How to set protein targets for clients - protein is the macro you set first.

What gram-per-kilogram range do you start from?

Start from the goal. For a client who trains and wants to build or hold muscle, a daily intake of about 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight is the workhorse range that the evidence keeps landing on, and most clients do well somewhere in its middle. In a fat-loss phase you move up, not down: roughly 1.8 to 2.4 grams per kilogram, and toward the very top for a lean client dieting hard, because a deficit is exactly when muscle is most at risk and when appetite most needs managing. For a general-health client who is not training seriously and just wants a sensible floor, 1.4 to 1.6 grams per kilogram is plenty.

Two honest notes keep this from becoming dogma. First, the differences inside these bands are small in practice - a client who lands at 1.9 instead of 2.1 grams per kilogram is not leaving results on the table, so do not agonise over the decimal. Second, eating far above the top of the range is not dangerous for a healthy person, but it rarely adds anything and it crowds out the carbohydrate that fuels hard training, so there is no reason to prescribe it. Pick a range from the goal, then narrow it with the client factors in the next step.

What moves the target for this specific client?

How should the client spread protein across the day?

The default is to split the daily target across three to five meals, each carrying a meaningful dose of roughly 0.4 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight - about 25 to 40 grams for most clients, a division a protein per meal calculator works out in seconds and flags when a meal falls short. That spread keeps muscle protein synthesis topped up through the day, and it does something just as useful for adherence: it turns one intimidating daily number into four ordinary meals. A client asked to eat 160 grams over four 40-gram meals will manage far more reliably than one told to hit 160 grams however they like, which usually collapses into a protein-light day and a giant dinner that never quite closes the gap.

Keep the distribution advice light-handed, though, because total daily protein is the main driver by a wide margin and meal timing is a small optimisation on top of it. If a client's schedule realistically allows only two solid protein meals, hitting the daily total across those two still does most of the work - do not let a distribution rule cost you the total. Protein around training is a real but minor detail worth its own read; the practicalities of timing sit in the guide to protein timing. Meet the daily number first; refine the spread once that is a habit.

How do you turn a target into a number the client actually hits?

A protein target only exists once the client eats it, so the last step is translating grams-per-kilogram into something a person can hit without a spreadsheet. Round the daily figure to a clean number - 150 or 160 grams, not 157 - because a tidy target is easier to remember and to build meals around. Then anchor it to food the client already eats: a portion of chicken, fish or lean meat, a scoop of protein, a serving of Greek yoghurt or eggs, each landing near the per-meal dose. Most clients hit their target far more consistently when they think in a handful of repeatable protein portions than when they chase an exact gram count at every meal.

This is also where the adherence-first principle earns its keep. A target of 1.8 grams per kilogram that the client reaches five days out of seven beats a "textbook" 2.4 grams they hit twice and abandon. If a client is missing the number, the fix is usually a structural one - a protein-anchored breakfast, a default lunch, a shake as a reliable backstop - not a sternly worded reminder to eat more. Set the target with the person's real week in mind, watch the food log for where protein actually falls short, and adjust the plan around that, exactly as you would when assessing nutrition progress. A reachable target followed is worth more than an ideal one ignored.

Where the protein target lives, and where you see it get hit.

A protein target is only as good as the client's ability to hit it, which is why setting it and watching it land want to live in the same place. In Coachway you set calorie and macro targets per client and per weekday, with date exceptions for phase work like a diet block or a heavier training week, so a client's protein can sit higher on training days if you want it to. The client then logs food against that target - by barcode, photo or a quick manual add - and macro rings move as they eat, so both of you can see at a glance whether the protein number is actually being met rather than assumed. Every feature is included at EUR 69 a month with your first 5 clients, then EUR 9 per additional client, and the platform is built on knowledge from working with 150 online coaches over 6+ years. The 14-day free trial starts with a card held securely by Stripe and cancels under Billing before it renews, or you can book a demo and see the nutrition screens first.