How much protein do you need when training for more muscle mass?
Guest writer: Rob van Berkel, Research dietitian and writer on nutrition and health
How much protein do you need when training for more muscle mass?
Does your client engage in strength training and want to build more muscle mass? Then sufficient protein intake plays a crucial role. Discover below approximately how much protein your client needs and how you can obtain it from the daily diet (or possibly with a protein supplement).
Importance of muscle mass
Skeletal muscles make up the largest part of fat-free mass (approx. 40–60%). Besides enabling movement, muscle mass is also important for good health. Reduced skeletal muscle mass and muscle function in adults is, for example, associated with chronic diseases, a lower quality of life, sarcopenia, and physical limitations (Wolf et al., 2006; Ebner et al., 2015; Larsson et al., 2019).
Regular protein requirement
The regular protein recommendation for healthy adults is 0.83 grams per kilogram of body weight per day (EFSA, 2012). This means that someone weighing 80 kg should consume 66 grams of protein daily. This can easily be obtained from the diet (see Table 1). Adult men in the Netherlands consume on average 90 grams of protein per day and women 80 grams per day (wateetnederland.nl, 2025).
|
Food item |
Portion size |
Amount of protein |
|
Chicken breast |
100 gram |
31 gram |
|
Low-fat quark |
150 gram |
11 gram |
|
Whole-wheat bread |
4 sneetjes |
15 gram |
|
Kidney beans |
120 gram |
10 gram |
|
Total |
67 gram |
Table 1: Example of how an adult weighing 80 kg can obtain sufficient protein.
Protein requirement during strength training
Consuming sufficient protein and performing strength training are the most important non-pharmacological factors that provide anabolic stimuli to increase or maintain muscle mass (Atheron & Smith, 2012). But how much protein do you need then? Research shows that this is approximately double the normal recommendation, namely about 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight per day (Tagawa et al., 2018; Morton et al., 2018; Nunes et al., 2022). This means that someone weighing 80 kg should consume 128 grams of protein daily. It is somewhat more difficult to obtain this amount every day with a standard dietary intake (see Table 2). For men with a body weight of 100 kg, this is even more difficult, which is why a protein supplement may be considered for them.
|
Food item |
Portion size |
Amount of protein |
|
Chicken breast |
200 gram |
62 gram |
|
Low-fat quark |
150 gram |
11 gram |
|
Semi-skimmed milk |
300 gram |
10 gram |
|
Whole-wheat bread |
4 sneetjes |
15 gram |
|
Kidney beans |
180 gram |
15 gram |
|
Boiled egg |
100 gram |
12 gram |
|
Cashew nuts |
25 gram |
5 gram |
|
Totaal |
130 gram |
Table 2: Example of how an adult weighing 80 kg who performs strength training can obtain sufficient protein to build muscle mass.
Protein sources
Good sources include:
- Dairy products such as skyr, quark, and yogurt
- Meat, such as chicken, turkey, and beef
- Fish
- Eggs
- Legumes
- Soy products such as tofu and tempeh
- Protein powder (as a supplement, not as a replacement).
Animal proteins appear to be slightly more favorable for building muscle mass, particularly compared with non-soy sources (Reid-McCann et al., 2025). Soy proteins, for example, appear to be as effective as milk proteins. However, more research is needed. No difference in muscle strength between animal and plant proteins is found (Van Vliet et al., 2015; Reid-McCann et al., 2025).
Conclusion
For adults who perform strength training and want to build muscle mass, it is essential to consume sufficient protein daily. Research shows that this is approximately 1.6 g/kg/day. This can be obtained from various sources such as dairy, meat, fish, eggs, legumes, and soy products and, if necessary, a protein supplement as an addition.
References
Atherton PJ, Smith K. Muscle protein synthesis in response to nutrition and exercise. J Physiol. 2012;590(5):1049-1057.
Ebner N, Sliziuk V, Scherbakov N, Sandek A. Muscle wasting in ageing and chronic illness. ESC Heart Fail. 2015 Jun;2(2):58-68.
EFSA NDA Panel (EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies), 2012. Scientific Opinionon Dietary Reference Values for protein. EFSA Journal 2012;10(2):2557, 66 pp.
Larsson L, Degens H, Li M, et al. Sarcopenia: Aging-Related Loss of Muscle Mass and Function. Physiol Rev. 2019;99(1):427-511.
Morton RW, Murphy KT, McKellar SR, et al. 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. Br J Sports Med. 2018;52(6):376-384.
Nunes EA, Colenso-Semple L, McKellar SR, Yau T, Ali MU, Fitzpatrick-Lewis D, Sherifali D, Gaudichon C, Tomé D, Atherton PJ, Robles MC, Naranjo-Modad S, Braun M, Landi F, Phillips SM. Systematic review and meta-analysis of protein intake to support muscle mass and function in healthy adults. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2022 Apr;13(2):795-810.
Reid-McCann RJ, Brennan SF, Ward NA, Logan D, McKinley MC, McEvoy CT. Effect of Plant Versus Animal Protein on Muscle Mass, Strength, Physical Performance, and Sarcopenia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Nutr Rev. 2025 Jul 1;83(7):e1581-e1603.
Tagawa R, Watanabe D, Ito K, et al. Synergistic Effect of Increased Total Protein Intake and Strength Training on Muscle Strength: A Dose-Response Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Sports Med Open. 2022;8(1):110. Published 2022 Sep 4.
van Vliet S, Burd NA, van Loon LJ. The Skeletal Muscle Anabolic Response to Plant- versus Animal-Based Protein Consumption. J Nutr. 2015;145(9):1981-1991.
https://www.wateetnederland.nl/resultaten/energie-en-macronutrienten/eiwitten
Wolfe RR. The underappreciated role of muscle in health and disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006;84(3):475-482.
