Protein g per kg of bodyweight guidelines for bulking vs maintenance vs recomp vs cutting?

[asperd]

I saw the scientific journal posted on here 19 days ago about the 1g protein/lb myth (2.2g/kg).

I weighed in this morning at 133 lbs. My 4-day morning average is 132.85 lbs (60.26kg).

I was following the 2g protein/kg bodyweight guideline. But it's really hard for me to get 120-121g protein in one day while staying within my calorie maintenance of 1,770 calories daily (BMR reading from my digital body analyzer. I'm 37 5'5.75" have six-pack abs. My body fat % reading on the scale seems too high to be accurate compared to the mirror test and my improving lifts but it's whatever). I'm trying to do a mini-recomp before I bulk back up again.

To stay within my calorie budget (1,770) and get my protein recommendation (120.5g), I need at least 27% of my calories to come from protein. Or a 6.8% protein g to calorie ratio (14.7 calorie/protein g ratio is easier to eyeball when looking at the nutrition information without a calculator).

According to the study, a strength athlete (bulking?) doesn't get any more additional benefit above 1.8g protein/kg of body weight.

An endurance athlete doesn't get additional benefit above 1.4g protein/kg of body weight.

And apparently if you are cutting, you can retain more muscle mass during your cut if you hit 2g protein/kg of body weight. Considering that you are consuming less calories but having to eat more protein allegedly during a cut, that would make for a very high protein-to-calorie ratio compared to bulking no? I'd imagine that 2g protein/kg of body weight would make more sense for bulking, not cutting. Am I wrong?

I completed a 6 month cut late September and lived a completely sedentary lifestyle before. I've been doing a bulk/recomp in the last 40 days. (I switch between the two depending on how fast my weight is going up. My weight gain was going fast so I switched to recomp. My 7-day average has been going down recently so I upped my calories beyond maintenance yesterday). I first joined a gym mid-July and only really lifted with light dumb bells at home and body weight exercises like crunches before joining the gym. And my local Planet Fitness, my first gym, sucked because the weights I needed were constantly being used. My new gym I joined in mid-August has a much bigger weight rack (deadlift ban though just like PF since it's still a budget gym. Just more weights and less cardio machines than Planet Fitness) and good resistance training equipment. So I'm still in the newbie gains phase.

If I'm doing a recomp (maintenance) and want less body fat and more muscle mass, should I aim for 2g protein/kg of body weight? Or can I get the max muscle gain/fat loss benefits from less protein than that?

I just consumed at least 86g of protein today thus far. But I had to consume like 70g of whey protein powder, 12 oz of skim milk and 98g of "clean carb" mass gainer powder in order to get there. And this is a workout day. On rest days it's hard for me to get 120g+ protein (Yes I know I'm not trying to put on mass atm but I like the easy carbs from the mass gainer and milk pre-workout to fuel it and post-workout for the glycogen for muscle recovery/growth and I don't like training on a full stomach). I'd rather not have to supplement so much protein in my diet and eat more yummy carbs and fats. Heh.

Thanks

 

[dawn16]

@asperd You want more protein during cutting because it’s satiating, more thermic, and helps spare muscle. 27% of your calories from protein is really not a big deal. Moreover, bodybuilding is all about pushing your comfort zone in the name of progress. If that means sacrificing carbs and fat to get in your protein, so be it. You really should be getting more protein from real food sources. Tuna, egg whites, chicken, and Greek yogurt are all low fat sources that leave you plenty of room in your calories/macros to enjoy your carbs and fat.

 

[asperd]

@dawn16 I have tuna occasionally for lunch. Maybe 2x a week. The lean tuna is like 100% calories from protein. But I've heard about the mercury level rumors with tuna. So I don't have it too often. I've heard that the whole mercury thing with canned tuna is bullshit though. Apparently canned tuna has low levels of mercury and is safe to eat often.

I eat egg whites 4x a week at breakfast.

Skinless chicken breast yeah like 3-4x a week at dinner. I don't like to eat it more often due to laziness. Don't feel like cooking. It's convenient to just go for milk/water and whey protein powder.

0% Fat Greek Yogurt at my grocery store is 76% calories from protein. WTF. And I don't have to cook or do any prep! Winning! Why haven't I heard about this before? I should try that. That's a helpful hack. $5.50/2 lbs too and the container has 98.6g protein. Not bad. That's cheaper than the price of protein for whey protein powder I think. The whey I buy is about 6c/g protein after taxes and that's the sale price. I stocked up on powder while it was on sale. There's no tax on the Greek Yogurt and $5.50/2lbs is regular sticker price.

 

[johnc101]

@asperd I just think about it in terms of needing “enough”. During a cut, you are losing weight and your body has to pull energy from somewhere - so you train hard and over feed protein to make sure it doesn’t pull from muscle tissue. During maintenance, by definition, you’re just maintaining so you don’t really have to worry - if you’re not getting weaker over benchmark exercises and you’re feeding yourself enough calories to not lose weight, you’re very likely not losing muscle no matter your protein intake. In terms of recomping at maintenance, it’s going to happen at such a slow rate, you need very slightly more than enough to cover that. During a gaining phase, you’re trying to put on additional muscle at a reasonable rate so you want to have more than enough of everything. If you have more muscle, you have more to lose and less to gain so generally you have to eat more protein than if you have less muscle to lose and more to gain.

“Enough” varies and 1g/lb most likely satisfies that for the vast majority, but it looks like that number is most likely lower. End of the day it comes down to if you’re getting results or not, and adjusting from there (like most of this stuff). I’d rather be on the safer side, and it’s not difficult for my lifestyle to hit that 1g/lb - but if you want to venture lower I think the science supports you, just go by your real world results first and foremost.

 

[lsatschristianprayer]

@asperd Let’s keep things simple.. first I think you have a very analytical mind which is great but can hinder your progress if you get analysis paralysis.

Eat about 1g per lb or 2-2.2g per kg.

Most of your protein should come from food not powder. It’s a supplement so it should be a small fraction of your daily protein intake.

How do you eat that much protein with 1770 cal diet? I’m at 1650 cal eating 180g protein (I’m 162lb so overdoing it a little). As an example, I have egg white omelette s every morning, protein bar for snack, lunch is about 180g of chicken breast with rice and veggies, dinner is ground Turkey meat with rice and veggies and a shake with protein powder and fruit and Greek yogurt. My macros are 180g P, 109g C, 55g F.

Either you are eating too many carbs or you’re eating too many fats.

The mix of fat or carb isn’t important.. just hit your protein goal and calories goal.

 

[bandr]

@asperd It never changes. Your body doesn’t use protein for magic, it uses it to balance nitrogen and modify structures - your digestive system isn’t “bulking” or “cutting” or “recomping”