Sport How much Protein Needed for Bodybuilders?

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HIIT4life

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There are many different opinions on how much protein is needed for bodybuilders so I picked an article that seems the most logical on this subject.
Q. How much protein does a bodybuilder need?

A. Medical authorities used to tell us that athletes, including bodybuilders, do not need extra protein. That was wrong. Solid research now shows that both hard training endurance and strength athletes do need more protein than a sedentary individual. But perhaps not as much as you may have been led to believe.

The August 1997 issue of The Physician and Sportsmedicine has the results of the latest research: "Based on a wide review of scientific data, current daily protein recommendations for serious strength trainers are about 0.6 to 0.8 grams per pound (1.4 to 1.8 g/kg)." In other words, a 140-pound strength trainer needs 84 to 112 grams of protein per day and a 200-pounder 120 to 160 grams. If you are just trying to maintain muscle mass 0.6 grams per pound is enough, but if you're training hard to build muscle the protein requirement goes up to the high end of the range, 0.7 to 0.8 grams per pound of body weight.

So the bodybuilding magazines are correct in telling you that protein is the basic building material for muscle tissue, and that strength trainers need more than the average Joe or Jane What they don't emphasize, however, is that the average meat-eating American consumes more than enough protein to meet the needs of the hardest training athlete. Most Americans eat too many calories and too much protein. Protein conscious bodybuilders probably overshoot their need for this critical nutritional element by even more. Eat a balanced diet and consume enough calories to meet your energy needs and you will probably be getting more than enough protein for maximum muscle gains. (I make it a practice to consume some high quality protein with every meal or snack.)

By the way, female athletes usually have proportionally less muscle mass - and more fat - than male athletes; therefore, they need less protein as well. Nitrogen balance tests show that female endurance athletes require about 25% less protein than men. Female bodybuilders probably need a little more protein than that, because they have more muscle than other female athletes.

(For more details on protein requirements, see "Your Muscle's Appetite" at page 33 in The Lean Advantage 3 and "But What About Protein?" at page 68 in Lean For Life; you'll find both books in the products section of this site.)
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The best way to figure it out is to use the claorie calculator in the nutrition sticky (in my sig).
Then find the correct ratio for you, that may be somthing like, Carbs:protien:Fat 40:40:20, or 45:40:15, or 10:50:40 (anabolic diet)

Then just work out how much protein you need from that.

i.e. If I need 3000cals/day and I'm using a ratio of 40:40:20 then I'll need

1200cals from Carbs
1200cals from Protein
600cals from fat

1g carbs = 4cals
1g protein = 4cals
1g fat = 9cals

and so over the day I need...

300g of carbs
300g of protein
66g of fats
 
I just disagree with the fact that Americans are eating more than enough protein. I dont think that the Big Mac or pizza have substantial amounts of protein. I think we are a large carb and fat consuming genre.

The USDA recommends .6-.8 per day so this is nothing new.
 
tonymcclellan said:
I just disagree with the fact that Americans are eating more than enough protein. I dont think that the Big Mac or pizza have substantial amounts of protein. I think we are a large carb and fat consuming genre.

The USDA recommends .6-.8 per day so this is nothing new.
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I think fat and calories are things people are overdoing the most with those foods listed. There is a good amount of protein in burgers and cheese but there is a way too many calories per meal since it also has a lot of fat and carbs.
 
actually I dont know if anyone answered this, but body builders need 1 gram of protein for every pound. EX. 280 pound dude eats about 280 grams. I read this from FLEX magazine.
 
Since I'm sure Flex Magazine is into selling protein shakes and whatever I wouldn't agree with it though 1 gram per pound is just slightly over what's needed. 1.5 grams per pound is ridiculous. .8 to 1 gram per pound is is being on the safe side with making sure you get enough protein but carbs is also very important to bodybuilders.
 
~LV~ said:
I'm curious to know why?
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Read some nutrition books and stop reading these Flex magazines and they'll tell you why. I've done enough work looking up stuff. Both books "Sports Nutrition" and "Advanced Sports Nutrition" by different authors are against high protein diets. They say you should have .8 grams of protein if you are a bodybuilder and .4 if you are a sedentary adult. Extra protein doesn't make you stronger so I don't why you are so passionate about it.
 
Derwyddon said:
LOLLOLOLOLOLOOL

first off, you've only read one type of nutrition book ever.

secondly, you just said that to one of the most knowledgable men about fitness i've ever met, who has an amazing body.
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Yeah and he would have an amazing body if he went with .8 grams of protein a day. 2 books of people who spent a long time in school to get their degrees. Yeah some of these bodybuilders look good from the outside but inside they fill like junk. If we are talking about health than those books are right on about what is the right diet.
 
I wouldn't call it an opinion. This is based on some tests. Otherwise they wouldn't teach this to Nutritionist. Maybe the book you read is about opinions (Which are wrong). Hey no harm in what he does except how he feels so go ahead and take a lot of that protein. Carbs is where it's at. In particular complex carbs. If you want the perfect combination of feeling good and looking good than 55% carbs 30% protein and 15% fat estimates are about right.
 
HIIT4life said:
Read some nutrition books and stop reading these Flex magazines
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I will honeslty have to say thank you to this as you just made me laugh harder than I have in months. I literally spit my water out of my mouth onto my carpet.

I don't even have to time to give to you for a debate right now as I have a million errands to run tonight but im POSITIVE, along with derwyddon, there will be others along shortly to help educate you.

Good luck to you my friend.

EDIT
:rolleyes:
 
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Bodybuilders are stubborn. I'll go by nutrition experts over 2 peoples opinions thank you very much. Especially since you haven't tried the other program.
 
LOL!!!!

This guys all yours LV.

Just one thing HIIT4life - You'd do better taking adviced from an experianced professional diet and training consultant than you would reading a book. If you want to try and disagree with someone on a public forum you need refferences, books and page numbers.
Thank you.
 
R.Lewis said:
LOL!!!!

This guys all yours LV.

Just one thing HIIT4life - You'd do better taking adviced from an experianced professional diet and training consultant than you would reading a book. If you want to try and disagree with someone on a public forum you need refferences, books and page numbers.
Thank you.
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These aren't experts? I'll go ahead and write down in the books. Waste of time since you are too stubborn to change anyway.
Bodybuilders strive for a high level of muscle mass, a goal that mandates a higher need for energy. Although the total amount of protein needed to maintain this larger mass is slightly greater than what athletes with a stable muscle mass require, the proportion of protein provided by typically consumed foods is likely to satisfy needs. Ideally, bodybuilders should consume between 1.5 and 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, but this should be consumed in the context of adequate total energy consumption where most of the energy is derived from carbohydrates.
Data from successful bodybuilders suggest that the ideal composition of diets should emphasize carbohydrates (55 to 60 percent of intake) and be relatively low in fat (15 to 20 percent of intake), with the remainder from protein (25 to 30 percent of intake). Advanced Sports Nutrition page 242
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Here's data table from the other book I've read.
.4 grams/lb for sedentary adult
.5-.7 grams/lb for Recreational exerciser, adult
.6-.7 grams for Endurance athlete, adult
.7-.9 grams/lb for Growing Teenage Athlete
.7-.8 grams/lb for adults building muscle mass
.8-.9 grams/lb for athete restricting calories
.9 grams/lb for Estimated upper requirement for adults
.5-.9 grams/lb for Average Protein Intake of Male endurance athletes
.5-.8 grams/lb for Average protein intake of female athletes.
In contrast to belief that if a little more protein is good, a lot more will be better, no scientific evidence to date suggests that protein intakes exceeding .9 grams of protein per pound provide an additional advantage. Sports Nutrition on page 163.
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Experience and categorizing

You are both right for different reasons. Your body will only take in what it requires. The kidney will let go of the rest. His taking more protein will only hurt him if his body cannot do what it was made to do. It sounds as though he is doing just what his body requires. I have an issue with people believing everything they read. The bottom line is experience can be just as valid as education. When trying to get someone to see your point of view, try not to lump people into a category. I've dated bodybuilders. Some have egos, some don't. Some are smart, some are not...just like anyone else.
 
H11t, Do you even know why to much protein can be bad?
you are slightly confused

To much protein is not a healthy thing and i will list the reasons for you since you did not say WHY to much protein is bad.
Excessive amounts of protein can cause calcium absorption malfunction and excretion through the urine
Excessive amounts of protein can cause higher blood levels of Homocysteines
Excessive amounts of protein can cause kidney stress

Now how do we combat those problems and avoid over dosing?

Homocystein levels can be leveled to normal through proper folate intake
Reason?
Hey, Is a metabolite of the Amino acid Methionine, and to properly metabolize Hey, your body requires adequate levels B6, B12 and Folate
when a persons is deficient , Hey, can not be effectively converted into other compounds. Which leads to something called "HyperHomocysteinemia".

Calcium malfunction and excretion, can be countered by proper Vitamin D, Magnesium,Phosphorus and calcium intake.
Reason
I do not care to explain this process, look it up in your "Nutrition" books

Kidney stress, To properly stress the kidneys a level of at least 2grams per pound taken every day for many weeks would need to be done.
For the record the more lean mass and the more exercises you do the higher your need for protein. a person with known kidney problems should not exceed the RDA amount however a healthy strong person is more then capable.
 
i lift weights 3 days a week hard.....i have tried high protein diets 2-3 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight and i did not gain any muscle faster than when my protein intake was only around .8 to 1 gram per lbs of bodyweight...i think what a lot of people do not understand is those fitness and muscle building magazines are trying to sell more protein........
 
Ok so what if your a female and your 5'1 and weigh 114 pounds. You weight train 3 or 4 times a week at intermediate level, but want to get down to 100 pounds which is my goal weight. My question is should I weight until I get to my goal weight to add more protein?
 
I agree that over 1g/lb is unnecessary. Personally I often go over that amount by about 15g by accident with my last meal of the day, but I'm sure if I kept it to .8-1.0g I would be getting the same results.
 
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