00:00to maximize muscle hypertrophy what is
00:03the exact amount of protein you need
00:05across the web there's split views some
00:08say it's a lot While others provide a
00:10specific amount also how important is
00:13protein intake relative to your training
00:16in this video we're going to answer
00:18these questions by dissecting the most
00:20up-to-date scientific literature on
00:22protein and muscle hypertrophy welcome
00:30in the scientific world metaanalyses are
00:33generally considered some of the best
00:35evidence as they combine the results of
00:37numerous individual studies on the same
00:39topic in the last 6 years there have
00:42been three metaanalyses examining how
00:44daily protein intake relates to muscle
00:47growth here are the relationships
00:49established in each firstly it is
00:51unsurprising that all show a
00:53relationship between protein and gains
00:56secondly they all allude to more and
00:58more protein not necess necessarily
01:00being required the 2018 one found a
01:03plateau at 1.6 G per kilog of total body
01:07weight a day the 2021 found a plateau
01:10with this model at around 1.5 G per kg
01:13of total body weight a day the 2022 one
01:17owing to their different approach to
01:19modeling the data may lead you to
01:21believe that more and more protein does
01:23lead to more growth but the confidence
01:25intervals get wider with higher protein
01:27intakes which suggests there's more
01:29uncertain certainty about these higher
01:31intakes a few studies that have used
01:33methods such as nitrogen balance or the
01:36indicat amino acid oxidation technique
01:38demonstrate this too with the predicted
01:41benefits of daily protein intake on
01:43muscle growth stopping at around 1.5 to
01:462 G per kilog of total body weight a day
01:49so how much protein should you consume
01:52well before providing an answer I think
01:54it is worth revealing something that is
01:57underappreciated credit goes to Eric T
02:00formerly of the stronger by science
02:02podcast who made a few of the following
02:04observations it is worthwhile to
02:06visually see the data points that go
02:08behind these lines and the 2018 paper is
02:11excellent for this we know this analysis
02:13found a plateau at 1.6 GS but if we more
02:17clearly see the data points that
02:18contributed to this line but remove the
02:21actual line what do you see I see there
02:24appears to be an association between
02:26protein intake and growth but it's truly
02:29difficult to say you're absolutely
02:31better off with a certain intake of
02:33course there's a reason statistics are
02:36used to derive the line of best fit but
02:39the point is it's quite clear 1.6 G
02:41isn't an ultra precise cut off point as
02:44some may believe on top of this if we
02:47only look at protein intakes at or above
02:501.25 G per kilogram of total body weight
02:53per day things are even more open to
02:55debate in fact the r s value is 0.0 111
03:00which means that in this range protein
03:03intake only explains 1% of the variance
03:06in the gains in fat-free Mass the same
03:09applies to the 2022 analysis we can
03:12visually see that above a certain
03:14protein intake it's hard to say for
03:16certain you're better off with higher
03:18intakes so back to our question how much
03:22protein should you consume I believe
03:24providing definitive and absolute
03:26statements isn't warranted based on the
03:28current scientific lature rather I
03:31believe presenting a spectrum is more
03:32sensible 1.2 to 1.59 G per kg of total
03:37body weight a day is possibly enough for
03:39maximizing gains based on some of the
03:41data we've seen 1.6 to 2 G per kg of
03:45total body weight a day is almost
03:47certainly enough for maximizing gains
03:50and more than 2 G per kog of total body
03:52weight a day is very likely more than
03:54enough and although it's compatible with
03:57maximizing gains it's likely Sim L not
04:00essential for many at the end of the day
04:03it depends on how you think you could
04:05aim for the higher end if you absolutely
04:08want to leave nothing on the table as
04:10some scientific researchers have
04:12suggested but others may be perfectly
04:14fine with consuming at least 1.6 G but
04:17if for a variety of reasons you can't
04:19hit this amount rest assured this is not
04:22the end of the world and you may indeed
04:24be leaving very little to nothing on the
04:26table with somewhat lower intakes other
04:28factors like protein quality and your
04:31age could factor in in some cases diets
04:34that contain a higher proportion of
04:36lower protein quality and or if you're
04:38older protein intakes ner to the higher
04:41end may be a good idea however there is
04:44still Nuance here that will likely
04:46describe in future videos at the house
04:48of hypertrophy besides these there are
04:51three other factors that many say impact
04:53protein intake but do they
04:58actually some hypothesize the harder you
05:01train and the more experienced you are
05:03the more protein you need what does the
05:06research say this classic paper had
05:08novice bodybuilders train intensely for
05:101.5 hours 6 days a week for 4 weeks
05:14strength and muscle gains were similar
05:16between consuming 1.35 and 2.62 G per
05:19kog of total body weight per day their
05:22nitrogen balance data suggested 1.6 to
05:251.7 G per kilogram of total body weight
05:27a day may be ideal this paper recruited
05:31eight bodybuilders considered to be near
05:33their maximum muscular potential using
05:35the indicator amino acid oxidation
05:38technique protein intake requirements
05:40were estimated to be 1.7 G per kilogram
05:43of total body weight per day this third
05:46classic paper also recruited Elite
05:49bodybuilders and estimated protein
05:51intakes were only 1.2 G per kilogram of
05:54total body weight a day finally as for
05:57Recovery of the muscle tissue this
06:00intriguing paper had subjects perform
06:02this training session and measurements
06:04of Muscle Recovery were similar between
06:06consuming 1.8 to 2.9 G per kilogram of
06:09total body weight a day thus the
06:12available data does not consistently
06:14suggest harder training or more
06:16experience increases protein intake
06:19requirements again it depends on your
06:21thought process some may prefer higher
06:24intakes to have a comfortable safety
06:30in much of the data comprising the
06:32associations between protein intake and
06:34muscle growth the subjects were
06:36consuming the same or more calories than
06:38needed to maintain body weights but what
06:40about if you're trying to reduce your
06:42weight by consuming fewer calories than
06:44normal in this scenario some say to
06:46protect your muscle mass more protein is
06:49needed there are three areas of the
06:51scientific literature that might support
06:53this this first paper found in trained
06:56men that reduced their calories by 40%
06:58while still training for 2 weeks
07:00maintenance of lean body mass was better
07:02when consuming 2.3 versus 1 G per kg of
07:05total body weight a day the second paper
07:08found in untrained men that reduced
07:10their calories by 40% while training for
07:124 weeks fat loss and lean mass increases
07:15were greater when consuming 2.4 versus
07:171.2 G per kilog of total body weight a
07:20day the third area is a review in 2014
07:24that based on the data they collected
07:27suggested that higher protein intakes
07:29May May better protect against muscle
07:31mass loss in trained people having
07:33detailed this data there are some key
07:36considerations two of the papers
07:38involved a 40% reduction in calories and
07:41the lowest protein intakes were 1 to 1.2
07:44G but what if the reduction in calories
07:46was less severe and or if the lowest
07:49protein intakes were instead around the
07:511.6 G area plus we have some evidence
07:54also with some limitations that indeed
07:57find higher protein intakes on always
07:59better during calorie restriction
08:01overall better quality research is
08:04needed for now although this is
08:06definitely hypothetical the lower your
08:09body fat percentage and or the more
08:11aggressive reduction in calories the
08:13higher the protein intake You may wish
08:15to consume to stay on the safe
08:20side what if you're trying to gain
08:22weight through consuming more calories
08:24than normal we already mentioned how in
08:26much of the data subjects consume the
08:28same or more calories than needed to
08:30maintain weight yet in the literature
08:33some data has led various people to
08:36suggest higher protein intakes on a bulk
08:38can minimize the fat gain we see however
08:41there are some key limitations to This
08:43research that I'll uncover in a future
08:45video on bulking at the house of
08:47hypertrophy for now just know I don't
08:50think higher than recommended protein
08:51intakes are needed on a
08:56bulk I think it's worthwhile to frame
08:59protein intake in the bigger picture as
09:02established and described in the 2018
09:04meta analysis resistance training is the
09:07much more potent stimulus accounting at
09:10least according to this meta analysis
09:12for a substantially greater portion of
09:15the variance in muscle and strength
09:18furthermore this 2021 analysis found
09:21that during 3 days of immobilizing one
09:23of their legs higher protein intakes
09:25fail to do a better job at maintaining
09:28strength and muscle than lower protein
09:30intakes this is not to say protein
09:32intake is unimportant of course we've
09:35seen sufficient protein intake allows us
09:37to realize the best gains we can see
09:39from our training but at the end of the
09:41day you can't force your way to muscle
09:44growth by just eating tons of protein
09:47well-designed and hard training provides
09:49the foundational stimulus speaking about
09:51well-designed training amidst all the
09:54noise online it can definitely be
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11:16this before summarizing things there are
11:19two final things worth dissecting
11:21firstly we know the literature we
11:23mentioned considered protein intake in
11:25relation to your total body weights but
11:28if you have significant more body fat
11:30this tends to overestimate your protein
11:33needs considering protein intake in
11:35relation to your fat-free mess can be
11:37more accurate here although most don't
11:39know their precise fat-free Mass so you
11:42may just estimate what you'd
11:44approximately weigh at lower body fat
11:46levels and then use these numbers
11:49secondly some have health concerns about
11:51higher protein intakes but as described
11:54in this position stand this stems from
11:56data on renal failure patients and
11:58educational Dogma that hasn't been
12:00Rewritten despite contrary evidence in
12:03otherwise healthy individuals there is
12:05no indication of harm even in
12:07investigations involving well above 2.2
12:10G per kilogram of total body weight a
12:12day in summary optimizing your protein
12:15intake can help you realize your maximum
12:18growth potential but just don't forget
12:20that well constructed and executed
12:22training is the foundational stimulus I
12:25don't believe providing a definitive
12:27value for protein intake is currently
12:29sensible rather we presented this
12:31spectrum on the likelihood of maximizing
12:34gains across different protein intakes
12:36ultimately it's your choice some may aim
12:39for the higher end to have no doubts
12:41While others may be perfectly
12:43comfortable on the Lower Side knowing
12:44that at the very worst they're getting
12:46the line share of their
12:48gains thank you for watching feel free
12:51to check out the alpha progression app
12:53or our recent deep dive into building
