Protein intake

[Hal32]

I weigh 214 and lift 6 days a week. I’m burning 3500 to 4000 Cala a day. What should my protein intake be to build muscle. I’ve been keeping my macros at 30 30 40. Targeting 250 grams protein a day.

 

[Old Witch]

I would say try to get closer to 300g and up the calories to 4500 then at least.

 

[Old Witch]

I like to bulk on a 1500 calorie surplus, myself, and the surplus itself needs to be 80/20/0 for p/f/c. For me.

 

[john.patterson]

I definitely have a different perspective than the info above. A 1500 calorie surplus is wildly excessive, unless you are looking to gain 4-5 pounds per week and pack on a substantial amount of body fat. This might work for some, but this isn't the most sound advice for a relatively average person looking to bulk IMO.

If you currently weight 214, I would keep protein between 220 and 250g per day. There's no need to go above 1-1.2g per pound of body weight while in a calorie surplus. You can if you'd like to, but I would prefer to fill those calories in with carbs and fats (mostly carbs though). Even while bulking, I like to keep fat intake moderate (appx. 20% of my intake), and fill the rest of my calories with carbs.

Carbs are the preferred source of energy for your body, and they are significantly cheaper per gram vs. protein. I would keep doing what you're doing and add in carbs as needed to continue to gain weight.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

I definitely have a different perspective than the info above. A 1500 calorie surplus is wildly excessive, unless you are looking to gain 4-5 pounds per week and pack on a substantial amount of body fat. This might work for some, but this isn't the most sound advice for a relatively average person looking to bulk IMO.

If you currently weight 214, I would keep protein between 220 and 250g per day. There's no need to go above 1-1.2g per pound of body weight while in a calorie surplus. You can if you'd like to, but I would prefer to fill those calories in with carbs and fats (mostly carbs though). Even while bulking, I like to keep fat intake moderate (appx. 20% of my intake), and fill the rest of my calories with carbs.

Carbs are the preferred source of energy for your body, and they are significantly cheaper per gram vs. protein. I would keep doing what you're doing and add in carbs as needed to continue to gain weight.

In all fairness, a caloric surplus achieved essentially by huge protein consumption may not necessarily lead to more fat gain, but it also doesn’t seem to lead to more muscle gain either, so you have a point about it sort of being inefficient from a cost perspective.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4022420/

This may change for “chemically assisted” individuals though.

 

[Old Witch]

In all fairness, a caloric surplus achieved essentially by huge protein consumption may not necessarily lead to more fat gain, but it also doesn’t seem to lead to more muscle gain either, so you have a point about it sort of being inefficient from a cost perspective.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4022420/

This may change for “chemically assisted” individuals though.

I suppose I ought to have said it needs to be at least that, for me. And of course if I’m trying to gain weight I can’t help but end up with some extra carbs. So that ratio is just more of a baseline marker for myself for growth. Going above and beyond is the goal.

What I suggested to OP was more reasonable for a natural.

 

[Old Witch]

In fact for a natural I’d say carb cycling is essential to stay lean, regardless of protein philosophy.

 

[john.patterson]

In fact for a natural I’d say carb cycling is essential to stay lean, regardless of protein philosophy.

I agree. For a natural, carb cycling is the best approach for staying lean during bulking and cutting IMO

 

[ValiantThor08]

1 to 1.8g per lb body weight for protein. Do large bolus doses. Even if consuming a little more protein than you need to build muscle, you have extra aminos for your joints, tendons, bone, ligaments, skin, hair, and protein is metabolically expensive (it will be very thermogenic if the body uses it as an energy source).