13 Apr Protein Intake for a Bodybuilder – How Much Do You Really Need?
Bodybuilding and protein often go in a single sentence because they are almost synonymous, especially for a muscle freak.
Being rich in amino acids, proteins not only synthesize muscles but also work on maintaining and repairing them.
But it’s not an easy job to keep the right amount of protein on the platter, as the protein intake doesn’t go the same for everyone.
For bodybuilders, the protein intake could vary depending on your age, gender, and even exercise plan.
Since we are in the mood to set the basics of bodybuilding right, it’s time to talk about the bodybuilding protein calculation.
How Much Protein Does a Bodybuilder Need?
Proteins are rich in nitrogen and sulfur which every cell in the body needs for healthy functioning.
Since nitrogen forms amino acids, or the molecules responsible for the formation and maintenance of muscles, muscle cells require it in huge proportion.
The amount of protein needed in your body, hence, depends on the amount of workload your muscle cells go through. Heavy lifters often choose to use the best mass gainer for beginners to try and support the higher weight load and exercise intensity for hypertrophy.
For non-bodybuilders, the muscle cells are not challenged to deal with extra pressure.
On the other hand, bodybuilders sweating their way through high-intensity workouts, resistance training, and strict exercises see more muscle tears.
Hence, for bodybuilders, the protein intake should be more than the amount of muscle protein lost during the training, for better muscle growth.
If this difference is not maintained, the reduced muscle protein in the body could pave the way for the entry of free fats.
To prevent this, it’s crucial to find out how much protein should a bodybuilder eat.
According to science, the structural framework of this answer highly depends on:
- Age of the Bodybuilder
- Level of bodybuilding – either at a beginner or advanced level
- Gender
- Weight of the Bodybuilder
Let’s dig into some of these factors one by one so that you know what you need to be eating.
#1. How Much Protein Should a Bodybuilder Take in a Day (Per Kg of Weight)
Bodybuilding is usually based on the following three phases:
- bulking phase or the off-season phase,
- the dieting phase, and
- the competition.
Since the bulking phase focuses on how much protein bodybuilders eat and how many calories they count in, we focus only on this phase.
According to research, the protein intake for bodybuilders during this phase should be double than that of normal protein intake.
While the older ways of calculating how much protein a bodybuilder needs were focused on 20-30% of energy intake, we need to take a more practical approach.
The study published in Sports (Basel, Switzerland) suggests that the average intake of 2 grams of proteins per kg of your body weight during the off-season yields safe and heightened results in bodybuilding.
However, this value of recommended protein intake can vary from person to person, depending on the nature of your off-season diet.
For example, certain groups of bodybuilders have a larger appetite during the off-season and end up adding more calories to their platter.
For such a group, a high protein diet comprising around 3.4 g – 4.4 g/kg of body weight can be suggested.
In fact, research published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition suggests an intake of 3.4 g/kg per day but only when combined with resistance training. This study showed a significant impact of the intake on the body composition of trained men and women.
High protein content in the diet for such a group helps induce faster thermogenesis, which helps break down fat cells more easily.
Since both beginners and advanced bodybuilders experience similar effects of the above protein chart, we don’t recommend any variation.
However, there does exist a degree of variation in the recommendations when it comes to gender.
#2. Gender Preferences for Protein Intake
Men and women tend to have different muscle compositions genetically, with males having more muscle mass.
Thus, the amount of protein that women need in a day is comparatively lower.
If we look at the data from different studies conducted on protein needs among women bodybuilders, we get the following:
- The right type of diet for women to achieve more skeletal muscle protein than the amount of breakdown should include 1.7 to 1.8 grams of protein per kg of weight on average.
- Since women have a lesser amount of muscle mass, this range of protein intake provides them with enough muscle formation and repair.
There’s a slight variation from the standard but only when it comes to age, owing to the body’s metabolic processes.
#3. How Much Protein Does a Bodybuilder Need at a Young Age?
As age advances, the body’s metabolism slows down, resulting in the weakening of the absorption and processing of nutrients.
In the case of proteins, at a younger age, a small amount of protein is enough to stimulate better hypertrophy of post-resistance-trained muscles.
But, as a bodybuilder gets older, the body processes protein at a slower rate and hence requires more quantity.
Considering all these factors, a younger bodybuilder probably requires 1.2-1.7 grams of protein per kg of weight.
Other than maintaining this range, what’s also important is to have well-planned dosing strategies.
Dosing strategies help to maximize the effect of protein on your muscles and prevent the muscle full effect.
Here, we use meal planning as a dynamic dosing strategy for efficient muscle synthesis.
How Much Protein Should a Bodybuilder Eat Per Meal?
Our body uses proteins by breaking them down into amino acids as they flow down the blood.
When there is a sudden influx of a high number of amino acids in the blood, they stimulate muscle protein synthesis at a faster rate.
But when this number continues to stay consistently high for a longer period, the muscle protein synthesis reaches a threshold or baseline.
Beyond this, no protein synthesis occurs unless a huge muscle protein breakdown happens.
This is called the muscle full phenomenon and it prevents muscle gain despite having a high-protein diet.
Thus, to prevent this, it’s important to strategize your protein intake according to the amino acid levels in the body.
This is best achieved by planning your meals right.
Since bodybuilders on average have a frequency of 6 meals a day, surveys recommend dividing the 1.6-2.2 g/kg body weight dosage into:
- Multiple meals that contain 0.40 – 0.55 g/kg body weight of protein. One of these meals should be scheduled 1-2 hours before or after training.
Dividing your intake is quite important for all-day protein synthesis. Plus, including protein in every meal is anyways a good idea, rather than loading up on it just before or after workouts.
A QUICK NOTE: More protein doesn’t always mean bigger muscles.
Our body has its absorption power, and it may not use additional protein intake for growth.
How Much Protein Can the Body Use for Muscle Growth – Are You Eating Too Much?
People often believe in maximizing protein intake for better hypertrophy post-training.
But when you define the idea of maximizing the protein intake, it doesn’t necessarily refer to an additional dosage of protein, rather it means dividing the ideal dosage.
Why?
Because our body is designed to absorb only a certain amount of protein. When we ingest this ideal dosage of proteins, amino acids are released.
They react with certain cells to stimulate the synthesis of muscles. However, these amino acids are not always the ones coming from your diet.
Most of these amino acids used for muscle proteins are the ones freed from the breakdown of muscles.
Hence, only 10% of the protein you eat is used for muscle synthesis per hour.
Any additional protein in the body during this duration of time either goes into maintaining other tissues or straight into the feces.
Further, as we mentioned above, this excess protein might also result in the muscle full phenomenon that can delay muscle gain.
But since we are talking about protein intake through diets, there might be some risk of eating excess protein.
The best way to prevent that from happening is to be aware of the high protein signs.
Look Out for High Protein Signs When Bodybuilding
Excess protein can cause overwhelming stress on the body as only a certain amount of protein can be used and rest is excreted.
But when the amount of protein that has to be excreted exceeds the normal functioning capability of kidneys, the risk of proteinuria develops.
Proteinuria is a condition marked by the appearance of protein in the urine, paving the way for several diseases.
Thus, it is important to be aware of how much protein is too much for the body to absorb.
The initial signs of excess protein in your body are mostly related to digestion problems and dehydration.
Your body shows signs of fatigue because of depleting water content, which can cause unpleasant headaches along with nausea.
Hence, taking more protein than you need is seldom a good idea, rather dosing and timing it perfectly is what maximizes the effects.
While we are at the dosing strategy, let’s also highlight how you can time your protein intake.
What is the Best Time to Eat Protein for Bodybuilding?
In normal conditions, protein mostly comes from whole food sources which we use in our meals.
As our strategic division of doses involves dividing it into multiple meals, most of the time, amino acids are released without gastric emptying.
Hence, the amino acids remain consistent in the blood, ready for slow functioning.
But when we take amino acids on an empty stomach or when there is an extremely low level of amino acids in the blood, the action is quick.
The sudden influx of large amounts of amino acids causes quick cell reactions and massive muscle synthesis.
Thus, the best time to consume protein is usually early in the morning with breakfast, and pre or post-resistance training.
Conclusion
When wondering how much protein you need to build muscle, the recommendations stand clear, based on the research so far.
While the upper recommendation is 2.2 g/Kg of body weight, it doesn’t mean only a certain amount of protein is enough to build muscles. There are many variations to the recommended dosage based on age, weight, and gender.
It can also depend on what sort of bulking phase you have and how many calories you eat during the off-season.
But overall what remains important is to keep a check on not exceeding the dosage as that may not help but rather slow down your process.
Are you a bodybuilder? You can share how much protein you eat per day (and the process you follow to divide your intake) with our readers in the comments section.
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