Calculating Protein to Grow Muscles

Calculating Protein to Grow Muscles

Updated, September 2024.

 

Remember when your school teacher told you math is vital in life? Well, they weren't wrong. Calculating how much protein to gain muscle is an important equation.

You might need a calculator. Maybe a scale or two. And you’ll definitely need to do some measuring. Ultimately you should talk to your doctor or nutritionist to decide how much protein you need, but here’s an idea of how you can calculate your protein intake.

Figuring out how much protein you need depends a lot on your goals. Are you trying to grow muscle? Maybe you’re trying to maintain your current muscle mass? And you might be wondering if there is a difference between endurance or strength training?

Lenny & Larry’s has been wrestling with the reality of protein calculations since we got started. It’s sort of our thing. We design all of our cookies to meet various protein needs.  

Let’s take a closer look at how to calculate protein intake for your personal needs and goals.

 

 

Brief intro to protein

We know we need protein to build and maintain muscle. But what exactly is protein?

Quite simply, protein is a macronutrient. Which is to say that it is a nutrient our bodies require in larger amounts than other nutrients. And protein is a macronutrient built on a foundation of amino acids.

Our bodies can produce various amino acids, which we refer to as “non-essential.” However, there is also a category of “essential” amino acids, and our bodies do not naturally produce them. In other words, we have to get essential amino acids from the food or supplements we consume.

But how do we figure out how much protein to gain muscle and maintain it? 

 

 

Approaches to calculating protein intake

Like a lot of things in life, how much protein you need is individual to you. Calculations can depend on your weight, build, fitness goals, and other factors.

Let's look at some of the important things to consider when figuring out how much protein you need to intake.

 

Calculating on calories

We have all heard about calories. But what do they have to do with protein intake?

Well, first, the most common daily recommendation is based on 2,000 calories. Again, remember to talk to your doctor or nutritionist to see what’s best for you. But if you’re working on a 2,000-calorie intake a day, recommendations often calculate that 15-30% of this calorie intake should consist of protein.

But no worries. We have done the math for you. This comes out to be 300-600 calories from protein daily.

Let’s throw out some other quick numbers. Protein has four calories per gram, so 150 grams of protein will contain about 600 calories.

 

 

Trying to gain muscle?

Yet, what if you are trying to gain muscle and maintain it? Maybe you’re exercising out most days of the week and doing intense workouts?

 

Your calorie requirements then increase with extra activity, possibly even doubling to 4,000 per day. But calculating a percentage of calories remains the same, dramatically increasing your protein requirements.

This can be helpful for basic protein calculations. But it doesn’t take into account your weight or fitness goals.

 

 

Calculating Protein Based on Weight

Figuring out how much protein you need based on your weight is more personalized than overall calorie intake. Different bodies need different amounts of protein. A person weighing under 100 pounds will often require less protein than someone weighing over 200 pounds.

Of course, burning more calories and shooting for more muscle gain can increase the number of grams of protein per pound. But at least you now have a baseline for calculating based on your personal measurements and goals.

 

General guidelines to calculate protein intake based on weight:

 

Let's use 150 lbs. as our example: 

 

  1. Sedentary individuals (minimal exercise): 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight.

    Calculation for 150 lb person:
    150 lb × 0.36 = 54 grams of protein per day.

  2. Moderately active individuals (regular exercise but not intense): 0.5 to 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight.

    Calculation for 150 lb person:
    150 lb × 0.5 = 75 grams (lower end)
    150 lb × 0.7 = 105 grams (upper end).

  3. Highly active individuals or athletes (intense exercise, strength training, etc.): 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.

    Calculation for 150 lb person:
    150 lb × 0.8 = 120 grams (lower end)
    150 lb × 1 = 150 grams (upper end).

 

For example, a person who weighs 150 pounds and is moderately active may aim for about 75–105 grams of protein per day.

 

The specific amount depends on your fitness goals (e.g., muscle building, fat loss, or maintenance). Athletes or bodybuilders tend to aim for the higher range to support muscle growth and recovery.

 

 

Calculating Protein Based on lean body mass

What is “lean body mass,” you might ask?

Your lean body mass accounts for everything in your body that isn’t fat—including organs, skin, bones, and body water.  

This might be the most nuanced way to get an accurate estimate on calculating how much protein to gain muscle. Calculating based on your lean body mass takes into account more than just general calorie accounts and simple weight measurement.

For those high-level athletes with a minimal body fat percentage, there’s not as much to gain from understanding lean body mass. But a higher body fat percentage can have a dramatic impact on the protein calculation.

This could result in a protein intake that is far beyond recommendations. Measuring based on lean body mass will produce a more reliable result.

 

General guidelines to calculate protein intake based on Lean Body Mass:

To calculate protein needs based on lean body mass (LBM) rather than total body weight, you'll first need to estimate your LBM. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do it:

 

Step 1: Estimate Body Fat Percentage

You can measure your body fat percentage using various methods, including skinfold calipers, body fat scales, DEXA scans, or visual estimates. For this example, let’s assume the body fat percentage is 20%.

 

Step 2: Calculate Lean Body Mass (LBM)

Lean body mass is the portion of your weight that is not body fat. You can calculate it using the formula:

LBM=Total Body Weight×(1Body Fat Percentage)\text{LBM} = \text{Total Body Weight} \times (1 - \text{Body Fat Percentage})

For a 150 lb person with 20% body fat:

LBM=150×(10.20)=150×0.80=120 lb\text{LBM} = 150 \times (1 - 0.20) = 150 \times 0.80 = 120 \text{ lb}

 

Step 3: Calculate Protein Needs Based on Lean Body Mass

Once you have the lean body mass, you can use the same grams-per-pound guidelines, but based on LBM:

  1. Sedentary individuals: 0.6 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass.

    120lb×0.6=72grams of protein per day120 \, \text{lb} \times 0.6 = 72 \, \text{grams of protein per day}
  2. Moderately active individuals: 0.8 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass.

    120lb×0.8=96grams of protein per day120 \, \text{lb} \times 0.8 = 96 \, \text{grams of protein per day}
  3. Highly active individuals or athletes: 1.0–1.2 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass.

    120lb×1.0=120grams of protein per day(lower end)120 \, \text{lb} \times 1.0 = 120 \, \text{grams of protein per day} \quad (\text{lower end}) 120lb×1.2=144grams of protein per day(upper end)120 \, \text{lb} \times 1.2 = 144 \, \text{grams of protein per day} \quad (\text{upper end})

 

This approach is more precise than using total body weight because it accounts for the fact that protein is needed to maintain and repair lean tissue, not fat mass.

 

 

Final thoughts

The name of the game is flexibility. You want to get your protein in the right amount and at the right time.

SIDE THOUGHT: Our products make it easy to figure out how much protein to gain muscle. 

At Lenny & Larry’s, we offer various servings of protein. You’ll find a quick, easy portion in our bite-size The Complete Crunchy Cookie. And you can punch it up a bit with The Complete Cookie or other high-protein snacks.