Why We Set Protein From Lean Mass

A common protein rule is 1 gram per pound of body weight. It is easy to remember, and for a lean, muscular person it lands close to the right answer. For many people it does not, because body weight includes fat, and fat needs very little protein.

Protein follows the tissue that uses it

Protein is the raw material for muscle, organs, enzymes and the constant repair that goes on in lean tissue. Muscle in particular is always being broken down and rebuilt, and that turnover is what drives protein needs. Fat tissue is mostly stored energy. It needs comparatively little protein to maintain.

So the amount of protein you need tracks how much lean tissue you carry, not how much you weigh. That is why we set the target at 1 gram per pound of lean body mass per day.

Two people, one target

Consider two hypothetical people:

• A 260 pound man at 42% body fat has about 150 pounds of lean mass.
• A 170 pound man at 12% body fat also has about 150 pounds of lean mass.

By the body weight rule, the first man would need 260 grams of protein a day. That is over 1,000 calories from protein alone, a target few people can hit and one that crowds out the rest of a sensible plan. By lean mass, both men land at about 150 grams. They carry the same working tissue, so they get the same target.

The gap grows with body fat. The more of your weight that is fat, the further a body weight target overshoots what your muscle can actually use.

How we use it

Lean mass is also the base of the rest of the plan. We set protein at X grams for X pounds of lean mass, carbohydrates at 1 to 2 times that, and fat at about 25% of total calories. Calories follow from those numbers. The daily protein total gets divided across 3 to 4 meals of 30 to 50 grams, since muscle responds to protein one meal at a time.

Because the plan rests on lean mass, it has to be measured, not guessed. An InBody scan reports lean mass in about a minute while you stand on the device. Lean mass changes as you train and as you lose fat, so we repeat the scan about monthly and adjust the target when the number moves.

That's why we measure it first.

Book an InBody scan at HYBRD Health ($39)

This article is educational and is not medical advice.