of proteins, you are fine. This is also the standard rule that we use here at Fitguide. If you always aimed for 1.6 g/kg/d, then there is reason to increase your protein intake somewhat.

SCALE TO LEAN BODY MASS

If you have a rough idea of ​​your body composition, it’s probably best to scale protein goals to lean body mass, rather than total body mass. 2.35 g/kg/d of lean body mass should maximize your gains on average, and 2.75 g/kg/d of lean body mass is your “better safe than sorry” goal.