1.4 to 2.0 g per kilogram — and above 1.62 g/kg more adds nothing. The evidence-based protein target for athletes, well spread and without powder.
The honest answer in one sentence: 1.4 to 2.0 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day is enough for practically every training person, according to the position stand of the International Society of Sports Nutrition [1]. If you only want one number, take 1.6 g/kg — at 75 kg that is around 120 g a day, roughly one big tub of quark plus two chicken breasts plus the protein already sitting in your bread, pasta and milk.
So why does everything you read say something different? Because two different questions get mixed up. Germany's DGE names 0.8 g/kg per day for adults between 19 and 65 [2] — that is the level at which a normally active person loses nothing. It is not a training optimum, it is a lower limit for the general population.
And upwards? That is where it gets interesting. A meta-analysis of 49 studies with 1,863 trainees found the point beyond which extra protein produced no further muscle gain at 1.62 g/kg per day [3]. More protein is not harmful from there — it is just an expensive way to feel full.
Take your body weight in kilograms times 1.6. For the vast majority that is the right number: high enough not to limit muscle growth, and exactly the zone where the meta-analysis located the break point [3].
Two sensible deviations: if you lift a lot and have been at it for years, you can move towards 1.8 to 2.0 g/kg [1]. If your training is endurance-heavy, 1.4 to 1.6 g/kg serves you well.
With significant excess weight, calculate from a realistic target weight rather than your current weight — otherwise you end up with an amount nobody eats.
This is where "technically enough" and "actually arrives" part ways. The most practical recommendation from the research: 0.4 g per kilogram per meal across at least four meals — which automatically lands you at a minimum of 1.6 g/kg per day [4].
At 75 kg that is 30 g of protein per meal, four times a day. Thirty grams sounds abstract — it is 150 g of chicken breast, 250 g of quark, or five eggs.
The old rule that "more than 20 to 25 g per meal is wasted" does not hold up that way: it comes from studies using isolated, fast-digesting proteins without other macronutrients [4]. In a normal meal with rice, vegetables and oil, considerably more gets used. For triggering muscle growth itself the ISSN paper names 20 to 40 g per serving, or 0.25 g/kg [5].
Work out once, roughly, what sits in your standard meals and you will never need an app again. As orientation, per 100 g: chicken breast around 23 g, quark around 12 g, dried lentils around 24 g, eggs around 13 g, oats around 13 g.
The trick is not finding a superfood, it is having a protein source in every meal. Breakfast without protein is the single most common reason 60 g are missing by the evening and only a shake can rescue them.
In a calorie deficit your protein need goes up. For trained individuals in hypocaloric phases the ISSN paper names 2.3 to 3.1 g/kg per day to preserve fat-free mass [6].
That sounds like a lot, and it is — which is why it applies to serious diet phases, not to "I'm eating a bit more mindfully at the moment". The underlying idea holds for everyone though: when energy gets scarce, protein is the last thing you cut.
Write down for two or three days what actually lands on your plate and compare it with your target. Almost everyone comes in under it on the first check, and almost always the protein is missing in the morning and the afternoon.
If your plan only adds up with three shakes a day, it is not a good plan. Train Smart here means hitting the number, not beating it.
This guide explains and motivates, it does not replace medical or dietetic advice. With known kidney disease, liver disease, metabolic conditions, during pregnancy and breastfeeding, or while taking medication, your protein intake belongs in medical hands — those are the cases where the question genuinely matters.
For healthy trainees the practically relevant ceiling is not a safety limit but a usefulness limit anyway: above around 1.62 g/kg, nothing further happens for muscle growth [3].
If counting protein starts running your day, or if you skip meals to stay "clean", get support from a registered dietitian. And these values are not intended for growing children and adolescents.
Build yourself three fixed protein anchors you never have to plan again: one at breakfast, one in the afternoon, one in the evening. For example oats with milk and quark, a tub of skyr around four o'clock, and a palm-sized portion of meat, fish, tofu or lentils at night.
Sounds trivial, decides everything: with three fixed anchors you land almost automatically at 0.4 g/kg per meal [4] and only have to improvise the fourth. That is the difference between a plan you survive for two weeks and one that lasts two years.
No. That rule comes from studies using isolated fast proteins without other macronutrients; in a mixed meal considerably more gets used [4]. For triggering muscle growth itself, 20 to 40 g per serving counts as the sensible range [5]. Larger portions are therefore not wasted, only less efficiently distributed.
No. Powder is a convenience product, not an active ingredient — the target is easily reached with quark, eggs, milk, meat, fish, lentils and beans. The IOC consensus statement on supplements explicitly recommends assessing the diet first and only then considering supplementation [7]. Powder is still convenient, though.
With known kidney disease, protein intake belongs in medical hands — that is the case where the question genuinely matters. For healthy trainees the practically relevant limit is a different one: above around 1.62 g/kg per day, extra protein produced no further muscle gain in the meta-analysis [3].
More than usual. For trained individuals in a diet phase the ISSN paper names 2.3 to 3.1 g per kilogram per day to preserve fat-free mass [6]. The reason is simple: when energy is scarce, the body is quicker to break down muscle. Protein is therefore the last item you cut.
Across a whole day, yes, provided the total is right and you mix sources — lentils, beans, tofu, oats, bread. Plant sources often deliver a little less per portion and a different amino acid profile, which is why vegetarians and vegans usually sit at the upper end of the 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg range [1].
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