I get the feeling that it all depends on just how good your workouts are. There must be a limit though as to how much of ones protein intake can actually get used to build those used up and beat up muscle cells?

Obviously some proteins go into normal body maintenance. Some might get burned as fuel but what goes into muscle? Many proteins taken in aren't all fully complemented, what happens to those?

Thanks! I've just never run into this in my reading.

Very gopod question

You actually use your brain instead of chugging down endless quantities of protein to try and get "big"

A limit your after? Well thats a bit too specific but thats why theres recommended protein intake available out there that give you different requirements depending on your type of activities and expertise. Contrary to popular belief and personal anecdotes for weight lifting for example, figures have shown 1.5g per kg.

All protein get digested and taken up. They distribute as amino acids and make up all the essential things in the body like hair enzymes muscle etc. If you consume too much then it gets converted to fat and some of the amino acids in the blood also get used as energy.

LOL, but understandable.
At 62 years, 168lb @ 6' I'm not really looking to get big. Keeping fit, preventing loss of muscle while developing overall strength as needed for a good life is my goal. In the end I like my clothes to fit nice and don't want to have a set for bulked and another for lean.

I intake between 2000-2600 calories a day and try to make about 600-700 of those from protein. While it's not the 1.5g/kg, it's the best I can do, just as dfficult is getting enough fiber, which seems to be very important at this age. For sure there's no surplus of protein for me to worry about, the question just popped into my head and I thought to sk.

Thanks for the reply!

dephela, the fiber intake is something I also consider very important and somewhat difficult without the use of supplementation. I now take what could be considered "extreme" quantities of fiber, including sources such as ground flax seed, psyllium (metamucil), and oat fiber. The oat fiber is 96% soluble fiber, so it makes it really easy to get what you need. I add it to my whey shakes, baked goods, etc. I've also found that the orange flavored (sugar free) metamucil seems to go very well with orange flavored fish oil...killing two birds with one stone on that one.

As for the protein, I started taking WAY too much protein for a time, even during some pretty heavy lifting periods, and found that even keeping my total calories constant, my BF numbers would go up slightly, probably due to that protein being converted to fat. So, don't take too much. I am now on about .8g/lb body weight right now and seem to be making good progress in my lean mass goals and strength. Maybe if I was younger than 39, I could get away with more protein, but that's kind of my sweet spot. When we try to bulk and cut at the same time (I know they are contradictory) there will be compromises, but if done right, those compromises can be limited to slower progress in both, but progress.

I was always told that the amount of protein you consume in a day should match your ideal weight, for instance if your target weight is 120, then you would consume 120 grams of protein/day, targeting around 25-30 grams per meal. I've been going by that for a while; it's a great system (at least from a woman's perspective).