Consuming recommended amounts of protein on a daily basis can help enhance your athletic performance, whether you're an endurance athlete, strength-trained athlete or simply work out to stay in shape and maintain a healthy body weight. Athletes require more protein on a daily basis than people who are sedentary. However, the amount of protein required by athletes is not as much as you may think.
Minimum Protein Requirements
The Institute of Medicine, or IOM, has established minimum protein requirements estimated to meet the needs of most adults including sedentary and active individuals. The IOM protein requirements are minimum daily requirements and include 46 grams of protein per day for women, 56 grams of protein each day for men and 71 grams of protein per day for pregnant and nursing women.
Protein Recommendations Based on Body Weight
Many protein recommendations, especially those for athletes, are based on your current body weight. IOM protein recommendations based on body weight are 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, which is equivalent to about 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds your minimum daily protein requirement is about 54 grams per day, based on IOM recommendations.
An article published in a 2004 edition of the journal Nutrition reports that in most cases endurance athletes typically require a minimum of 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight, or about 0.45 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day. The author of this article, M. Tarnopolsky, also reports that top sports athletes may require up to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or about 0.73 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day, and athletes who don't consume adequate amounts of calories or carbohydrates will likely require additional protein.
The American Dietetic Association, or ADA, provides guidelines for protein requirements for both strength-trained and endurance athletes. Based on ADA guidelines, strength-trained athletes such as bodybuilders usually require between 1.2 to 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or about 0.5 to 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day, and endurance athletes usually require between 1.2 and 1.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or about 0.5 to 0.6 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day. Therefore, if you're a 150-pound strength-trained athlete you may require up to 120 grams of protein each day, possibly more if you consume few calories or carbohydrates when dieting.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a doctor for advice.
Erin Coleman - Erin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in dietetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian and ...
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