Do you know if you’re getting enough protein every day? If you’re looking to build lean muscle, it’s vitally important. Adding protein to your diet is a foundational to reaching your lean muscle goals.
Without adequate protein, your body won't have enough resources available to build or repair your muscles. The right daily quantity is essential. In this story, you’ll learn how to calculate how much protein you need.
Protein is an important part of your balanced diet. When you have adequate protein, vitamins and minerals, that also helps the body produce the dopamine it needs, and that has lots of positive benefits.
Understand protein
Let’s say you’re simply looking to grow your muscles. Why not just eat a great deal of protein? Incredibly, there is such a thing as having too much protein daily. Whenever your body gets too much protein or other foods, it tends to store the excess as fat, which leads to weight gain.
Clearly, overdoing it isn’t the right solution, even if you’re looking to pack on size and mass. There are intake guidelines that you can tailor to your goals. Let’s dive into how your protein intake can affect your training results.
Respect the science
Protein is of course just one part of your overall diet regimen. Protein contains the amino acids responsible for building and repairing muscle tissue. It’s one of the three essential macronutrients that our bodies need to function properly, along with carbohydrates and fats.
As you closely follow your well-rounded diet, be sure to monitor the number of carbohydrates and fats you’re consuming per day. Aligning all three macronutrients to your goal will create the best results possible. Supplementation like protein shakes and fat burners should complement and support your diet.
There are many high-quality sources of protein, from either animal or plant sources:
Animal-based proteins can be derived from beef, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, and dairy products.
Plant-based proteins can come from chickpeas, fava beans, lentils and other legumes, pinto and black beans and edamame. Plus, nuts, hemp, chia, pumpkin, sunflower, flax and other seeds. From almonds and peanuts. From soy derived from soybeans. And, from almond milk or soy milk.
Animal-based protein options are rich in amino acids, which are ideal for building and recovering your muscle. By comparison, plant-based proteins may not have as complete an amino acid profile. That is, some may omit several essential or non-essential amino acids. As you compare options, look closely at labels’ ingredient Facts Panels, including the Amino Acids Profile you’ll see alongside the main Facts Panel.
Match nutrition to your goals
Luckily, understanding how much protein you need is fast and easy to calculate. As a general guide, it’s recommended that people who exercise or train consume between 0.36 to 1.2 grams of protein for every pound of body weight.
For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, consume 72 to 240 grams of protein, daily.
Understandably, the difference between 72 grams and 240 grams is significant. Where should you be? Closer to 72 or 240 grams? Let’s nail it down even more closely. See which of these 3 target goals match up to your fitness aspirations:
Goals:
General health and well-being: If your goals are focused on improving your general health and well-being, consuming 0.36 to 0.6 grams of protein for each pound you weigh would be appropriate.
Lose body fat while building lean muscle mass: If you fall into this category, look to consume 0.6 to 0.9 grams of protein for every pound you weigh. (You’re not alone with this one. It happens to be one of the most popular fitness goals.)
Athletes such as those doing strength training, or those looking to pack on size: Athletic training, strength training, and packing on size all impose a lot of demands on the body. For these, you’ll need more protein to support those goals. Consuming 0.9 to 1.2 grams of protein for every pound of body weight daily will help your body recover after these intense training sessions.
Support numerous goals
Are you working toward multiple health and fitness goals? You can support multiple goals with the correct protein intake. Whether you’re looking to lose body fat, pack on muscle mass and strength, improve your endurance, or just live a healthier lifestyle, proper protein intake will play an important role in helping in attaining multiple successes.
Protein shakes make it easy
Are you always on the run and struggling to get enough protein throughout the day? Make-it-yourself protein shakes can be a fast and refreshing, on-the-go convenience. They taste great and are easy to make. Just start with your preferred GAT Sport great protein powder and mix up in a GAT shaker with your preferred water or milk. Just one protein shake can add 20 to over 30 grams of protein to your diet.