How much protein to build muscle?
For someone who weighs 175 lbs, training to build muscle
- Daily protein target
- 175 g
- Per pound of body weight
- 1.0 g
- Per meal across 4 to 5 meals
- about 35 to 45 g
- The common mistake
- undershooting it
Opens the Protein Intake. Free, no account needed.
To build muscle, protein is the raw material. Train hard enough to ask for growth, then eat enough protein to actually supply it. For lifters I use 1 gram per pound of body weight, which is what the calculator here returns for a strength goal.
For a 175 pound person that is 175 grams a day. You do not need to overshoot it, but you do want to clear it consistently rather than landing short most days. Spread across four or five meals it is about 35 to 45 grams each.
The most common mistake is not eating too little food, it is eating too little protein inside enough food. People build meals around carbs and add protein as a garnish. Flip it. Put a real protein source at the center of every meal and let the rest fill in around it. Chicken, beef, fish, eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, tofu, and whey all count.
Total for the day matters far more than timing at this stage. Fasted, fed, before training, after training, it is all noise next to whether you hit the number. Get the total, most days, for months. That consistency is what builds the muscle, not any single perfect meal.
Put your body weight in the calculator to get your own target.
Not sure where to start?
The home page calculator gives you your real numbers in one place: the calories to aim at, a macro split, and a few things to do this week. Free, no account needed to see it.
Find where to startIf you would rather someone build this around your life instead of guessing, my 1:1 coaching is there. The free tools get you most of the way.