How much protein per day do you need when you train?
If you lift weights regularly, 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilo of body weight per day is a good guideline. At 70 kilos, that's roughly 110 to 155 grams a day. The well-known 0.8 grams per kilo is a minimum for people who don't train. It's not a target if you want to get stronger.
Sounds like a lot? I get it. The good news is that you get most of the benefit near the bottom of that range. Below I'll show you how to work out your own number, what's different for women and after 60, and what a normal day of eating looks like.
Updated: 2026-11-05
The guideline per kilo of body weight
Protein is what your muscles are built from. When you train, you're asking your muscles to recover and come back stronger. They need protein to do that. The more you train, the more it matters that you're getting enough.
The number you see everywhere is 0.8 grams per kilo. That's meant as a minimum for the general population, and it comes from older research. Newer measurements suggest most people need closer to 1.2 grams per kilo. Even without training.
If you train with weights, you need more. At around 1.6 grams per kilo you get most of the effect. Up to roughly 2.0 or 2.2 grams there's still a bit more to gain, but less and less. Every step up gives you less than the one before. That's the honest answer to how much protein you need to build muscle.
| Your weight | Baseline (1.2 g per kilo) | You train (1.6 g per kilo) | Upper end (2.0 g per kilo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 kilos | 72 grams | 96 grams | 120 grams |
| 70 kilos | 84 grams | 112 grams | 140 grams |
| 85 kilos | 102 grams | 136 grams | 170 grams |
People also differ from each other. One person needs more than another, even at the same weight and with the same training. So see the guideline as a starting point. It's not an exact number you have to hit to the gram.
- Take your weight in kilos.
- Multiply it by 1.6. That's your starting number per day.
- Hitting that easily for a few weeks? Then you can move towards 2.0.
My advice: start at 1.6 grams per kilo. If that's easy, move towards 2.0. If it isn't working yet, every step towards 1.6 is already a win.
Higher body weight? Use your lean mass instead
At a higher body weight, calculating with your total weight gives you a number that's too high. Your muscles need the protein, your fat stores don't. So it's fairer to calculate with your lean mass: everything in your body that isn't fat. That means muscle, bone, organs and water.
If you train, 2.0 to 2.75 grams per kilo of lean mass is a good guideline. It's the same for men and women. An example: if you weigh 100 kilos and 70 of that is lean mass, you'd land on 140 to about 190 grams a day.
Don't know your lean mass? No problem. Just take the bottom of the per-kilo guideline and see how it goes. Getting roughly there every day matters more than calculating it perfectly.
How much protein per day for women
Women need a little less protein per kilo of body weight than men. That's because at the same weight, women carry less muscle on average. Per kilo of lean mass, the need is almost the same.
For women who do strength training, the average comes out at around 1.5 grams per kilo. At about 1.9 grams per kilo, nearly everyone is covered. At 65 kilos, that's roughly 100 to 125 grams a day.
To be honest: there's a lot less research on women than on men. Higher amounts have barely been tested in women. So the guideline is useful, but not as solid as you'd like. My advice is the same: start near the bottom and see how it goes.
Still not sure if lifting is for you? Read strength training for women. It covers what to expect and how to get started.
Protein when you want to lose weight
Lots of people look up protein because they want to lose weight. The honest answer: protein isn't a weight-loss tool. Whether you lose weight depends on how much you eat and move in total. A protein shake doesn't change that.
What protein does do: it gives your muscles building material when you train. If you want to lose fat and keep your muscle, you want both. Keep training and eat enough protein. How much extra protein you need when you eat less is less clear than people often claim. I'd just stick to the same guideline.
At a higher body weight, use your lean mass, like I explained above. Otherwise you end up with a number that's hard to hit and that you don't actually need.
My advice for weight loss: keep it simple. Eat real food, with a protein source and plenty of veg at every meal. And eat enough to train well. If you've got no energy left for your training, you won't get far.
Want help with this from a coach? Have a look at weight loss help in Amsterdam East. We won't promise you kilos, but we will help you train steadily.
Protein after 60
Do older adults need extra protein? Yes, but mainly together with strength training. Lifting combined with enough protein can help you build muscle, later in life too. And you might need less than you think.
In people over 65 who did strength training, 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilo already led to more muscle. In younger people, the effect only became clear at around 1.6 grams. Note: this is about people who train. Just eating more protein without training is a different story.
A quick example: at 75 kilos, you'd aim for roughly 90 to 120 grams of protein a day.
On medication, got kidney problems or another condition? Talk to your GP first before you start eating a lot more protein.
Want to combine this with coached training? We run CrossFit 60+ on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. You can find the times on the schedule. You won't be treated as fragile. Every exercise is scaled, so it fits what you can do.
Which foods are high in protein?
You don't need special products. Protein is just in your food. These are the sources that work best:
- Meat and chicken
- Fish
- Eggs
- Dairy, like quark, skyr, yoghurt, milk and cheese
- Pulses, like lentils, chickpeas and beans
- Tofu and tempeh
- Nuts and seeds (tasty, but you mostly get a lot of fat with them)
Want to know how much protein something has? Check the label. It's listed per 100 grams. On Dutch packaging, look for "eiwitten". Check a few times and you'll soon know where your protein comes from.
Vegetarian or vegan? That works fine. You just need to pay a bit more attention. Pulses, tofu, tempeh and dairy or soy products then become the base of your meals.
A day of protein: an example
An example makes it easier. Say you weigh 70 kilos and train a few times a week. At 1.6 grams per kilo, you need about 110 grams a day. Spread over four moments, that's around 25 to 30 grams each time.
| When | What you eat | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Quark or skyr with fruit and a few nuts | Check the tub for how much protein it has |
| Lunch | Bread or salad with eggs, chicken, hummus or cheese | Go for two protein sources instead of one |
| After training | Quark, a glass of milk or a shake | Handy if dinner is still a while off |
| Dinner | Meat, fish, tofu or lentils with veg | Build your plate around the protein first |
Doesn't fit your day? Three meals works too. Each portion just gets a bit bigger. What matters is that you roughly hit your number by the end of the day.
My tip: track it for three days, in an app or on a scrap of paper. Then you know where you stand. After that, you don't need to count everything anymore.
Can too much protein hurt, and do you need a shake?
More protein than you need doesn't do anything extra for your muscles. Above roughly 2.2 grams per kilo there's hardly anything left to gain. It mostly costs you money and space on your plate. Space you could give to veg and fruit.
Got kidney problems or diabetes, pregnant, or on medication? Talk to your doctor first before you raise your protein a lot.
A protein shake is handy, but you don't need one. It's just protein in powder form. If you can't reach your number with normal food, a shake can fill the gap. Pick something simple, without a long list of extras.
Protein only really works if you train
All that protein doesn't do much if your muscles have no reason to get stronger. The effects behind these guidelines were found in people who did strength training. Protein is the building material. Training is the job.
At CrossFit Zeeburg in Amsterdam East, you don't have to write your own programme. You walk in, the workout is ready and a coach keeps an eye on you. Mainly want to get stronger? Then check out strength training in Amsterdam East, with StrongLifts and Weightlifting. Want to try it first? You can do two weeks of unlimited training.
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Frequently asked questions
How much protein per meal?
There's no fixed number that's right for everyone. In practice: divide your daily target by the number of times you eat. If you want 110 grams a day and eat four times, that's about 25 to 30 grams each time.
Is a 500 gram tub of quark a day a lot?
That depends on the rest of your day. Check the tub for the protein per 100 grams and multiply it by five. Then you'll see straight away how much of your daily target it covers. Mixing it up with other protein sources is nicer anyway.
How do you know if you're not getting enough protein?
There's no clear signal you can feel yourself. So tracking is the best test: count for a few days and compare it to your number. If you don't feel well or complaints don't go away, have your doctor take a look.
Should you eat as much protein on rest days?
I'd just keep it the same. That's the easiest to stick to, because you don't have to switch things up every day.
Does protein help you lose weight?
Not on its own. Whether you lose weight depends on what you eat and move in total. Protein does help your muscles recover when you train, so it's worth getting enough while you eat a bit less.