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How much protein do you need? If you lift, about 1.4 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of bodyweight a day (0.6 to 0.9 g per pound). Enter your weight and goal for your number in grams, plus a per-meal split. No signup.
Enter your bodyweight to see your daily protein target and per-meal split.
The ISSN position stand puts protein for exercising people at 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg/day, with higher intakes useful when you are eating in a calorie deficit. The RDA of 0.8 g/kg is a minimum to avoid deficiency, not a goal for building or keeping muscle.
| Goal (lifting) | g/kg bodyweight | g/lb | Target we use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fat loss | 1.8 to 2.4 | 0.82 to 1.09 | 2 g/kg |
| Maintenance | 1.4 to 2 | 0.64 to 0.91 | 1.6 g/kg |
| Muscle gain | 1.6 to 2.2 | 0.73 to 1.00 | 1.8 g/kg |
Hitting the number is easier with a plan: the high-protein meal planner builds a day around it, and the protein per dollar table shows the cheapest foods to get there. This is general information, not medical advice.
If you lift weights, about 1.4 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day (0.6 to 0.9 g per pound) is the range the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) position stand supports. The RDA of 0.8 g/kg is a minimum to avoid deficiency, not a target for building or keeping muscle. A 180 lb lifter eating to lose fat lands near 163 g; eating to maintain, near 131 g.
Higher end of the range. In a calorie deficit, lean lifters in research did best with roughly 2.3 to 3.1 g per kg of lean mass (Helms et al., 2014). This calculator uses about 2.0 g/kg of bodyweight, or 2.3 g/kg of lean mass if you enter body fat, which sits at the bottom of that research range and is easier to hit.
A 2018 meta-analysis (Morton et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine) found extra protein stops adding muscle at about 1.6 g/kg/day for most people, with 2.2 g/kg as the upper end of the confidence interval. This calculator targets 1.8 g/kg for muscle gain, which has some margin built in.
More per kilogram than younger adults. The PROT-AGE expert group (Bauer et al., 2013) recommends 1.0 to 1.2 g/kg/day for healthy older adults and at least 1.2 g/kg if you exercise, with roughly 25 to 30 g at each meal. The calculator applies a 1.0 g/kg floor and a 1.2 g/kg target when you enter an age of 65 or more. If you have kidney disease or another condition, ask your clinician first.
The ISSN position stand suggests about 0.25 g/kg per meal, which is 20 to 40 g for most people, spread across the day. Total daily protein matters more than perfect timing, so use the per-meal split as a guide, not a rule.
Bodyweight is fine for most people and is what most studies report. If you carry a lot of body fat, bodyweight-based numbers overshoot, so lean mass is a better base. Enter a body fat percentage (our AI body fat estimator can give you one from a photo) and the calculator switches to grams per kg of lean mass.
For healthy adults, intakes in the ranges shown here are within what the ISSN position stand considers safe. It concludes that concerns about protein within this range being unhealthy are unfounded for healthy, exercising people, and that intakes above 2 g/kg for prolonged periods may be safe in well-trained people. People with existing kidney disease should follow their clinician's advice.
Yes, it is free with no signup, and the math runs in your browser. Entering your email afterwards is optional and only needed if you want a plan built around your numbers.