Free nutrition tool
Protein calculator for muscle gain
This protein calculator gives you a daily target in grams from your bodyweight and your goal. Building muscle: 1.6 to 2.2 g per kg of bodyweight. Getting lean while keeping muscle: 2.0 to 2.4 g per kg, or 2.3 to 3.1 g per kg of fat-free mass if you know your body fat. Then it splits that across your meals.
The ranges come from two reviews of lifters (Morton 2018, Helms 2014) and the per-meal split from Schoenfeld and Aragon 2018. All three are linked at the bottom of the page.
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Your target shows here
Grams per day, the range it sits in, and how that splits across 3, 4 or 5 meals.
Building
How much protein do you need to build muscle?
1.6 to 2.2 g per kg of bodyweight per day. That range is not a guess. Morton and colleagues pooled 49 trials in 2018 and found that once daily protein passed about 1.6 g/kg, adding more did not add fat-free mass. The 2.2 figure is the top of the confidence interval on that breakpoint, so it is the highest intake with a case behind it.
In practice, an 80 kg lifter lands between 130 and 175 g a day. The calculator suggests a number inside the range from how many days you train, because a six-day lifter has more muscle damage to repair than a two-day lifter. Neither needs to go past the top of the range.
Getting lean
How much protein when getting lean?
More. In a deficit, protein is the thing standing between your muscle and the energy shortfall. Helms reviewed lean, resistance-trained athletes dieting in 2014 and concluded they likely need 2.3 to 3.1 g per kg of fat-free mass, and more of that the leaner they get and the harder they cut.
Most lifters do not know their body fat to the percent, so the calculator uses 2.0 to 2.4 g per kg of bodyweight as the default for getting lean. Enter a body fat percentage and it switches to the fat-free mass range, which matters most if you are heavier or carrying more fat than average.
Per meal
How much protein per meal?
About 0.4 g per kg of bodyweight per meal, across at least four meals. Schoenfeld and Aragon worked through the per-meal research in 2018 and landed there: four meals at 0.4 g/kg reaches the 1.6 g/kg floor, and up to 0.55 g/kg per meal reaches the 2.2 g/kg ceiling.
The old 30 g cap is not a cap. A bigger dose still gets used, it just adds less per gram, which is why spreading intake out beats one enormous dinner. Three meals will still get you there if that is your day. The calculator shows 3, 4 and 5 meal splits so you can pick the one you will actually follow.
Which weight
Should protein be based on bodyweight or lean mass?
Bodyweight for most people. The building range was measured on bodyweight, and it stays sensible up to about 25% body fat. Past that, grams per kg of bodyweight starts to overshoot, because fat tissue is not the part of you that needs the protein.
If you carry more than that, or you are getting lean and want the tighter number, put your body fat in. A 100 kg lifter at 30% has 70 kg of fat-free mass, and 2.3 to 3.1 g/kg of that is 160 to 215 g, not the 200 to 240 g a bodyweight target would give.
Real food
What 196 grams of protein looks like
A number on a screen is only useful once you can see it on a plate. Here is a day close to what a 90 kg lifter building muscle would eat, using foods most people already buy.
| Meal | Food | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 4 eggs and 200 g Greek yogurt | about 45 g |
| Lunch | 200 g cooked chicken breast with rice | about 62 g |
| Snack | One scoop of whey in 300 ml milk | about 34 g |
| Dinner | 150 g salmon and 200 g cooked lentils | about 55 g |
| Total | about 196 g |
Swap freely: 100 g of cooked beef, turkey or white fish is 25 to 30 g; 200 g of tofu is about 30 g; a tin of tuna is around 25 g. If you are running a small surplus to grow, the lean bulk calculator sets the calories to eat around this protein.
In the app
How to track protein in Ultra+
The nutrition journal in Ultra+ logs food by search or barcode scan and shows protein alongside the other macros for the day. Set the target from this calculator, scan what you eat, and the gap to your number is on the screen before dinner rather than after it.
FAQ
Protein calculator FAQ
Short answers to the questions people bring to a protein calculator.
How much protein do I need to build muscle?
Between 1.6 and 2.2 g per kg of bodyweight per day. An 80 kg lifter needs 130 to 175 g. The low end is enough for most people; move toward the top if you train five or more days a week, are in a small deficit, or find recovery slow.
Is 2 g of protein per kg of bodyweight too much?
No. For lifters, 2 g/kg sits inside the range where the research shows benefit. Morton's 2018 meta-analysis found gains in fat-free mass plateau at about 1.6 g/kg, with the confidence interval reaching 2.2 g/kg. Past that there is no extra muscle to gain, so the calories are better spent on carbs for training.
Do I need more protein when getting lean?
Yes. In a calorie deficit, protein is what protects the muscle you built. Helms's 2014 review of lean, resistance-trained athletes in a deficit put the need at 2.3 to 3.1 g per kg of fat-free mass, higher the leaner you are and the bigger the deficit. On bodyweight that lands near 2.0 to 2.4 g/kg for most lifters.
How much protein per meal is best?
About 0.4 g per kg of bodyweight per meal, across at least four meals, according to Schoenfeld and Aragon's 2018 review. For an 80 kg lifter that is 32 g or more per meal. More than that is not wasted, it just adds less per gram. Three larger meals still work if that is what your day allows.
Should I use bodyweight or lean mass for the calculation?
Bodyweight is fine for most lifters, and it is what the building range was measured on. Use lean mass if you carry a lot of body fat, because a bodyweight target then overshoots. Enter your body fat percentage with the getting lean goal and the calculator switches to grams per kg of fat-free mass.
Does protein timing around training matter?
Less than total daily intake and far less than people think. Hitting your daily grams, spread across three to five meals, does most of the work. If you train fasted, a meal with 30 to 40 g of protein within a couple of hours afterwards is sensible. Beyond that, the window is not worth stressing over.
Does protein powder count?
Yes, a scoop of whey is about 24 g of protein and counts the same as chicken. Powder is a convenience, not a requirement. Most lifters use one or two scoops to close the gap on days when meals fall short, and get the rest from meat, fish, eggs, dairy, legumes and soy.
Keep going
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References
- A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults Morton RW et al., Br J Sports Med, 2018. Across 49 trials and 1,863 people, protein intakes above about 1.6 g/kg/day added no further fat-free mass. The 2.2 g/kg top of the building range is the upper bound of the confidence interval on that breakpoint.
- A systematic review of dietary protein during caloric restriction in resistance trained lean athletes: a case for higher intakes Helms ER et al., Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 2014. For lean, resistance-trained athletes in a deficit, protein needs are likely 2.3 to 3.1 g per kg of fat-free mass, scaled up with the severity of the deficit and how lean the athlete is.
- How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution Schoenfeld BJ and Aragon AA, J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2018. To maximise the muscle-building response, aim for 0.4 g/kg per meal across at least four meals to reach 1.6 g/kg/day, or up to 0.55 g/kg per meal to reach 2.2 g/kg/day.
- Nutrition recommendations for bodybuilders in the off-season: a narrative review Iraki J et al., Sports (Basel), 2019. Recommends 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg/day of protein for natural bodybuilders gaining muscle, at 0.40 to 0.55 g/kg per meal across 3 to 6 meals.
Hit the number every day
The Ultra+ nutrition journal tracks protein and the other macros with barcode scanning, so you can see how far you are from today's target at any point in the day.
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