How Much Protein Do You Really Need To Build Muscle?

I cannot believe the amount of misinformation there is on this topic. Depending on your source you will read everything from the governments RDA of .36 grams per pound of body weight, to some bodybuilding sites that go as high as 2 grams per pound and everything in between. Once you have a little understanding it's quite simple to figure out the right amount of protein that YOU need to add lean muscle mass.

The generally accepted rule of thumb is 1 gram of protein per day per pound of body weight. For down and dirty basics you can use this and be in the ballpark. But if you are serious about your health and physique, it needs to be calculated a bit more accurately.

First, the TYPE of protein you are consuming does matter. You can get it from a variety of sources, with the difference being the rate at which the body absorbs and uses it. For practical purposes know this, the average person has the ability to process and use:

Egg protein 1.3 grams/hour

Casein isolate - 6.1 grams/hour

Whey isolate - 8-10 grams/hour

At BEST if all your protein comes from Whey the most you can process in 24 hours is 240 grams. Bear in mind for even that to be the case, you have to ingest it through out the day fairly evenly. Clearly any recommendation that puts the average person over this amount is false.

Secondly, not all of your body weight needs protein. Fat doesn't. So don't feed it. Calculating the body weight used without removing your fat stores results in too much protein, which in and of itself isn't unhealthy. But it does mean that you are likely taking in too many CALORIES in total, which results in additional FAT GAIN, which is unhealthy.

Thirdly, the FDA's RDA is for sedentary adults. For babies and young children they double it to .75 gram per day per pound. Why? They are growing of course. Obviously then if your goal is to add lean muscle mass you too will grow. So at least .75 is needed. In fact it has been determined that 1.1 to 1.5 gram is good for active, strength training adults.

Lastly and most importantly, no amount of protein matters if you are not hitting the weights. If anybody tells you that more protein will make up for any shortcomings in your training they are wrong. Erratic, high rep, low weight training will not add muscle mass even if you take Whey protein 24/7 intravenously.

Once you know the formula, calculating your exact daily grams of protein becomes easy, and the risk of wasting precious calories on unused protein is greatly reduced. This enables you to consume what yor body truely needs for muscle building fuel and can help eliminate the gain of unwanted, unhealthy fat.