Here's where that range comes from, how to apply it to your own bodyweight, how it changes when you're cutting, and what matters far less than you've been told.
The short version
8 sections · 5 min- 1.6 to 2.2 g per kg of bodyweight per day (roughly 0.7 to 1.0 g per lb). An 80 kg lifter needs about 130 to 175 g.
- On a cut, go higher: 2.2 to 2.6 g/kg. In a bulk, the lower end is enough.
- Set it by bodyweight, never as a percentage of calories. A percentage gives you the least protein exactly when you need the most.
- The daily total matters far more than timing. Spread it over 3 to 5 meals if you can; if you can't, still hit the total.
The short answer
For most people who lift: 1.6 to 2.2 g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight, every day.
Across the research on resistance training and protein intake, the pattern is consistent. Muscle gains improve as protein rises up to roughly 1.6 g per kg of bodyweight per day, then flatten out for most people.
Going up to 2.2 g/kg adds a margin for individual variation, imprecise logging, and days you undershoot, at little cost.
| Measured as | Target |
|---|---|
| Per kilogram of bodyweight | 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg/day |
| Per pound of bodyweight | 0.7 to 1.0 g/lb/day |
| An 80 kg (176 lb) lifter | about 130 to 175 g a day |
Try it with your numbers
Your protein range
Enter your weight, pick your situation, and see the daily total and a per-meal split.
Situation
Units
Meals a day
Aim for
128 to 176g/day
Per meal · 4 meals
32 to 44g
In a surplus the lower end is enough. Extra protein mostly displaces the carbs that fuel training.
General guidance for healthy adults. In pounds, that's about 0.73 to 1.00 g per lb of bodyweight.
Key point
It's a daily total
How you split it across meals, when you eat it around training, and which foods it comes from all matter less than simply hitting the number most days.
Why per kilogram, not a percentage
Your calorie target changes with your goal. Your muscles' need for protein doesn't.
Plenty of apps and diet plans set protein as a percentage of calories, 30% say. The problem is that the percentage moves with your calories, and your body isn't watching your calories.
Worked example
The same 30%, two very different numbers
On a 2,000 kcal cut, 30% is 150 g.
On a 3,000 kcal bulk, the same 30% is 225 g.
The body on both plans is the same body.
Worse, the percentage moves the wrong way. It gives you the *least* protein on a cut, exactly when muscle is most at risk and protein's filling effect is most useful.
Anchoring to bodyweight fixes both problems. That's why our macro guide sets protein first, in grams per kilogram, before dividing up the remaining calories.
Tip
If you carry a lot of body fat
Total bodyweight overstates the need. Use your estimated , or a realistic goal weight, as the base instead.
Cutting versus bulking
The range shifts with your goal. In a deficit, go higher. In a surplus, the low end is enough.
Does timing or distribution matter?
Less than the supplement industry would like. The daily total comes first by a wide margin.
Once the total is handled, how you distribute it is a reasonable second-order refinement:
Spread it across 3 to 5 meals
Roughly 0.4 g/kg per meal (about 25 to 40 g for most adults) is a well-supported serving size for stimulating . Two enormous protein meals a day isn't ideal, but it's far better than missing the total.
The post-workout window is wide
Eating protein within a few hours of training, on either side, is plenty. The idea that you have 30 minutes after your last set is not supported.
Pre-sleep protein is a minor plus
Not a requirement. A protein-containing meal in the evening covers it.
Tip
If your day makes even spacing hard
Long shifts, training at odd hours, whatever it is: get the total. The total is what the evidence is built on.
Sources and quality
Animal, dairy, or plant, all work. Plant-based needs two small adjustments.
Animal proteins (meat, fish, eggs, dairy) are sources and rich in , the amino acid that most directly triggers muscle building.
Whey and casein are simply convenient forms of the same thing. They're not required, but they make a 40 g serving easy when whole food isn't practical.
Plant-based lifters
You can build muscle just as well with two adjustments:
- Combine sources across the day. Legumes, grains, soy, nuts, seeds. Together the amino acid profile completes.
- Aim a little higher, about 10 to 20% above the ranges here, to make up for lower leucine content and digestibility in most plant proteins.
Soy, pea, and blended plant protein powders are effective if you use them.
Can you eat too much?
For healthy adults, high protein hasn't been shown to be harmful. The real costs are practical.
For healthy adults with normal kidney function, protein intakes in the 2 to 3 g/kg range have not been shown to be harmful, and the old claim that high protein damages healthy kidneys hasn't held up.
The real costs of overshooting are practical: protein is expensive, it's filling enough to crowd out the carbohydrate your training needs, and above roughly 2.2 g/kg you're paying for no additional muscle.
Note
If you have a medical condition
If you have kidney disease or another condition affecting how you handle protein, talk to your doctor before changing your intake. Nothing on this page is medical advice.
Worked examples
Three people, three situations, three numbers.
| Who | Situation | Target | In practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 kg woman | Cutting at 2.2 g/kg | 132 g/day | Four meals of about 33 g: eggs and Greek yogurt at breakfast, chicken at lunch, a protein shake after training, fish at dinner. |
| 90 kg man | Bulking at 1.8 g/kg | 162 g/day | Easy across four or five meals when calories are high; no supplements required. |
| 100 kg man, 30% body fat | Cutting at 2.4 g/kg of ~70 kg lean mass | about 170 g/day | Rather than the 240 g that total bodyweight would suggest. |
Wrap-up
Hitting the number in practice
Most people don't miss protein by choice. They miss it because the last meal arrives with 60 g still to go.
The fix is structural: anchor every meal with a protein source before deciding anything else on the plate, and check the running total in the afternoon while there's still time to act.
That afternoon check is exactly why GainzMate sends a goal nudge before dinner when protein is short, while it's still fixable rather than as a report at midnight. Turn it on or off with the other reminder controls.