Ask five people at a gym how much protein you need and you'll get five answers, three supplements, and a headache. Twenty years of client food logs say the real problem is simpler: almost everyone training hard eats too little protein, spread too unevenly, from foods they don't enjoy.
The working number
For adults who train two to four times a week, 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of goal body weight per day covers essentially everyone. Training for muscle at 180 pounds? Aim for roughly 130 to 180 grams. Older adults should sit at the higher end — the body gets less efficient at turning protein into muscle with age, so the dose has to rise.
You do not need to hit this perfectly. You need to hit it roughly, most days, for months. The clients who transform are never the ones with the most precise spreadsheet — they're the ones whose ordinary Tuesday quietly contains 150 grams without drama.
Spread it, don't stack it
The body uses protein better in repeated doses than in one nightly flood. A practical Manhattan day: eggs or Greek yogurt in the morning, a real portion of chicken, fish, or beans at lunch, something substantial at dinner, and one deliberate snack — cottage cheese, a shake, leftover anything.
Four feedings of 30 to 45 grams beats one 20-gram breakfast and a 90-gram dinner, even when the totals match.
What a portion actually looks like
Stop weighing. Learn these once and eyeball forever:
- A palm-sized chicken breast or salmon fillet — about 30 to 40 grams
- Three eggs — about 19 grams
- A single-serve Greek yogurt — 15 to 20 grams
- A cup of cooked lentils — about 18 grams
- A scoop of whey in milk — about 30 grams
Do you need powder?
No — you need totals. Powder is a convenience for the day the totals aren't happening from food. If the shake is replacing a skipped meal on a twelve-hour workday, it's doing its job. If it's riding on top of an already complete day, it's just expensive milk.
Notes are general education. Training is specific. If you want the version of this written for your body, your schedule, and your city — that's the work.
Begin with Andre