Does protein supplementation (or a higher protein diet) promote muscle mass gains?



Protein provides the necessary building blocks for muscle growth. In addition, protein ingestion stimulates muscle protein synthesis (the process driving muscle growth).



Therefore, resistance training and protein supplementation are often combined to gain muscle mass. But is protein supplementation really an effective strategy?



The current study combined the data from all the studies on the topic of protein supplementation and muscle mass gains during resistance training (called a meta-analysis).

The results showed that protein supplementation improved muscle mass gains. However, this was actually quite a big deal, as most individual studies had concluded there was no benefit (most likely because they only had a small number of subjects).



On average, subjects gained an extra ~810 grams of lean mass in ~12 weeks.



Specifically, this data was in healthy young subjects (a combination of untrained and trained subjects), supplementing with ~50 g/d on top of a habitual protein intake of ~1.2 g/kg/d, and on average ~3 training sessions a week. These and other factors will impact how much benefit you get from protein supplementation.

In conclusion: protein supplementation improves muscle mass gains during a resistance training program. However, the additional effect is not as big as many expect.

Study:

Cermak et al. Protein Supplementation Augments the Adaptive Response of Skeletal Muscle to Resistance-Type Exercise Training: A Meta-Analysis. Am J. Clin. Nutr., 2012.

Go to the next infographic in the protein series:

Elderly have lower protein and absorption?