Actual Protien Required?

[grit]

I was reading the girlfriends nutrition text book the other day and came across the protien section. This text stated that the daily requirement for athletes and weight lifters was 1.6 grams per kilogram of body mass. That crunches out to be about 0.73 grams of protien per pound of mass. I know there is a difference between a "weight lifter" and and a body builder looking to pile on as much mass as possible but the basic idea of having enough protien to repair the muscle tissue is pretty much the same. At least there should not be a factor of 2 difference. Is it possible that this 1.5 grams per pound is blown out of proportion or one of these things that applies to proffesional Bodybuilders using steroids but has been dragged into mainstream training. I have never consistantly taken in more than maybe one gram of protien per pound. As far as gains go I don't think I've been any slower than my buddies taking more protien. But maybe if I did hop up the intake I would leave old gain rates in the dust. Has anyone gone from intaking closer to 1gram per pound to somthing more and noticed a difference? Is this text full of shat? I don't know what to think but if some of you vets have some good advice or info I would be gratful.

[Darkhorse]

Well, they're probably speaking in terms of recovery/maintaining exercise performance. The absolute easiest way that I can explain this would be that if you're going to eat like a 180 lb guy, you're gonna look the part. The diet that's got you to 180 lbs isn't going to suffice getting you to 230.

There's a lot of things to take into account. But usually if you're going to gain mass, if you increase your protien and get stronger, it will 9/10 happen.

In my case, I start growing upwards of 400 grams per day. There's so many success stories all over the place when people FINALLY keep track of protein and maintain a high amount of protein that's it really does deserve it's own book lol. You need calories, and you're certainly not going to blow up your carbs and bloat your ass off or add more and more fat. Sure you're gaining 3 pounds a week now, lol, but how much is fat? Best bet is to increase protein first, then carbs and fats. Case in point, when I'm doing my recomp (losing fat), I tend to drop my protein down a bit to lower my cals along with carbs, and obviously I'm not gaining like I was had I kept my protein higher.

Also, I'd say just the opposite of people using gear. They spend much longer in elevated protein synthesis that they can get away with eating less. Being natural, you really need to pay more attention to what you eat. The rule of thumb when gaining mass is to never wait until you're hungry to eat. -> Write that down.

[RileyMartin]

How do you know how much protein is the right amount? I read in a sticky for the pre/post workout drink it is according to your lean body mass and eating 1.5g of protein per pound of lean body mass?

So, how do you calculate your lean body mass? I bought a gizmo that calculates things like your BMI but I'm not sure how to use that to calculate the lean body mass.

Thanks.

[ChinPieceDave667]

Get you body fat % taken then substract that from your weight and you got it. BMI is NOT Body fat %

[widdoes2504]

Good god, please do not confuse BMI with lean body mass. My BMI is 32.5 which puts me in the severely obese category while I carry about 12% bodyfat. Big BIG difference.