06/01/2024
How much protein do you need as an endurance runner?
As runners, we often hear the debate about high-fat vs. high-carb diets and see strong opinions on either side. However, that's a topic for another post. What we all agree on is that protein is vital for performance, driven mainly by its role in muscle growth and repair. But that leaves us with the question,
"How much protein do you really need?"
To understand how much protein we need to consume, we need to know how much is necessary for the result we want. If our sport demanded large muscles, we would need sufficient protein to support muscle growth. This typically starts at 1.4g of protein/kg of lean body mass and goes up to roughly 2g/kg of lean body mass. But having large, heavy muscles isn't what you need to be an efficient runner. So, our goal is to have enough protein to support muscle repair, allowing us to train harder for longer and reduce our risk of injury or over-training. This typically lands in the much more reasonable 1.2g - 1.4g per kg body mass.
However, there are always some caveats when it comes to nutrition, and one is that if you're eating in a deficit and losing weight during your training season, aim for a higher proportion of calories from protein to reduce the weight loss from muscle tissue.
If you'd like to know more about how protein is used by endurance athletes and some strategies for maintaining proper intake, please follow the link below to our latest article on the subject.
