Determine how much protein you need daily by the following Protein Chart.

Protein is the basic building block of the body.  If you deprive yourself of the proper amount of protein, you will either lose lean mass or you will not gain lean mass based on your exercise regimen.   It is a simple premise.  If you are exercising (which you will be) to a point where you are putting a demand on your body to add more lean mass, yet you are not consuming enough protein, the lean mass wants to grow stronger and more dense, but it can not without the required amount of protein.  Therefore, if you are not going to get enough protein, you might just as well cut back your workout.  Without giving your body adequate protein, you are wasting your time trying to build more lean mass.  It will not happen.  We will discuss lean mass later in the exercise section.  However, understand the need for protein now, so you can build your plan properly.  Keep in mind that an average serving of protein is the size of a deck of cards, i.e. chicken breast, lean hamburger patty, 5 oz steak, etc.  That quantity of protein for the sake of generalization can be considered to be 20 grams.


Also, remember the milk.
There is one gram of protein for each ounce of milk, preferably non-fat milk or soy milk.  Soy milk has a bit less protein than regular skim milk, but it does have trace elements and anti oxidants that milk does not have. We don’t advocate replacing fat free milk with soy milk.  However we do suggest you add soy to your diet, perhaps on your cereal to supplement your non-fat milk intake.  If you can tolerate the taste of soy, you should try to make it a part of your regular diet.



Calculate your daily protein requirements.
1.       Obtain your lean body mass.  If you have had your body fat percentage hydrostatically tested, that is the most accurate method.  Lean body mass is how much your body weighs void of fat.
2.       Determine your activity factor.  Activity factors are listed below based on your activity level.
[5] Sedentary (no formal sports activity or training), or light fitness training, such as walking.
[6] Moderate training (3 or occasionally 4 times a week) aerobic and/or weight training.
[7] Aerobic training five days per week or daily moderate weight training five days per week. Most avid fitness club members fit in here!
[8] Heavy daily weight training coupled with intense aerobic training or twice-a-day intense sports training.
3.       Finally, to calculate your required daily amount of protein (in grams), locate the number nearest your lean body mass (in pounds) in the left column and go to the right to the column under the activity factor that represents your level of activity.  The resulting number is the daily protein requirements for you in grams.

Lean Mass Activity Level:

Grams of protein required
An example would be a person whose workout is 5 days a week (level 7) and has 150 pounds of lean mass.  This person would require 120 grams of protein daily to reach the degree of muscularity that he is already demanding upon his muscle.