• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workouts
      • Best Whey Protein
    • Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Machines
    • Certifications
      • ISSA Review
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Fitness

Like to Lift? Consume More Protein

Consume more protein, especially if you’re trying to increase lean mass and strength gains.

Wendi Irlbeck

Written by Wendi Irlbeck Last updated on June 14, 2020

What Is Protein?

  • Protein is primarily found in animal and dairy products.
  • Protein enhances muscle mass, strength, endurance, muscle recovery, and power.
  • Decreases inflammation and muscle protein breakdown.

First off, let’s talk about the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein. The current RDA is a modest 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

The RDA is established as the amount of a nutrient you need to meet your basic nutritional requirements. Essentially, it’s the minimum amount you need to keep from avoiding sickness—not the specific amount you’re supposed to consume each day.

For example:

  • For a 140-pound person, that means about 50 grams of protein each day.
  • For a 200-pound person, that means about 70 grams of protein each day.

Reasons To Eat More High-quality Protein Daily

  • Muscle growth
  • Strengthens bones
  • Hormone regulation
  • Aids in quicker recovery
  • Supports lean mass gains
  • Suppresses appetite and promotes satiety
  • Prevents chronic ailments associated with aging
  • Protects the immune system against illness and injury
  • Aids in weight loss during times of energy restriction

Let’s talk about why you need more protein. As you can see, the bullet list explains the reasons that protein is essential. As a registered dietitian nutritionist and fitness professional, I find the RDA to be quite confusing to the general public, athletes, and coaches.

To be honest, even dietitians can’t seem to agree on what to recommend for protein to their clients, patients, and athletes.

So if there is a misunderstanding among the food and nutrition experts, there’s likely a misunderstanding across multiple populations. Especially young children, athletes, and the elderly have a greater need for more protein.

Is More Protein Better?

The Protein Summit reported in a special supplement to the June issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) that Americans may eat too little protein, not too much. Eating more protein can help provide the whole package.

That means that a byproduct of consuming more protein is you’re getting other great nutrients such as B-vitamins, carbohydrates, minerals, and healthy fats that offer the complete package.

Naturally, when you consume more protein, you will typically consume less low-quality foods like simple or refined carbohydrates that people typically turn to when they’re hungry. Sweets, cookies, white bread, and pastries won’t offer the healthy nutrition you’d get from a high-quality protein source.

These are just a few of the high-quality protein sources out there. Most animal sources of protein such as:

  • Meat
  • Dairy
  • Fish
  • Chicken

These examples of high-quality protein sources offer all essential amino acids in proportion needed by the human body.

While plant-based proteins such as vegetables, nuts, beans, and grains often lack one or more of the essential amino acids.

That does not mean you should only consume animal products to attain your essential amino acids because you can utilize soybeans and quinoa, which contain all nine essential amino acids needed. Click here for a complete list available if you’re interested in plant-based proteins.

Athletes and Protein Needs

Even athletes have higher needs. Provided the remodeling process of muscle proteins, there is a much higher turn over rate as a result of higher training volumes.

  • Specifically, in track and field athletes, it would be wise to consume roughly 1.6 grams per kilogram of body mass each day if their goal is to increase muscle and prevent muscle breakdown.
  • A proper target protein intake should be between 1.6 and 2.4 grams per kilogram of body mass per day, as cited in recent findings in a consensus statement on Sports Nutrition for Track and Field Athletes. A summary of the review can be accessed here.

The International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand on protein and exercise provides an objective and critical review related to the protein intake for health and fitness-oriented individuals. For building muscle mass and maintaining muscle mass:

  • The overall protein intake of 1.4-2.0 g/kg body weight/day (g/kg/d) is enough.
  • There is evidence to support (3.0 g/kg/d) to support positive effects on body composition in strength-trained athletes to promote lean mass gains.
  • It is optimal to spread out protein intake between 20-40 g/meal throughout the day.
  • As a registered dietitian nutritionist, I strive to consume (2.0 g/kg/d) to support my health and performance goals.

I encourage all of my clients and athletes to consume more protein. Especially if you’re trying to increase lean mass and strength gains, the higher protein will not make you fat. It will help support a healthy body and make you feel more satisfied.

Older Adults and Protein

Older adults are fighting off the accelerated loss of muscle mass and function that is associated with aging, referred to as sarcopenia. For every decade after 40 years old, you lose 8% of muscle mass, and it increases to 15% after 70 years of age.

Older adults should strive to consume 1.5 to 2.0 grams of high-quality protein per kg of body weight per day, according to an article by the Center of Aging. Up to one-third of older adults don’t eat enough due to reduced appetite, impaired taste, swallowing difficulties, and dental issues.

During the aging process, the body is less efficient and struggles to maintain muscle mass and strength along with bone health and optimal physiological function, which warrants a greater need for protein.

Protein Summary

Eat more high-quality protein. It won’t make you fat, harm your kidneys or bones. It will support lean tissue gains and help you recover overall while fighting age-related muscle loss, especially if you’re a female athlete, aging adult, male, or in general, human with a beating pulse.

That’s a joke, but really If you have questions about eating more protein or how to implement higher-quality sources into your diet, email me and let’s have a conversation.

Wendi Irlbeck

About Wendi Irlbeck

Wendi Irlbeck, MS, RDN, is a registered dietitian, nutritionist, and performancecoach. Wendi utilizes evidence-based science to tailor nutrition programs for athletes to optimize performance, minimize health risks, and enhance recovery from training while focusing on injury prevention.

Wendi partners with parents, sports performance staff, special needs, and recreational athletes to offer nutritional guidance and optimal athletic performance & lifestyle plans.

Wendi works remotely and currently operates as a traveling dietitian. Wendi works with clients of all levels and ages across the US and Canada, and the UK. You can find more about Wendi and scheduling an appointment with her on herwebsite.

What can hiring a sports nutritionist offer your program?

View All Articles

Recommended Articles

youneedtoeat
You Have to Eat to Grow Muscles
Protein Supplements Are Not for Snacking
musclebuilding2
Heat Shock Proteins: Science’s Secret to Muscle Building
chocolate milk, protein, workout recovery
Chocolate Milk and Rest Days: Smart Strength With Charles Staley

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

Phillip Herndon Squats 412.7 Kilograms (910 Pounds) For New Massive Personal Record

Justin Medeiros Walks Through a Full Tour of His Home Gym Before CrossFit Season

Powerlifter Jimmy Kolb Logs 612.5-Kilogram (1,350.3-Pound) Equipped Bench Press World Record

The Ultimate Back and Biceps Workout for Every Lifter From Beginner to Advanced

Latest Reviews

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

Best Whey Proteins for Packing on Muscle, Shredding Down, Meal Replacement, and More

Best Pre-Workouts for Building Muscle, Running, Taste, and More

Best Home Gym Machines

Best Home Gym Machines

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2023 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About