Muscle is made of protein. If you want to build muscle, you need to boost muscle protein synthesis, as well as decrease muscle breakdown.
So how much protein do you need to eat?
According to science getting up to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight is THE BEST for producing better gains in muscle mass.
Research in the lab and gym confirms that the best way to do this is with a diet that gets you a minimum of 1 gram per pound of body weight and even closer to about 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day, especially if you are following more intense workout programs.
They are a lot of scientific studies that report getting up to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight is THE BEST for producing better gains in muscle mass.
In reality, this does not apply accross all levels of fitness activity.
Regardless of all the scientific studies from these universities that prove that higher protein diets produce the best gains in strength and muscle mass, there are still many misinformed doctors, dietitians and experts who still believe that a diet consisting of only 0.7 grams of protein applied to both sedentary people as well as people involved in intense training and sports. This is very far from the truth.
It should be pretty obvious that somebody who weight trains intensely for 1 hour would require more protein in his body to repair the muscle that they broke down than the average person who sits on the couch and “Netflixes” all day and doesn’t need to repair any muscle at all and they just try to maintain whatever they have.
Eating more protein while weight-training has proven again and again both in the lab and in the gym to produce greater gains in strength and muscle growth. As a personal trainer, I recommend doing whatever you can to consume around 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Also, try to spread your protein intake over the day every 2 or 3 hours to keep your protein synthesis spiking all day and get the best muscle and strength building results.
