Hey guys this is my first post here, though I’ve been reading through forums here for several years. As an undergraduate student about to finish up my bachelors in nutritional science and an avid weight lifter, I often get asked the question, “how much protein do I need?”.
Back in the day (not that long ago…) when my primary sources of information regarding questions like this were bodybuilding forums, I would have answered somewhere between 1-2 g/lb (depending on whatever forum I was hooked on at the time).
To cut through all the BS, after reading through the dozens of reviews and studies published in various scientific journals, the most commonly agreed upon recommendation seems to be 1.6-1.8 g/kg. While this range is more than double the RDA (0.8 g/kg), it is significantly less than most of the recommendations I have seen prescribed by various bodybuilders/trainers.
Most of the studies and reviews didn’t agree on specific recommendations but almost all agreed that protein intakes of greater than 2 g/kg showed no extra benefit to the participating resistance-trained athletes of various training backgrounds. Almost all researchers have noted that it is difficult to study this due to the myriad of variables and the uncertainty of what the best methods are to test this.
With all that being said, I will hopefully be obtaining my NSCA certification within the next few months and would like to know how any experienced trainers approach this question with all of the conflicting recommendations out there. Thanks in advance!