Hypertrophy Evidence Notes
All topics

Protein Intake and Timing

Daily total matters most. At 70kg, that is 112–154g. Per-meal dose and timing come second.

13Last reviewed Verdicts

Bottom line

At 70kg, aim for 112–154g a day (1.6–2.2 g/kg). Split it across 4 or more meals of about 28–39g each. In a cut, go toward the top of the range or higher.

Daily total

Lean mass gains from resistance training plateau at about 1.6 g/kg/day of protein. To cover individual variation, 2.2 g/kg is a reasonable upper bound.

  • In a meta-regression of 49 RCTs (n=1,863), the plateau was at 1.62 g/kg, with a 95% confidence interval of 1.03–2.20 g/kg (Morton 2018)
  • A meta-analysis of 74 RCTs also recommends 1.6 g/kg or more for people under 65 (Nunes 2022)
  • The ISSN position stand recommends 1.4–2.0 g/kg, rising to 2.3–3.1 g/kg for trained people in a cut (Jäger 2017)

The exact plateau is still unclear. Treat 1.6 as the floor and 2.2 as the default when unsure.

Dose per meal and number of meals

About 0.4 g/kg (28g) per meal, spread over 4 or more meals a day, leaves little on the table.

The “you can only absorb 30g at a time” claim has been refuted. In a study where subjects ate 100g after training, the synthesis response was larger and lasted longer (12+ hours) than with 25g, with no upper limit in sight (Trommelen 2023).

A large single dose is not wasted. Whether that leads to different long-term hypertrophy is still unknown.

Trommelen 2023 measured the acute response to one meal, in young men with 12 per group. It did not measure differences in muscle mass over months. So splitting or bunching your protein matters less than the daily total.

Protein before bed

Having 30–40g (casein or similar) before bed may add some hypertrophy. But the effect may just come from higher total daily intake.

  • In a 12-week RCT, the group that took 27.5g of protein before bed had larger gains in quadriceps cross-sectional area (+8.4 vs +4.8 cm², Snijders 2015)
  • But the control group got a zero-calorie placebo, so the result may only reflect a difference in total intake
  • A systematic review (Reis 2021) also supports an effect in young men

In practice, treat it as a convenient way to hit your daily total.

References

  1. Morton RW et al. 2018. A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength. Br J Sports Med. PMID 28698222
  2. Nunes EA et al. 2022. Systematic review and meta-analysis of protein intake to support muscle mass and function in healthy adults. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. PMID 35187864
  3. Jäger R et al. 2017. International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise. JISSN. PMID 28642676
  4. Schoenfeld BJ, Aragon AA. 2018. How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? JISSN. PMID 29497353
  5. Trommelen J et al. 2023. The anabolic response to protein ingestion during recovery from exercise has no upper limit in magnitude and duration in vivo in humans. Cell Rep Med. PMID 38118410
  6. Snijders T et al. 2015. Protein ingestion before sleep increases muscle mass and strength gains during prolonged resistance-type exercise training in healthy young men. J Nutr. PMID 25926415
  7. Reis CEG et al. 2021. Effects of pre-sleep protein consumption on muscle-related outcomes. J Sci Med Sport. PMID 32811763