Can you build muscle just by eating more protein, without training?

1. 01

   Can you build muscle just by eating more protein, without training?

   'More protein → more muscle': true without exercise?

   Muscle is made of protein, so some say eating lots of it builds muscle on its own. We gathered experiments that raised protein without any exercise and checked how lean mass (muscle and everything except fat) and arm and leg muscle changed.

   
2. 02

   On paper, it went up

   Without training, lean mass rose 0.53 kg

   In an analysis that pooled 105 studies with 5,402 people, the 66 groups (3,180 people) that raised protein without strength training gained on average 0.53 kg more lean mass than the comparison groups. This showed no difference from the 0.48 kg in groups that also did strength training.

   
3. 03

   But many were losing weight

   Without dieters, there was no difference

   Of those 105 studies, 41 were aggressive weight-loss experiments. In an analysis of 74 studies of healthy people that left out weight-loss trials, the 6 studies that raised protein without exercise showed no difference in lean mass. The 62 studies with strength training showed a gain.

   
4. 04

   The gain was in the trunk

   Arm and leg muscle: 0.11 kg, unchanged

   29 people over 70 ate a set diet for 10 weeks. With 112 g of protein a day (for a 70 kg body), lean mass rose 1.49 kg, of which 1.39 kg was in the trunk, and the arms and legs changed by only 0.11 kg. With 56 g, arms and legs lost 0.64 kg. Leg-straightening power rose only in the 112 g group.

   
5. 05

   Six months of more protein: same muscle

   92 people, no difference in lean mass or strength

   92 people over 65 ate a set diet for 6 months with 56 g or 91 g of protein a day (for a 70 kg body). Lean mass, strength and walking speed showed no difference, and only body fat fell 1.12 kg more in the 91 g group.

   
6. 06

   If you already eat enough, it adds less

   Above 91 g a day, the gain drops from 0.39 to 0.12 kg

   For a 70 kg body, below 91 g a day each extra 7 g of protein went with 0.39 kg more lean mass, but above 91 g it was 0.12 kg. Strength training greatly reduced this drop. An analysis of 1,682 older people also found no lean mass gain from eating more protein.

   
7. 07

   Summary: protein without training protected muscle

   Muscle grew when strength training was added

   In the study of 29 people over 70, arm and leg muscle shrank at 56 g a day but did not shrink at 112 g. But in experiments where older people added protein without exercise, arm and leg muscle did not grow, and 6 months made no difference. To build muscle, adding strength training to the protein is the way.

   

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