Weight training how much protein per day

New research from the University of Stirling is challenging everything you know about protein and muscle mass. When it comes to how much protein you need after a workout, personal trainers and registered dietitians pretty much agree you should aim for 1. In this study, published in Physiological Reports , researchers recruited 30 young, resistance exercise—trained men and divided them into two groups—one with lower lean body mass of less than pounds 65 kilograms and one with higher lean body mass of more than pounds 70 kilograms.

All values in the bullet point list below are expressed as grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. All of these studies controlled for energy intake, either based on individual requirements or by setting energy intake to be equal in all experimental conditions, so that only the proportion of protein in the diet varied between groups.

If the studies were based on unreliable methods such as nitrogen balance, a marker of lean body mass changes, I only included them if they controlled for sweating and dietary adaptation periods. Protein oxidation did increase in the high protein group, indicating a nutrient overload. The authors suggested that 0. Based on nitrogen balance data, the authors recommended 0.

Over 20 other studies have consistently failed to find any benefits of more than 1. See e. The Bayesian Research team has also performed its own scientific study in collaboration with the University of Cambridge to research if higher protein intakes benefit recovery in the days after a hard workout. We again found a cut-off point at exactly 1.

Our meta-analysis found that the benefits of protein topped off at 1. Based on the sound research, many review papers have concluded 0. The picture below summarizes the literature. As you can see, 1. If you still think you need more than 0. Lemon et al. Another frequently heard objection is that people need more protein because they are more experienced than the studied populations. Well, Tarnopolsky et al. In everyone there is both constant protein synthesis and breakdown. Resistance training causes both breakdown and synthesis to increase, normally with a favorable balance towards synthesis.

Sign up for workouts, nutritious recipes and expert tips. Chloe Gray is the senior writer for stylist. When she's not writing or lifting weights, she's most likely found practicing handstands, sipping a gin and tonic or eating peanut butter straight out of the jar not all at the same time.

Skip to content. Sign in. You may also like Protein: these are the signs that you may have a protein deficiency, and what you can do about it. You may also like What should you eat before strength training? Fitness trainers answer your most Googled questions. That's because, the closer you are to your genetic limit in terms of muscle growth, the slower the gains will come. And the slower your rate of growth, the less protein you need to support that growth. You can eat more if you like.

Timing your protein hits is vital to optimise your gains. And anyway, your most important protein hit is the one after your gym session. After exercise your body produces the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, which break down proteins, fats and sugars. While we want you to get enough protein in you diet, you can also have too much of a good thing, and if you eat too much protein, you may be doing more harm than good. People that eat very high protein diets have a higher risk of kidney stones, while a high protein diet that contains lots of red meat and higher amounts of saturated fat has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease and colon cancer.

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