How nærwert sets your protein and bulking rate

When you choose Gain weight or Build muscle, nærwert does two things differently from a simple calorie target: it scales your protein to your body weight, and it suggests a steady, conservative rate of weight gain. Both choices are based on published sports-nutrition research.

Protein scaled to your body weight

Protein needs track body weight, not a fixed percentage of calories. nærwert targets:

  • Build muscle: about 2.0 g of protein per kg of body weight
  • Gain weight: about 1.6 g per kg
  • Lose weight: about 1.8 g per kg (more protein helps protect muscle while you eat in a deficit)
  • Maintain weight: about 1.4 g per kg

These sit inside the range that research supports. The International Society of Sports Nutrition concludes that 1.4–2.0 g/kg/day is sufficient to build and keep muscle for most active people, and that intakes of 1.6–2.2 g/kg/day are linked to greater gains in lean mass for people doing resistance training. A large meta-analysis found that benefits for muscle gain level off at around 1.62 g/kg/day, which is why our weight-gain target sits there and our muscle-building target reaches toward the top of the range.

The rest of your calories are split between fat (about 25% of energy) and carbohydrates (the remainder), so you have enough fat for hormone health and enough carbohydrate to fuel training.

A steady, lean rate of weight gain

Gaining weight quickly does not build muscle faster — past a point, the extra weight is mostly fat. Research on “lean bulking” recommends gaining roughly 0.25–0.5% of your body weight per week on a modest calorie surplus (about 10–20% above maintenance). More experienced lifters generally do best toward the lower end of that range.

That is why the pace options for Build muscle are smaller (about 0.125–0.4 kg per week) than for general weight gain, and why nærwert defaults to a conservative rate. You can always adjust the pace during onboarding.

It is still a starting point

These targets are evidence-based defaults, not a prescription. Use the first few weeks as feedback: if your weight trend or progress in the gym is not moving as expected, adjust gradually. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, are recovering from an eating disorder, or are unsure what is appropriate for you, speak with a qualified healthcare professional.

References