protein question

hi there,

if i was looking to build muscle mass, how many grams of protein a day should i be looking to have?

cheers

paul

The trainers I worked out with always told me 1g per pound of body weight.

Henry

You will likely see a lot of posts on this site indicating that only 1 gram per kilo of body weight (2.2 lbs.) is enough.  Don't listen to them!  If you are trying to add mass, protein is essential.  I agree that about 1 gram per pound is the correct amount. 

As important as the amount of protein is the time you take it.  Make sure to eat protein every 3 hours as part of a meal or in the form of a shake.  Unlike carbs or fat, the body does not store protein.  It only lasts in the blood for about 3 hours.  If you don't use, it you lose it.  So if you eat all your protein in the morning, there is nothing for your body to use by lunch.  Also, the most important time to take in a fast absorbing protein like whey protein is immediately after a workout.  I like to get as much as 40-50 grams within 30 minutes of exercise. 

 I don't like to eat/drink a lot right after exercise, but I found a product that works great for me, IDS protein shot.  It's 3.1 oz. and has 42 grams of protein without carbs or fat.

Michael

brilliant,

well im 189lbs and ive eating between 80 and 100g of protein a day, so ill trying to double they amount i eat.

ive been getting most of the intake from tuna, soya protein (quorn) and shakes. Is there anything you can recommend to stop myself getting bored with these?

thanks for the advice

paul

 Soy protein is counterproductive for men trying to gain muscle weight - the isoflavonide genistein in soy is a functional xenoestrogen in the male body, blocking testosterone production and other anabolic androgens.

 So cut that out - or at least cut it way down. Oats on the other hand, you can do a lot more of. Skinless, boneless grilled chicken breast is another lifter staple, as is extra-lean sirloin and any other lean meat.

 Turkey is also good, and even trimmed/lean pork can be used - though pork these days can be so full of hormones it's almost as bad for you as the soy. Organic is okay, but bleeping expensive - and anything ground, processed or otherwise reconstituted will have too many calories from dietary fats.

 Rule of thumb for eating: did it look like that while it was alive? The further away from "yes" you get, the worse the food is for you.

 Technically, the protein needs for athletes in strength training tops out at 1.8g/kg of bodyweight, but it's generally okay to go slightly over that as a baseline goal since nutrient measurements in your food isn't terribly exact.

You need to have a calorie surplus of 200-500 calories a day to gain significant muscle mass over time once you're past the newbie metabolism "shock growth" stage, so make sure you're eating over maintenance when you're trying to bulk up.

thanks for the advice, ill be heading down the shops tonight to stock up.

paul

Don't believe anyone -- find out for yourself!  Try different amounts, and measure results.  Optimal protein intake really does seem to vary a lot across people, and not enough about this is really known to explain why.

On the other end of the "hey, this is what worked for me, so you have to do it too" advice spectrum, this is what bodybuilding legend Bill Pearl claims, and he grew more muscle than everyone replying to you combined :

If you're consuming 1/2 gram of protein per pound of muscle bodyweight regardless of how hard you train, that's all you need for repair and muscle growth; that's it. Any more than that will either be stored as fat or you can consume it as fuel.

To make that concrete, your low-end current 80 grams/day would be sufficient by his lights if you carried 160 pounds of muscle (not total weight, not even lean weight -- just muscle weight).

That's an extraordinarily low recommendation, and I also advise going higher at least at first -- the point is to underscore just how much variation there really is across people.

When I played football I weighed 215 pounds and was 190 pounds lean muscle(rough estimates).  My trainer told me to only take 1 gram of protein per pound of lean muscle mass.

What if you are doing moderate weight lifting and heavy cardio...is 1g a lb necessary?  I'm skeptical of drinking protein shakes cause I always hear these stores about how if you keep taking in protein shakes and you stop the exercising/weights it all turns into fat..fast.  Any truth to it?

If you want to gain size and stregnth then I think you should get no less than a gram of protein for every pound of lean muscle.  The protein along with the heavy cardio will make you muscular and more ripped looking.  In my opinion if you stop taking protein you will get weaker but you shouldnt get fat unless you stop eating healthy and stop working out.

Original Post by jd316:

What if you are doing moderate weight lifting and heavy cardio...is 1g a lb necessary?  I'm skeptical of drinking protein shakes cause I always hear these stores about how if you keep taking in protein shakes and you stop the exercising/weights it all turns into fat..fast.  Any truth to it?

 No truth to it. Think of a scoop of protein powder as a piece of chicken. If you eat too much chicken, you'll gain weight. 

But 1g/lb is definitely recommended, and really isn't that hard to do. 

 

Yes if you use to much protein you will gain weight.  Whether taking protein supplements or eating food with protein your body naturally takes the protein and gives it to your muscle.  Thats why if you take 1 gram for every pound of lean muscle along with cardio you will burn the fat and gain size in your muscle.  Gaining weight is not always a bad thing.  Muscle does weigh more than fat. 

i agree with just about everything you say but if you r looking to gain musclemass the avg. amount of proein your suppose to take is 1g/1Lb. of LEAN MUSCLE thats MUSCLE not body weight you have to take into consideration that only your muscle can absorb protein not fat and if you overtake protein your feeding you muscle yeah, but your also feeding your fat cells at the same time so if your looking to build mass and cut bodyfat faster calculate your body fat% and findout how much lean muscle you have so you dont overdo it. and the best time to take a protein supplament is right before you workout right after. and right before you go to bed because think about it your not going to be eating from anywhere from 6-8 hours thats a long time for your body to go without protein and you should take it right when you wake up remember dont take too much eat 5-6 small meals a day and a max 30-40g of protein per meal otherwise your feeding those fat cells