how much protein to maintain the muscle you ALREADY built?

[bobbybouche1501]

whats up guys, i know this has been asked alot but ive been reading for two days and cant find a clear answer.

we all know you need about 0.8 g per pound of bodyweight for BUILDING muscle, but what about MAINTAINING it?if im eating enough calories do i still have to count grams of protein everyday or can i just make a halfway decent effort at choosing high protein foods and forget about it?

surely your muscles dont need the same amount of protein to maintain themselves as they do when they are being torn apart and forced to recover?

[gbullock32]

.7g per pound is a good number, but assuming you reach calorie sufficiency you could get away with less, .5g or so per pound IIRC would be fine.

[desslok]

Kind of depends on the rest of your diet, for example carb intake since carbs are protein sparing. Keep in mind the .7gm for building also has a buffer to “make sure” you at least get enough to build.

[BrightonBomber]

Well protein RDA for a normal sedentary person is 0.8g per kg and as long as your eating at maintenance and continuing to lift to avoid muscle atrophy, I'd assume that would be sufficient. Doubt there are any studies on this though, most people in the west eat way above the RDA anyway.

[ThinkAndGoHam]

Interesting question, I am close to the point now where i would be happy to maintain my current mass indefinitely so this is interesting to me.

[Mrpb]

0.7 gram is fine for building AND maintaining muscle.

Perhaps if you're young and have the right genetics, training, sleep, stress levels and nutrition you may be able to get away with as little as 0.5 gram protein per lb. But why go so low on protein? Just to save money? Protein has a lot of other benefits besides maintaining muscle.

My take: always eat a minimum of 0.7 gram protein per lb. And if possible always try to have ~20-30 gram protein or more in your main meals, at least 3 times per day.

[ironwill2008]

whats up guys, i know this has been asked alot but ive been reading for two days and cant find a clear answer.

we all know you need about 0.8 g per pound of bodyweight for BUILDING muscle, but what about MAINTAINING it?if im eating enough calories do i still have to count grams of protein everyday or can i just make a halfway decent effort at choosing high protein foods and forget about it?

surely your muscles dont need the same amount of protein to maintain themselves as they do when they are being torn apart and forced to recover?

I don't really get the 'maintain' mindset, but your goals are your own.

The smart money would be on keeping your protein and fat intake the same as always (insurance of sufficiency), and then adjusting your carb intake to control your body weight.