How Much Protein Is Needed To Build Muscle? There is a lot of misconception about the intake of protein. The most common one would be – gym freaks only need protein. That’s the lamest one I have heard yet.
- Your body needs protein even if you are not doing any physical activity. An average body burns 1300 cal every day.
- Even if you spend all day doing just the needful movement, still you would need – (.8-1) gms of protein/kg of your body weight.
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How much protein is needed to build muscle?
Now you can’t build muscles solely by consuming a certain amount of protein. You really need to get involved in physical activities and weight training to gain muscle. Proteins just repair your broken muscles and heal your body that gets broken in rigorous activity.
Here is a simple calculation of how much protein you should consume:-
If you are a beginner in weight training
Step 1 – You must first find out your ideal weight as per BMI, Let’s suppose your ideal weight is 50kgs.
Step 2 – Now convert your ideal body weight in lbs that is, POUNDS (1kg = 2.205 pounds).
Step 3 – 50 kgs is 110 lbs, Now you should ideally consume 110 grams of protein to gain muscles. 1lbs = 1 gram of protein
If you have trained for 4-6 months
then you can increase the ratio to 1lbs = 1.3 grams. Given, your level of training should also increase with time.
Now extremely active individuals
can go for 1lbs = (1.5-2)grams of proteins in a day.
Please Keep in Mind :
- Consuming 2 grams of proteins per lb is advisable only for individuals who have trained for 5-6 years.
- Also, do keep in mind that you do not consume more than 40 grams of protein in one sitting.
- Ideally, you should consume protein in the morning for breakfast, post works out, and before you sleep.
- When you consume protein in the morning breakfast it gives your muscles the fuel to pull for the day.
- Post-work consuming protein repairs broken muscles because of which you don’t lose muscle weight.
- During sleep, your body heals, and that is why you must consume protein before sleep.
Note:-
- The key to taking protein in a healthy way is to keep your body hydrated. Keep sipping water all day, your urine should be clear, and a little tinge of yellow is still fine. But not more than that, at least consume 4-5 litres of water;
- Remember more protein doesn’t mean more muscles. You need to calculate the right amount as per the ratio advised;
- If you don’t consume protein as per your training level and body weight then you will end up losing muscles which in the end will make you gain weight quickly or result in kidney stones;
- On days when you are not training consume only a maintenance amount of protein;
Listen to your body, your body speaks to you in a lot many ways before it actually collapses. Even after consuming the right amount of protein you feel a bit uneasy, then you must see a doctor.