Most physically active people need 1.4 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day to support muscle recovery. For a 170-pound (77 kg) person, that works out to roughly 108 to 154 grams of protein daily. Where you fall in that range depends on the type of exercise you do, how often you train, and your age.
Daily Protein Targets by Activity Type
The International Society of Sports Nutrition, along with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American College of Sports Medicine, and Dietitians of Canada, all converge on the same general recommendation: 1.2 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day for active people. That’s roughly double the standard recommended dietary allowance for sedentary adults.
Within that range, your ideal intake depends on what kind of training you’re doing:
- Endurance exercise (running, cycling, swimming): 1.0 to 1.6 g/kg/day, with higher amounts for intense or prolonged sessions.
- Intermittent sports (soccer, basketball, tennis): 1.4 to 1.7 g/kg/day.
- Strength and power training (weightlifting, sprinting): 1.6 to 2.0 g/kg/day.
Research looking at muscle-building outcomes over weeks and months has identified 1.6 g/kg/day as a reliable baseline for promoting favorable muscle adaptations to resistance training. If you’re trying to build muscle and aren’t sure where to start, that number is a solid target. A 150-pound person would aim for about 109 grams per day; a 200-pound person, around 145 grams.
How Much Protein Per Meal
Total daily intake matters most, but how you distribute that protein across meals also makes a difference. Muscle protein synthesis, the process your body uses to repair and build muscle tissue, responds to individual feedings. Eating 100 grams of protein in one sitting and nothing the rest of the day won’t produce the same recovery benefits as spreading it out.
The current evidence points to about 0.4 grams per kilogram of body weight per meal as the amount that optimally stimulates muscle repair in younger adults. For a 180-pound (82 kg) person, that’s roughly 33 grams per meal. Spread across four meals, that reaches the 1.6 g/kg/day minimum. If you’re aiming for the higher end of the range (up to 2.2 g/kg/day), you’d need about 0.55 g/kg per meal across those same four meals, or roughly 45 grams per sitting for that same person.
Older adults generally need more protein per meal to trigger the same muscle-building response. While younger adults see a strong response at around 20 to 25 grams of high-quality protein, older adults may need 30 grams or more per serving to overcome what researchers call “anabolic resistance,” a natural age-related decline in how efficiently the body uses protein for muscle repair.
The Role of Leucine
Not all protein is created equal when it comes to triggering muscle recovery. The amino acid leucine acts as a kind of switch that turns on muscle protein synthesis, and you need a certain threshold per meal for it to work effectively. For older adults, that threshold is estimated at 3 to 4 grams of leucine per meal, which corresponds to about 25 to 30 grams of a high-quality protein source. Studies have shown that adding 4 to 5 grams of leucine to regular meals can meaningfully enhance muscle protein synthesis, even when total protein in the meal is moderate.
This is one reason protein source quality matters. Animal proteins like eggs, dairy, chicken, fish, and beef are naturally rich in leucine and contain all the essential amino acids in sufficient quantities. Plant proteins, including soy, tend to be lower in one or more essential amino acids and are generally less digestible due to differences in protein structure. That doesn’t mean plant-based diets can’t support muscle recovery, but it does mean you may need to eat a larger total amount of plant protein or combine multiple sources to hit the same leucine threshold and amino acid profile you’d get from a smaller serving of animal protein.
Post-Workout Timing
The idea of a narrow “anabolic window” immediately after exercise has been a gym staple for decades, but the science behind it is far less urgent than most people think. A comprehensive review in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition concluded that evidence-based support for an immediate post-exercise feeding window is “far from definitive.” The available data don’t consistently point to an ideal post-exercise timing scheme for maximizing muscle protein synthesis.
What actually matters is whether you’ve eaten in the hours before your workout. If you had a protein-rich meal one to two hours before training, amino acids are still circulating in your bloodstream during and after your session. In that case, rushing to drink a protein shake the moment you finish your last set is largely redundant. Your next scheduled meal, whether it’s immediately after or one to two hours later, is likely sufficient to support recovery and growth.
The exception is training in a fasted state. If you haven’t eaten for three to four hours or more before your workout, consuming at least 25 grams of protein as soon as possible afterward makes more sense, because your body has been in a catabolic state with no incoming amino acids to fuel repair. The practical takeaway: don’t skip protein around your workouts, but don’t stress about consuming it within a precise 30-minute window either.
Protein Before Sleep
Your muscles don’t stop recovering when you fall asleep. In fact, the overnight period is a long stretch where your body gets no incoming nutrients, and recent research suggests that a pre-sleep protein feeding can take advantage of those hours. Protein consumed before bed is effectively digested and absorbed during sleep and stimulates muscle protein synthesis throughout the night.
The dose that appears to make a meaningful difference is higher than a typical meal serving. Studies have used 40 grams of slow-digesting protein (casein, the primary protein in milk and cottage cheese) before bed to produce a robust increase in overnight muscle protein synthesis. If you’re already hitting your daily target, this doesn’t mean you need to add 40 grams on top. It means shifting some of your daily intake to a pre-bed feeding could improve how your body uses that protein for recovery.
How Protein Needs Change With Age
Aging muscles don’t respond to protein as efficiently as younger muscles do. This anabolic resistance means older adults need to eat more protein per serving and per day to achieve the same recovery and muscle-maintenance benefits. The consequences of falling short become more serious too: age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia) accelerates when protein intake is inadequate, contributing to frailty, falls, and loss of independence.
For older adults with sarcopenia, a target of 1.5 g/kg/day has been recommended, though reaching that goal can be surprisingly difficult. In one study of adults aged 65 and older who were given individualized protein supplements designed to bring them up to 1.5 g/kg/day, the actual measured intake only reached about 1.3 g/kg/day. Even with supplementation, participants in the placebo group averaged just 0.86 g/kg/day, well below the 1.0 to 1.2 g/kg/day recommended as a baseline for older adults. If you’re over 65 and training to maintain or build muscle, tracking your protein intake rather than estimating it can help ensure you’re actually hitting your target.
Putting It Into Practice
For most active people, the formula is straightforward. Multiply your body weight in kilograms by 1.6 to get a reliable daily minimum for muscle recovery. If you train hard with heavy weights or are in an intensive training block, push that closer to 2.0 g/kg. Divide your total across at least four protein-rich meals, aiming for 0.4 to 0.55 g/kg per meal. Prioritize protein sources that are rich in essential amino acids and leucine, and if you eat mostly plant-based, plan for slightly higher total amounts to compensate for lower digestibility.
For a quick reference by body weight:
- 130 lbs (59 kg): 94 to 118 g/day, roughly 24 to 30 g per meal
- 155 lbs (70 kg): 112 to 140 g/day, roughly 28 to 35 g per meal
- 180 lbs (82 kg): 131 to 164 g/day, roughly 33 to 41 g per meal
- 205 lbs (93 kg): 149 to 186 g/day, roughly 37 to 47 g per meal
These ranges assume four meals per day. If you eat three larger meals, each one needs to contain more protein to reach the same daily total, though you may get slightly less efficient muscle-building stimulus from fewer, larger doses compared to four moderate ones.