Daily Recommendations - How Much Protein Do I Need Per Day?

How much protein should you be taking in per day? Basically, the more the better, and that's no joke. Protein is the one macronutrient that you're not going to overconsume. It's more or less self-limiting, anyway.

How many chicken breasts and protein drinks can you really consume per day, every day? Here are eight guidelines to consider.

1. Increase your protein intake if you are stuck on a training plateau. In fact, the one virtually guaranteed way to break through a plateau is to add 50 grams of protein, spread out over the course of a day, to your current diet. No other changes are necessary in your diet or training program. We have never seen this fail in our combined 70 years of training experience.

2. Increase amounts gradually if your body needs time to adapt to higher intakes of protein powders. This will be true if you're not accustomed to consuming truckloads of supplements. The key is to figure out what protein intake you're used to right now and up the amount by about 10% a week to get to a level that you can comfortably and consistently sustain.

3. To push the limits of anabolism, the amount you should shoot for is 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight per day.

4. Spread the protein over at least five - and preferably six or even seven - servings a day (and night). A hundred grams of protein a day from drinks should be no problem, considering the digestibility of some of the products now available. Added to a substantial whole-food diet, that's a sure-fire ticket to pushing up mass and strength.

5. How much protein to ingest at one time depends not only on the amount your body is accustomed to, but also the time between your "protein meals," the type and the additional quantity. If you're used to 40 grams of liquid protein at a hit, you could easily push that to 50. You may eventually be able to consume 60 grams at a sitting if you drink the time-released types, or if you take an uncombined form (straight whey, for example) with a meal in order to slow down its digestion.

6. If you want a protein hit, but you've just eaten a couple of hours earlier, then products that have been predigested with an adequate amount of di-and tripeptides would be the choice.


7. After a workout, consume 20-40 grams of a di- and tripeptide formula - that's when it's especially potent - with an equal or greater number of carbs, depending on how long and hard you trained.

8. For an extra muscle-building boost, especially for hardgainers, take an MRP that contains 50-60 grams of protein at midnight or in the middle of the night (if you can rouse yourself easily, have no trouble falling asleep and are having an exceptionally hard time adding lean mass).