Protein for endurance athletes
Endurance — running, cycling, triathlon, swimming
Endurance training raises protein needs, but less than most people assume: around 1.4 grams per kilogram of body weight per day, against a published athlete range of 1.2 to 2.0. The larger nutritional lever in endurance sport is carbohydrate, not protein — which is the opposite of how most training-adjacent advice is written.
Your number
About 98 g of protein a day.
1.4 g per kg of body weight. A starting point for a typical training week, not a prescription — a hard week runs higher and a rest day runs lower.
Why this differs from the ordinary recommendation
Endurance work damages muscle less per hour than repeated sprinting or lifting does, so the repair requirement is lower even when the training hours are much higher.
Protein matters here for adaptation rather than size: mitochondria, enzymes and the machinery that makes aerobic training work are all protein.
Eating well above this range is not harmful for most people, but it tends to displace carbohydrate, which is the fuel the training actually runs on.
Figures from the American College of Sports Medicine, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Dietitians of Canada — joint position stand, Nutrition and Athletic Performance (2016). Ranges are given at the conservative end — see the note on each number above.
Where this stops being useful
This is a daily average across a training block, not a rule for a single day. Anyone with kidney disease should take protein targets from their doctor rather than from a general guideline.
Healthy Squirrel gives nutrition estimates, not medical advice.
Foods highest in protein (per 100 g)
| Food | per 100 g | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|
| Mollusks, whelk, unspecified, cooked, moist heat | 48 g | 95% |
| Cheese, parmesan, low sodium | 42 g | 83% |
| Pork, cured, bacon, cooked, microwaved | 39 g | 78% |
| Soybeans, mature seeds, roasted, salted | 39 g | 77% |
| Veal, leg (top round), separable lean only, cooked, braised | 37 g | 73% |
| Lupins, mature seeds, raw | 36 g | 72% |
| Beef, round, top round, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, choice, cooked, braised | 36 g | 72% |
| Veal, shoulder, arm, separable lean only, cooked, braised | 36 g | 71% |
| Lamb, shoulder, arm, separable lean only, trimmed to 1/4" fat, choice, cooked, braised | 36 g | 71% |
| Veal, cubed for stew (leg and shoulder), separable lean only, cooked, braised | 35 g | 70% |
| Beef, chuck, arm pot roast, separable lean only, trimmed to 1/8" fat, choice, cooked, braised | 35 g | 69% |
| Veal, rib, separable lean only, cooked, braised | 34 g | 69% |
Per 100 g from USDA FoodData Central, whole foods, highest first. In the app every amount scales to the serving you actually log.
More detail on this nutrient: foods highest in protein.
Track it without doing the arithmetic
Healthy Squirrel has a endurance training mode that sets these targets from your body weight, then fills them in as you log food — alongside every other vitamin and mineral. It's free, there's no account needed to start, and nothing is sold.
Open Healthy Squirrel, then choose Endurance under Training in Settings.
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