The Study
Is There a Minimum Protein Intake Associated With Resistance Training to Optimize Skeletal Muscle Mass Gains in Untrained Older Women?
This study looked at whether older women who lift weights and eat more protein gain more muscle—and found that those who ate more protein tended to gain a little more muscle. But it didn’t prove that the protein caused the gain; maybe those women were just healthier overall or ate more calories.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at older women who started lifting weights and found that those who ate more protein gained more muscle — but only up to a point.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 544 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1For an older woman weighing 65 kg (about 143 lbs), this means eating around 72 grams of protein per day may help her build more muscle from weight training — but eating way more won't help much more.
- 2Women who ate about 1.1 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day gained more muscle than those who ate less.
- 3Eating more than that didn't show extra benefit.
- 4Protein intake didn't affect fat loss.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Journal of strength and conditioning research
Year
2025
Authors
A. Ribeiro, Jefferson Alencar da Silva, Witalo Kassiano, Natã Stavinski, Diogo Martinho, M. Antunes, L. T. Cyrino, P. Sugihara Júnior, R. R. Fernandes, A. P. Santos, Ricardo J. Rodrigues, A. Aguiar, E. Cyrino
Related Content
Claims (7)
Healthy adults should consume 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. People who do resistance training should aim for up to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.
Resistance training increases the effectiveness of dietary protein in preserving muscle mass and supporting physical function.
In healthy older women around 69 years old, doing resistance training three times a week for six months with eight exercises performed in three sets of 8 to 15 repetitions results in an increase in skeletal muscle mass.
In older women doing resistance training, the amount of protein consumed is weakly related to changes in muscle mass, accounting for only a small part of the differences seen between individuals.
In older women who are new to resistance training and follow a standardized program for 24 weeks, consuming more than 1.1 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily is associated with greater gains in skeletal muscle mass.
In previously untrained older women doing resistance training, consuming about 1.1 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily is linked to larger increases in muscle mass than consuming less protein, with the clearest benefit occurring between 0.9 and 1.3 grams per kilogram per day.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.