The short answer
To build muscle, eat 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of your goal body weight every day. After 40, split it into meals of 30 to 40 grams.
Lean 180 is the goal? That's 126 to 180 grams a day. Dad OS aims for the top: 180.
Your number by goal weight
Goal weight | Minimum to build | Dad OS target |
|---|---|---|
170 lb | 119 g | 170 g |
180 lb | 126 g | 180 g |
190 lb | 133 g | 190 g |
200 lb | 140 g | 200 g |
220 lb | 154 g | 220 g |
What changed after 40
In your 20s, a turkey sandwich was enough to flip the muscle-building switch. With age, that switch gets stiff.
Researchers call it anabolic resistance. Plain version: your muscles stop answering small requests. One study found older men needed about 70 percent more protein in a meal than young men to get the same response.
It's like a phone with a worn-out charging port. The charger still works. You just have to push the plug in harder. For most dads, harder means 40 grams a meal instead of 20.
Protein is lumber. Lifting is the contractor.
Protein alone builds nothing. A pile of lumber in the driveway doesn't turn into a deck. Lifting is what tells your body to use that protein for muscle.
Skip the training and the extra protein just becomes fuel. Expensive fuel.
The 3 moves
Move 1: Set your number. Goal weight times 1. Put it on a sticky note on the fridge. That's the target every day.
Move 2: Build every meal around 40 grams. Protein goes on the plate first. Two palms of chicken, 4 eggs with a cup of Greek yogurt, or a scoop of whey in a big glass of milk all get you there.
Move 3: Lift 3 days a week and add a little every week. Full body: goblet squats, bench press or push-ups, dumbbell rows, Romanian deadlifts. One more rep or 5 more pounds each week. New to lifting? Start with push-ups, air squats, and pull-ups, 3 sets of 8 to 10.
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I'm Jason, a dad of two in my 40s. Every Tuesday and Thursday I send one idea and three moves for dads who want to drop body fat and build muscle at the same time. Five minutes to read. Free.
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Common questions
Can I eat too much protein to build muscle?
Past about 1 gram per pound, you don't build extra muscle. The extra just gets burned as calories. More isn't better. Enough is better.
Does protein before bed help?
Studies in older men found 40 grams of slow-digesting casein protein before sleep increased muscle building overnight. The cheap version is a cup and a half of cottage cheese, about 37 grams.
Can I build muscle and lose fat at the same time after 40?
Yes, especially if you're coming back to lifting after a few years off. It takes high protein, steady lifting, and a small calorie gap, not a crash diet. The protein side of that is here: how much protein to eat to lose fat after 40.
Keep reading
I'm not a doctor. If you have kidney disease or another medical condition, check with yours before changing how much protein you eat.