Protein can be simply thought of as the "building blocks" of muscle for the sake of discussion, here. The direct point of lifting heavy weights is to stimulate your body to build up your muscle capacity & size. However, this will be difficult to impossible if you do not give your body sufficient "building blocks" to achieve this.

So how much is needed for those training to build muscle? Let's look at a few competing sources.

Source #1: RDA (0.362 g/lb)

The RDA recommended amount is 0.362 g/lb of body weight. For me weighing 212 lbs, my daily recommended protein would be 77 g/day.

THE PROBLEM:

This daily estimate is calculated for basic survival, not for active lifting athletes. This is definitely not going to cut it.

Source #2: Meta-analysis (0.7 g/lb)

A popular and large meta-analysis was conducted that recommended 0.7 g/lb, which for me would be about 148 g/day of protein. The reason they arrived at this number was because they saw no significant benefit in subjects when they consumed anything beyond this ratio.

THE PROBLEM:

This study looked at subjects who were overwhelmingly not actively training (lifting) individuals.

Source #3: General Ratio (1.0 g/lb)

Another popular ratio out there is a simple 1.0g/lb. I like simple math. This would put me at 212 g/day. You can see that we have come a long way already from the RDA amount of 77 g/day.

THE PROBLEM:

It is based on simple math, not really on any studies. Another problem is really a problem with all three of these ratios. They all simply use body weight. These ratios will not make sense to the 5'2" man who weighs 300 pounds with a high body fat ratio who is just beginning to weightlift. That man should probably not be consuming 300g of protein/day.

Let's check out the final option.

Source #4: Newer Studies (1-1.4 g/lb of LBM)

There have been newer studies that have looked at protein intake on training individuals. They also have corrected for the issue mentioned above by only calculating the total according to LBM (Lean Body Mass).  Here's how the formula works. You first calculate your LBM and multiply that by a 1.0 to 1.4, depending on your goals.

For those looking to cut weight while avoiding muscle mass loss, they will take the lower end of the ration of 1.0. For me (at about 85% LBM), this would be around 170 g/day.

For those looking to add muscle mass, they will go to the higher end of 1.4. For me (85% LBM), this would be around 237 g/day.

Now with this formula, lets re-run the 300 pound man example, assuming he's 60% LBM and wants to cut weight:

1.0 x 300x0.6 =  180 g/day. This is a much better estimate for this man.

THE PROBLEM:

It's not easy to calculate one's LBM. However, there is a simple solution that will give you a good enough estimate if you don't know your LBM. It has been shown that using visual estimates based on your sex are quite good estimates to reality.

Here is a site that you can use:  https://www.ruled.me/visually-estimate-body-fat-percentage/

You could also search "body fat percentage - men" for example and do an honest comparison.

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Go steward your body well!