Please Help How Much Protein Per Day

Do I need to take in 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body weight or can I do an 80/10/10 diet or is it true that we only need 40-60 grams of protein. Please Help Thanks

Hey Jim, looks like youve read a lot of info out there! There is a lot of conflicting info thats for sure.

What are your goals? Any info you can provide about yourself will help us here in suggesting some rough numbers

Is hard to get "swollen" in a low protein diet, but that much protein can keep you lean.

Depending on your goals you'd have to consume way more than 60 grams of protein.

I've kind of gone back and forth on this subject. But I've basically followed 80/10/10 since I started. In terms of strength 80/10/10 is fine assuming you consume enough calories (I do around 4000/day). But if you choose to consume 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight I would say that you need to bear in mind that is assuming you are lean. According to Jason Blaha (icecream fitness) there is no research that indicates there is any benefit for muscle growth in consuming beyond .83 grams/pound of lean tissue. But he also consumes insane amounts of protein and I don't know where he got that research.

After a year of lifting and following somewhat poor training practices at times I am now squatting 270 ibs (ass to grass) for 3 sets of 5, bench pressing 230 ibs 3x5, and deadlifting 375ibs 1 set of 5 reps. I currently consume around 60 grams of protein/day on 80/10/10 while consuming around 4000 cals per day. I've experimented with protein powders to get up to around 100 grams/day and thought I've experienced some benefit, and I've switched back and not noticed a decline in my progress, so I DON'T KNOW.

Dr. Tel Oren posted a video on youtube called "The truth about protein" where he discusses how strength athletes only need the amount of additional protein that it takes to build the optimal amount of muscle. So then the question would be how much muscle are we naturally able to build? 4 ounces per week would equal 1 pound of solid muscle (without fat) per month. Those would be incredible results and probably only possible for a new lifter. 30 grams equals 1 ounce, so that means you would need an additional 120 grams per week, or 17 grams per day (additional, or above the requirements for a normal person).

Obviously there is a lot of information and science, but the bottom line is, just play around with it and see what works for you.

The one last thing I will say is that smart training and sufficient calories will beat perfect diet and poor training 7 day's a week for strength. Get on a good program, and in my experience anything that involves cutting up the week by body parts will not give you as good of results as a full body strength program.