Common Muscle Building and Protein Formulas
You will find a host of formulas in order to decide how much protein to eat in an effort to improve muscle building. These formulas differ in that most are derived from an individual’s weight, many are based on an individual’s calorie allocation, several clearly suggest a regular sum regardless of any other factors, and then there are several that recommend a certain level of protein in each meal. what are you eating.
In this article, we are going to talk about several ways that tend to be recommended to calculate your daily protein requirements for anyone trying to optimize muscle building. As a comparison, we will use a 31-year-old male who is 5’10 “tall and weighs 180 pounds as the basis for calculating protein requirements under various prescriptions.
Recommended daily allowance
Probably the most typical system for determining your protein needs depends on the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) established through the American Food and Nutrition Board. They advise 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of weight every day for healthy adults. One kilogram is the same as 2.2 pounds, which is about 65 grams of protein per day for a person weighing 180 pounds. It is critical to note that this is actually the recommended amount for adults to maintain their current lean muscle mass. Those considering building lean muscle may need to eat more than the suggested amount.
Grams of protein according to body weight
Since the RDA is generally considered a baseline and is not always applicable for anyone trying to build muscle, it is generally suggested to improve the amount of protein to 1 gram per pound of body mass every day. In this situation, a person weighing 180 pounds would need to consume 180 grams of protein per day. In this case, that will lead to a 275% increase over the RDA. What may possibly seem like a dangerous increase, but some of the proposed formulas are even higher than this.
However, another easy formula determined by body weight recommends two grams of protein per kg each day. Since there are 2.2 pounds in a kilogram, this creates an amount somewhat less than 1 gram per pound of body weight. In this case, a 180-pound (approximately 82 kg) male would need 164 grams of protein per day.
An interesting formula that I have found is based solely on lean body mass. The concept is that you should not take body fat weight into consideration when contemplating the use of protein for muscle building. In such cases, it is really suggested that you use your lean mass in kilograms times 2.75. One of the difficulties of this strategy is that you must have an idea of your body fat percentage in order to determine your muscle mass in kilograms.
Following these formulas, a 31-year-old man who is 5’10 “tall and weighs 180 pounds (21.5% body fat) would need about 176 grams of protein per day.
Surprisingly, these formulas do not vary significantly in terms of how much protein our 180 pound male should have on a day-to-day basis. So far they range from 164 to 180 grams a day. In fact, this may be the best variety of protein for building muscle. You can find other formulas available, however, that end up recommending drastically more protein.
For example, some tips recommend that 40% of your daily calories should be total protein calories (TPC); Since there are 4 calories per gram of protein, TPC / 4 will give you grams of protein per day. According to the RDA, an active 31-year-old man weighing 180 pounds will require 3,149 calories per day. 40% of these (1,260 calories) must come from protein. This means that our man should eat 315 grams of protein a day to maximize muscle growth.
However, others recommend 40-60 grams of protein with each meal regardless of any other factors and also tell you to eat six meals a day. This means consuming 240 to 360 grams of protein on a daily basis. This approach is much more in line with the classic volume and cut method, however it may not be for everyone. This approach has worked for a number of men and women, but not everyone is considering gaining 30 pounds of fat while building 20 pounds of muscle mass.
What exactly is right for you?
We’ve covered a host of different formulas to identify how much protein you need to eat each day when trying to maximize muscle growth. As you can see, there is no perfect formula, even among authorities and experienced lifters, as to how to determine the proper amount. In reality, your strategy for building muscle and protein should depend on your goals.