What’s the right amount of protein for reaching your goals? It depends on the goal, of course. If you’re an aspiring female physique competitor, a study recently published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism offers interesting insight.

Seventeen women in their early 20s participated in an 8-week resistance training program. During this period, some subjects consumed 2.5 grams of protein per kg of body weight each day while others consumed 0.9 grams per kg of body weight on a daily basis.

Subjects on the higher protein diet gained an average of 4.6 pounds of lean mass while losing about 2.4 pounds of body fat. Subjects on the lower protein diet gained an average of 1.3 pounds of lean mass while shedding about 1.5 pounds of fat.

All subjects realized increases in strength with no differences between groups.