Regarding protein intake, I have heard that the following equation is useful when bulking and trying to gain muscle size and mass.

Body Weight in kilos x 1.5 = grams per day.

Therefore for me, being 200lbs:

90 x 1.5 = 135g Protein

Can anyone confirm if this is correct? I've heard that you should consume 1g for each lbs of bodyweight but this seems extreme.

yep your 100% correct.

moved to the correct forum for nutrition questions

Ad what happens if you don't?

Say you need 100g a day and you take in 80g a day. 20g difference, so what would the consequences be? Would you lose muscle right there and then, just because of that?

if you need 100g and only get 80g, then the body is not going to be able to repair itself fully.
it could manifest in many ways. But since excess lean muscle is NOT evolutionarily beneficial, its usually the first on the chopping block.

Just one day, is not a huge deal, but do it very often at all and you'll stunt your muscle growth, or move in the wrong direction.

So would you say your muscle takes longer to repair, say 3 days instead of 2?

No, without providing the proper "fuel" to get the job done, you would lose the capacity to build back up. That is what he meant by repair. We breakdown our muscles when we lift. When we repair, if the given variables are in place, one of them being sufficient aminos, you will not only repair, but you will grow.

Which is what you want since you are bulking.

I stick to 1 gram of protein per pound when I bulk, but I am lean. The difference between my LBM and TBW is not great. If you carry a good bit of fat on you, then I would certainly recommend breaking it out by BF%.

When I cut, my protein intake goes up.

How much do you guys take on?

I mean 1g per pound of bodymass is a hell of a lot if you weigh 200lbs.

I like the rule that I outline above, I can take on 135g easy.

I get around 200 grams of protein.

thats wayyy to much

Only if you want to stay small. All competitive BB I know do the 1g - 1.5g per lb of body-weight. When they are cutting it goes up. Some close to 2g.

I have dieted from 320lb to 220lb in 8 months. I followed a similar protein intake. Advised by the above mentioned friends. (I still lost a good bit of muscle. Ended up at 7% bf)

I would take the practical experience advice here. I know it is "supposed" to be too much, but, in practice that does not seem to be the case.

You don't say! And why is that?

ETA: I found your post amazingly humorous, considering you don't know my stats. Nor do you know my current circumstance. So certain of yourself.

It's cute.

i do say.

By all means go ahead, i guess you take pride in expensive urine, you relise the body doesnt store protein.

For ' normal ' people serious about adding muscle mass, the ' 1g for each lbs of bodyweight ' is a pretty common rule of thumb actually in terms of an upper limit....and it's supported by literature.

In fact, one of the leading researchers in the area of protein is a fellow Canadian - Dr. Peter Lemon - who is at a university just a couple of hours down the road from me. Quite a few years back, Dr. Lemon suggested the upper limit of protein for strength athletes was somewhere around 0.8 grams +/- of protein per pound of bodyweight..or, close to 1.0 per gram. Beyond that, there wasn't any overwhelming evidence to jusify taking in any more.

However, he subsequently conceded that some protein needs may be even greater than 0.8 / 1.0 when anablic steroids or growth hormones are involved - as in the case of bodybuilders who use them ( the ' abnormal ' people ) So, in these cases, as one of the other posters noted, the usage of 1.5 - 2.0 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight is not uncommon.

I'd simply add, that determining how much protein you need soley on the basis on bodyweight may be a bit misleading. Lean body mass requires protein - fat does not. So, someone who is 200 lbs and 32% body fat is going to require fewer daily grams of protein than someone who is 200 lbs and 12% body fat IMO.

I concur Wrangell.

Matt, I suggest not speaking in absolutes. As if you are certain I am wasting money on "expensive urine."

Truth be told, we can start slinging research.... but quite frankly, it doesn't matter to me.

I have been doing this a long time. I have played around with my macros. High protein is where it's at for me. And I wouldn't necessarily call it "high protein." My diet is majority carbs when bulking.

You have to take things into perspective. When bulking, which I just stopped, I am taking in roughly 4k cals per day. Do the math. You will find that in ratable terms, my diet does not have a high % of protein. We only have 3 macros to choose from. When you are eating 4k cals, each macro by gram weighting is going to seem high comparatively speaking. So? Who are you comparing me to? What do you want me to do? Drop my P intake and increase my C? Do you think that will save me a lot of money? Plus, I like meat. And I have no pre-existing conditions that should alarm me in terms of this level of P intake.

Actually, I have an idea. You seem so sure of yourself with your absolutes.... are you for hire? I could REALLY use some help. I just can't seem to make any progress.

Let me guess. You are one of those guys that lives and dies by science. (insert: I would still be curious to see if you could actually give me a study that would deduct that my protein intake is too high for my stats). But you are probably one of those guys that IF you did find such a study, you would believe that I am ABSOLUTELY incorrect b/c the research says so. You would (as you already have) disregard real world results.

Here's an idea for you. When the real world doesn't match the science, you certainly DO NOT throw out the real world. You hit the drawing board again in terms of science.

I realize I am coming off as a pompous a$$. I wouldn't have, that I promise, if you didn't seem so certain of yourself. I don't know if you are a professional in the industry or not.... but there are no absolutes when it comes to this. Period. And talking as if there is, is ridiculous.

In addition for everyone else, Matt included, Lyle McDonald is coming out with a new book on Protein within the next few weeks. I highly suggest picking it up if you are interested in this topic. He is very well versed in nutrition (one of the best IMO) and does his homework with regards to the science.

He may come out with some interesting stuff in this book about how most overstate protein needs. Just a thought I had deducted from some things he has said.