Let’s talk about protein.
I know — you’ve heard it before. “Eat more protein.” But I’m willing to bet most of you don’t really know why, how much, or what happens when you don’t. And if you’re over 40, this conversation is even more urgent than you think.
This post is going to give you real numbers, real science, and real-world applications. No fluff. By the time you’re done reading, you’ll know exactly how much protein you should be eating and why — and that number is almost certainly higher than what you’re eating right now.
What Is Protein, Actually?
Protein is one of three macronutrients (along with carbohydrates and fat). It’s made up of amino acids — the building blocks your body uses for just about everything: muscle tissue, hormones, enzymes, immune function, neurotransmitters, connective tissue, skin, hair. You are, in a very literal sense, made of protein.
There are 20 amino acids total. Nine of them are essential — meaning your body can’t manufacture them on its own, so they have to come from food. These nine are why protein quality matters, not just quantity. Animal-based proteins (meat, fish, eggs, dairy) tend to contain all nine essential amino acids in meaningful amounts. Many plant proteins are either missing some or have them in such low concentrations that you’d need to eat enormous amounts to get adequate levels.
Why Protein Matters (Beyond “Building Muscle”)
Yes, protein builds muscle. But that framing is too narrow — and it sells protein short.
Here’s what adequate protein actually does for you:
Preserves muscle mass. After about age 30, you start losing muscle if you’re not actively doing something to prevent it. By 40, the process accelerates. Researchers call this sarcopenia — age-related muscle loss —, and it’s one of the most significant predictors of poor healthspan in older adults. Dr. Howard Luks has documented extensively how sarcopenia dramatically increases fall risk, metabolic dysfunction, and all-cause mortality. Protein is your primary dietary tool for fighting it.
Keeps you full. Protein is the most satiating macronutrient by a wide margin. When you’re trying to lose body fat, higher protein intake helps you feel full on fewer calories — without the misery. Researchers such as Alan Aragon and Eric Helms have consistently demonstrated this in the fat-loss literature.
Supports recovery. Every training session creates muscle damage. Protein provides the raw materials to repair and rebuild that tissue, making it stronger than before. Without adequate protein, you’re training hard and recovering poorly.
Supports metabolic rate. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. More of it means a higher resting metabolic rate. Protein both builds muscle and has a higher thermic effect than carbs or fat (meaning your body burns more calories just digesting it).
The RDA Is Not Your Friend Here
You’ve probably heard that the RDA for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight (that’s about 0.36 grams per pound). This gets cited endlessly. And I’m here to tell you that for anyone reading this post — active adults who train, who care about body composition, who want to age well — that number is woefully inadequate.
Here’s what the RDA actually represents: the minimum amount needed to prevent deficiency in a sedentary population. It was never designed as an optimal intake. It was designed to keep you from getting sick. That’s a very different standard.
Researchers like Dr. Stuart Phillips, Dr. Donald Layman, Brad Schoenfeld, and Dr. Layne Norton have produced a substantial body of work showing that optimal protein intake for active adults — people who strength train, who are managing body composition, who want to preserve muscle as they age — is significantly higher than the RDA.
The practical consensus among these researchers is 0.7–1.0 grams per pound of body weight per day (roughly 1.6–2.2 grams per kilogram). For most of you, 1 gram per pound of body weight is a simple, evidence-supported target. That means a 150 lb person is shooting for 150g of protein per day, and a 225 lb person is shooting for 225g.
Muscle Protein Synthesis: The Process Behind the Numbers
To understand why protein matters so much — and why how you eat it matters, not just how much — you need to understand Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS).
MPS is the biological process by which your body builds new muscle protein. It’s happening to you right now, at a low baseline rate. Your job is to consistently elevate it above baseline. Resistance training stimulates MPS. Protein intake stimulates MPS. Together, they produce significantly more MPS than either one alone.
Here’s the key insight from Dr. Layne Norton’s work, building on research by Dr. Donald Layman and others: leucine is the trigger.
Leucine is one of the essential amino acids — a branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) —, and it acts as the key that unlocks MPS. Think of leucine as the on-switch. Below a certain threshold (~2–3g leucine per meal), the MPS response is blunted. Hit the threshold, and you get a full anabolic response. This is why both the amount and quality of protein per meal matter.
A quick note on leucine supplements: You might be thinking — why not just take a leucine supplement and call it a day? Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Leucine triggers MPS, but it can’t build muscle on its own. Your body needs the full complement of essential amino acids to actually complete that building process. Think of leucine as the spark that starts the engine — but you still need fuel in the tank. Supplementing leucine alone without adequate total protein is like turning the key and having nothing happen. You need both the signal and the substrate.
High-leucine foods: whey protein, eggs, chicken, beef, fish, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese.
The practical takeaway: you want to hit this leucine threshold at each meal. Based on Norton’s research, roughly 35–50g of high-quality protein per meal is needed to reliably trigger a full MPS response in most adults. Lower-leucine sources (many plant proteins) may require even more total protein to hit the threshold.
What About Collagen Protein?
Collagen supplements have exploded in popularity — and honestly, for good reason in some contexts. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. It’s a structural protein found in skin, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone. Supplementing with collagen peptides, especially around training, has shown real promise for supporting joint health, tendon recovery, and connective tissue integrity.
So what’s the problem? Collagen is not a complete protein. It’s missing or extremely low in several essential amino acids — most notably tryptophan, and it has very little leucine. That means collagen cannot trigger a meaningful MPS response and does not contribute to muscle building the way complete protein sources do.
The bottom line: collagen does not count toward your daily protein target for muscle health. If you’re taking collagen for your joints or skin — keep taking it, there’s good evidence it’s useful for those purposes. But count it separately. Your 150–200g daily protein target should come from complete protein sources. Don’t let collagen intake fool you into thinking you’ve hit your numbers when you haven’t.
Keep MPS Elevated Throughout the Day
MPS is not a constant state — it rises and falls. Norton’s research on protein timing (and work from Dr. Mike Israetel) shows that spreading your protein intake across 3–4 meals is superior to eating it all at once or in just two large meals. You want to repeatedly trigger MPS throughout the day, not just once.
This means eating meaningful protein at breakfast, lunch, and dinner — not backloading it all at dinner. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it matters.
How Much You Need Changes as You Age — And This Part Is Critical
Here’s where things get really important, especially for our community at Ascend.
As we age, something called anabolic resistance develops. Your muscles become less sensitive to the anabolic stimulus of protein. Put simply, the same amount of protein that would maximally stimulate MPS in a 25-year-old will not get the job done in a 60-year-old.
The research is striking. Dr. Layne Norton, synthesizing work from multiple groups, found:
- Compared to 28-year-olds, 68-year-olds required roughly 65% more leucine to maximally stimulate MPS (2.8g vs 1.7g)
- Older adults may need up to 40g of whey protein per meal to max out MPS, versus 20g for younger adults — a 100% difference
This isn’t a small adjustment. This is a fundamental shift in how your body processes protein.
Norton’s recommendation, based on this decline in anabolic sensitivity of approximately 0.6–2.1% per year after 40, is to increase protein intake by roughly 2% per year after age 40, or about 20% per decade.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
| Age Range | Target (g/kg body weight) | Target (g/lb body weight) |
|---|---|---|
| Under 40 | 1.6 g/kg | ~0.73 g/lb |
| 40–49 | 1.9 g/kg | ~0.86 g/lb |
| 50–59 | 2.2 g/kg | ~1.0 g/lb |
| 60–69 | 2.5 g/kg | ~1.14 g/lb |
| 70–79 | 2.8 g/kg | ~1.27 g/lb |
| 80+ | 3.1 g/kg | ~1.41 g/lb |
Let’s work through a real example. A 63-year-old woman weighing 150 lbs (68 kg):
- At 2.5 g/kg → ~170g protein per day
- Per meal (across 4 meals) → ~42g per meal
Compare that to the RDA of 0.8 g/kg, which would give her just 54g total. She’d need more than three times the RDA to actually support her muscle health at this stage of life.
This is why protein is so foundational to our training philosophy at Ascend. We can do everything right in the gym, but without adequate protein, we’re fighting with one hand tied behind our backs.
More Is Better When You’re Losing Fat
If you’re in a caloric deficit trying to lose body fat, your protein needs actually go up, not down.
Here’s the problem: when you’re eating fewer calories than you’re burning, your body is looking for energy anywhere it can find it — including from your muscle tissue. Elevated protein intake acts as a shield against this. It signals to your body that there’s plenty of amino acid availability, which reduces the incentive to cannibalize muscle for fuel.
Research from Brad Schoenfeld, Alan Aragon, and Eric Helms consistently supports protein intakes at or slightly above 1g/lb of body weight during fat-loss phases. Some research suggests that going slightly higher — up to 1.2g/lb — may have additional muscle-sparing benefits during aggressive deficits.
Norton’s data also notes that energy deficits greater than 500 calories per day appear to impair the anabolic response to resistance training — another reason to keep protein high and deficits moderate rather than extreme.
Additionally, protein is a powerful weapon against hunger on a diet. Higher protein intake during a deficit significantly improves satiety. If you’ve ever felt like you were white-knuckling through a diet, chronically hungry and miserable, I’d wager your protein was too low.
What About When You’re Building (Eating in a Surplus)?
This one surprises people. When you’re eating in a caloric surplus — intentionally trying to add muscle — you might think you need even more protein. The research doesn’t really support this.
When calories are adequate or in surplus, your body is more anabolically efficient. You don’t need to go above 1g/lb of body weight. There’s no meaningful evidence that eating 1.5 or 2g/lb produces better muscle-building outcomes than hitting 0.8–1g/lb when calories are sufficient.
Put the extra calories toward carbohydrates to fuel performance. Keep protein in the 0.8–1g/lb range and let the surplus do its job.
Busting the “Your Body Can Only Absorb 30g at a Time” Myth
You’ve heard this one. It’s everywhere. And it’s not accurate.
The idea that your body can only use 30g of protein from a single meal and will simply “waste” the rest is a persistent piece of gym mythology. The science doesn’t support it.
What the research actually shows (summarized well by Dr. Layne Norton) is that while MPS is maximally stimulated with a certain protein dose per meal, your body doesn’t discard the remaining amino acids. They’re still digested, absorbed, and used — for other bodily functions, potentially for later MPS, or stored. The anabolic signaling response plateaus, but absorption doesn’t.
So if you eat a 60g protein meal, your body will use it all — just not all of it for immediate MPS. This matters practically: it means eating larger, less frequent protein meals isn’t a disaster. But it also doesn’t mean you should eat all your protein in one sitting. To maximize MPS throughout the day, spreading it across 3–4 meals remains the optimal strategy.
Protein and Satiety in a Deficit
Let’s expand on this because it’s practically important.
When you’re cutting calories, you’re asking your body to do something it instinctively resists — running below its preferred energy balance. Hunger ramps up. Adherence suffers. This is where most fat loss efforts fall apart.
Protein fights this on multiple levels:
It’s the most satiating macro. Gram for gram, protein suppresses hunger more than carbohydrates or fat. This has been shown consistently in the research.
It preserves lean mass. When lean mass is preserved during a deficit, your resting metabolic rate stays higher, which means you can eat more and still lose fat over time. Muscle is your metabolic engine.
It supports better body composition. Research cited by both Dr. Mike Roussell and Alan Aragon shows that higher protein intakes are associated with greater fat loss and better retention of lean mass at the same caloric deficit compared to lower protein intakes. This means two people eating the same number of calories can achieve very different body composition outcomes based solely on protein intake.
Protein should be the last thing you cut when dieting. Build your meals around it.
Protein and Kidney Disease: Let’s Set the Record Straight
There’s a persistent worry that high protein intake damages the kidneys. I hear this one regularly. Let me address it directly.
In people with existing kidney disease, protein restriction is medically warranted. The kidneys filter the metabolic byproducts of protein metabolism, and when kidney function is compromised, excessive protein can worsen the strain.
But here’s the key distinction: in healthy individuals with normal kidney function, the research does not support the idea that high protein intake causes kidney damage. Multiple large reviews and meta-analyses have examined this directly and found no causal relationship between high dietary protein intake and kidney disease in people without pre-existing renal issues.
If you have kidney disease or a family history of kidney problems, work with your physician on protein targets — this is not a situation for a blanket recommendation. But if your kidneys are healthy, high protein intake is safe.
Putting It All Together: Your Actionable Numbers
Here’s your simple, evidence-based starting point:
If you’re under 40 and resistance training: 0.7–1.0 g/lb body weight per day (1.6–2.2 g/kg)
If you’re 40–49 and resistance training: ~0.86 g/lb (1.9 g/kg)
If you’re 50–59 and resistance training: ~1.0 g/lb (2.2 g/kg)
If you’re 60–69 and resistance training: ~1.1–1.15 g/lb (2.5 g/kg)
If you’re 70+ and resistance training: 1.25–1.4 g/lb (2.8–3.1 g/kg)
If you’re in a fat-loss phase, add 10–20% to your baseline target. Protect your muscles at all costs.
If you’re in a building phase (surplus): 0.8–1.0 g/lb is sufficient. Channel extra calories toward carbs.
Per meal target: Aim for 35–50g of high-quality, leucine-rich protein per meal across 3–4 meals per day.
What Does 40g of Protein Actually Look Like?
Before we get to full-day examples, let’s anchor what a single high-protein serving looks like. Remember, 35–50g per meal is the target to reliably trigger MPS.
Chicken Breast: A 6 oz cooked chicken breast delivers approximately 42g of protein. That’s a standard-sized breast — nothing crazy.
Eggs: Two whole eggs only get you about 12g. To hit 40g from eggs alone, you’re looking at 6–7 eggs. More realistically, pair 3 eggs with egg whites or another protein source.
93% Lean Ground Beef or Steak: A 6 oz serving delivers roughly 40–44g of protein. A lean hamburger patty or a palm-sized steak gets the job done.
Cottage Cheese: One cup of low-fat cottage cheese has around 25–28g. You’ll need about 1.5 cups to crack 40g — completely doable as a meal or snack.
Greek Yogurt: One cup of plain non-fat Greek yogurt delivers about 20–23g. Great to stack with other sources, less ideal as a standalone.
Canned Tuna or Salmon: One 5-oz can of tuna has about 35g. Two cans put you solidly over 40g. Convenient, cheap, and easy.
Whey Protein Shake: Most quality whey protein scoops deliver 24–27g per scoop. Two scoops = roughly 48–54g. Fast, easy, and highly leucine-rich.
Beans or Lentils: Here’s where plant proteins get tricky. One cup of cooked lentils has about 18g of protein, and the leucine content is significantly lower than that of animal sources. To hit 40g from lentils alone, you’d need well over two cups, and you still might not hit the leucine threshold to maximally trigger MPS. Plant-based athletes need to be especially intentional about both volume and variety.
What Does a Day of Protein Actually Look Like?
Numbers on paper are one thing. Here’s what hitting your target actually looks like spread across four meals.
The 150g Day (150 lb athlete)
Meal 1 — Breakfast 3 whole eggs + 3 egg whites scrambled, 1 cup cottage cheese on the side → ~38–40g protein
Meal 2 — Lunch 6 oz grilled chicken breast over a salad or in a wrap → ~42g protein
Meal 3 — Post-Training / Afternoon 1.5–2 scoops whey protein shake + a piece of fruit → ~35–40g protein
Meal 4 — Dinner 5–6 oz lean ground beef or salmon with vegetables and rice → ~38–42g protein
Daily Total: ~153–164g ✓
The 225g Day (225 lb athlete)
Meal 1 — Breakfast 5 whole eggs scrambled + 1 cup Greek yogurt + 1 scoop whey mixed in yogurt or a shake on the side → ~55–60g protein
Meal 2 — Lunch 8 oz grilled chicken or two 5 oz cans of tuna with greens and olive oil → ~55–60g protein
Meal 3 — Post-Training / Afternoon 2 scoops whey protein shake + 1 cup cottage cheese → ~55–60g protein
Meal 4 — Dinner 8–9 oz lean steak or salmon + side of Greek yogurt or a second small shake if needed → ~55–65g protein
Daily Total: ~220–245g ✓
A few things worth noting: the 225g day is doable — but it requires intentionality at every meal. This is why we say you need to build your meals around protein. If you wait until dinner to start thinking about it, you’ll be eating a pound of chicken at 9 pm, trying to catch up. Plan ahead. Protein first, everything else fills in around it.
Protein isn’t just a bodybuilding thing. It’s a longevity thing.
The research is detailed: we lose muscle as we age, and the older we get, the harder it becomes to build and keep it. The combination of resistance training and adequate protein intake is the most powerful intervention we have to slow that process down.
Most people eat around 60–100g of protein per day. Based on everything we just covered, that’s likely half of what they actually need.
This is one of the simplest, most impactful changes you can make. Start tracking your protein for two weeks. Aim for your bodyweight in grams. Notice how you feel, how you recover, how full you are, and how your training responds.
The training is the stimulus. The protein is the raw material. You need both.
In my next post, we’ll go deeper on anabolic resistance — what it really means, why it happens, and what we can do about it beyond just eating more protein.
