Protein calculator for coaches
A client's daily protein target from their body weight and their goal, as the range the research gives for that goal. It runs in your browser and saves nothing.
Calculator
Protein a day
128 to 176 g of protein a day.
- 1.6 to 2.2 g per kg × 80.0 kg of body weight = 128 to 176 g
- The range is from Morton and others, 2018.
A range for a professional to start from, not medical advice. A coach or a dietitian sets a person's real target. Anyone with kidney disease should ask their doctor first.
How the numbers are worked out
Each goal has a range in grams of protein per kg a day, from the paper named beside it. The calculator multiplies both ends by the client's body weight. For fat loss it multiplies by lean body mass instead (body weight less body fat), because that is how Helms and others count it.
Building muscle: 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg. Holding weight while exercising: 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg. Losing fat while keeping muscle: 2.3 to 3.1 g per kg of lean mass. Over 65: at least 1.0 to 1.2 g/kg. An adult who does not train: the recommended dietary allowance, 0.8 g/kg, which the research on lifters treats as a floor.
Grams per lb is grams per kg divided by 2.2046. The split across four meals is the day's range divided by four.
Sources
- 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(opens in new tab)Morton and others, British Journal of Sports Medicine (2018)
- International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise(opens in new tab)Jäger and others, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (2017)
- Evidence-based recommendations for natural bodybuilding contest preparation: nutrition and supplementation(opens in new tab)Helms and others, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (2014)
- Evidence-based recommendations for optimal dietary protein intake in older people: a position paper from the PROT-AGE Study Group(opens in new tab)Bauer and others, Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (2013)
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The calculator, answered.
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It depends on the goal. For someone who lifts and wants muscle, Morton and others (2018) found gains stopped rising at about 1.6 g per kg of body weight a day, with a confidence interval up to 2.2. For someone who exercises and is holding weight, the ISSN gives 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg. In a deficit the target goes up. The calculator gives the range for the goal you pick.
Divide grams per kg by 2.2. So 1.6 g/kg is 0.73 g per lb, and 2.2 g/kg is 1 g per lb, which is where the gym rule of a gram per pound sits: at the top of the range for muscle gain.
Helms and others (2014) give 2.3 to 3.1 g per kg of lean body mass for a lean, trained person in a deficit, and lean mass needs a body fat figure. Without one the page starts from 1.6 g per kg of body weight. Our article Protein for fat loss and muscle gain shows how far the two can differ.
The PROT-AGE study group asks for at least 1.0 to 1.2 g per kg of body weight a day for people over 65, and at least 1.2 for those who exercise. An older person with severe kidney disease may need less, which is a question for their doctor.
No. It is a starting point for a coach or a dietitian. Anyone with kidney disease, anyone pregnant, and anyone with a medical condition should ask their doctor or a registered dietitian before changing how much protein they eat.
No. The calculator runs in your browser and sends nothing anywhere. Close the page and the numbers are gone.