You Do NOT Get Enough Protein and It Likely is NOT Your Fault

A colleague, Lars Avemarie, who I have the utmost respect for in the rehab/health/fitness/performance space made a Facebook post on this topic and I thought it was so good that I wanted to share it with you guys.

Maintaining and/or developing muscle mass throughout your lifespan is literally a cheat code to life and it takes enough protein consumption to do so. So how much is enough?

A colleague, Lars Avemarie, who I have the utmost respect for in the rehab/health/fitness/performance space posted on this topic and I thought it was so good that I wanted to share it with you guys.

I feel like when I tell people how much protein you should intake to at the very minimum decrease the risk of your muscles wasting away, 99.9% of them look at me like I am crazy. This is sadly because what we have been told we "should" consume are offensively too low.

Muscle mass can biologically turn back the hands of time. It is the fountain of youth, yet most people are pointed in the opposite direction. The two things essential for building healthy muscle mass is physical activity strenuous enough to cause hard muscle contractions (close to failure) as well as enough protein to feed the growth/maintenance of those muscles. However, most are told to be overly careful and avoid activity while also grossly under-perscribing the building block of muscle tissue, protein.

Our general rule of thumbs for protein that we suggest for our clients (which includes my mom who I train so she stays as young as possible for as long as possible):

Aim for 1.2-.20 grams of protein per kg of body weight (for us Americans who boycott the metric system is roughly .5 - 1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight)

For most, each meal should be at least 30-40 grams of protein

My friend Lars does an amazing job concisely covering this on this Facebook Post here. It really is worth reading as well as his many blogs in this field. He is a tremendous writer who is no BS, which is nice because this field is filled with scare tactics and strategies that put profit over people.