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How much protein do you actually need? Not the generic “eat more protein” advice, an actual number. Our free daily protein calculator takes your weight, goal, and activity level and hands you a gram target you can plan meals around today.
Calculate Your Daily Protein Target By Weight
Here’s the thing most calculators won’t tell you: the 0.8g/kg figure floating around online isn’t a target. It’s the bare minimum to avoid deficiency, set decades ago for sedentary adults who weren’t lifting anything heavier than groceries. If you train, that number undersells you.
Why Body Weight Is the Starting Point
Calories get all the attention, but protein intake by body weight is the number that actually predicts whether you hold onto muscle. Punch in your weight, kg or lbs, doesn’t matter, pick a goal, and we run it against the ranges researchers use, not marketing copy.
Protein Needs For Muscle Gain, Fat Loss And Maintenance
Maintenance sits close to the RDA floor. Cutting calories is where people usually get it backwards, they eat less protein along with everything else, right when they need more of it to stop losing muscle alongside the fat.
Goal | Recommended Range | Example (70kg adult) |
Maintenance / Sedentary | 0.8–1.2 g/kg | 56–84g |
Muscle Gain | 1.6–2.2 g/kg | 112–154g |
Fat Loss | 1.6–2.4 g/kg | 112–168g |
Cutting? Run your numbers through our TDEE calculator first. A deficit that’s too aggressive will eat into muscle no matter how much protein you’re getting.
Calculate Your Personalised Protein Range With Free Protein Intake Calculator
No flat multiplier here. We factor in activity level, the age-related drop in how efficiently your body uses protein for muscle repair, and whatever goal you’ve picked, so the output actually reflects your training, not a generic middle-of-the-road guess.
Protein is one piece. Once you’ve got your number, our macro calculator shows how it slots in against your carbs and fat for the day, useful if macros for muscle gain is the bigger goal here, not just hitting a protein figure in isolation.
Best Protein Sources To Hit Your Daily Target
Eggs, dairy, fish, poultry, soy- these are your complete protein sources, meaning they carry every essential amino acid your body can’t make on its own. Split your target across three or four meals rather than one big serving; the body doesn’t bank protein the way it banks fat.
Chasing a number on the scale isn’t the same as changing your body composition. Our body fat calculator is a better check-in to see if your protein-for-muscle-gain push is actually working.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much protein do I need per day?
Daily protein needs run from 0.8 to 2.4 grams per kilogram of bodyweight, depending on goal. Maintenance sits lowest, muscle building and fat loss both sit higher.
Is more protein always better for muscle gain?
No. Gains plateau near 1.6 grams per kilogram in most research. Eating well above that range adds little extra muscle beyond what that number already supports.
Does fat loss really need more protein than muscle gain?
Often, yes. A calorie deficit raises the risk of muscle loss, so fat loss ranges run slightly higher than muscle gain ranges to protect lean tissue during the cut.
Can I get too much protein?
Healthy adults tolerate high protein intake well, with no confirmed upper safety limit in current research. Kidney or liver conditions change that answer, so those cases need medical guidance first.
Does age change how much protein I need?
Yes. Adults past roughly 50 often need protein at the higher end of their goal range, since aging muscle responds less efficiently to the same gram amount.