Is it OK to go Over My Protein Target?
Where there's a food product, there's probably a high-protein version of it.
That alone illustrates the focus that's been put onto eating more protein.
And this focus is certainly warranted - at least to a certain extent.
The effect of consuming sufficient protein on health, performance, recovery, and body composition are clear to see in the scientific literature.
But this increased focus, and the subsequent marketing, can lead to you thinking you need more than you actually do.
For example, I've noticed many of my own athlete clients either being surprised with the recommended protein target I set for them - it's often lower than they expect - or asking if it's ok for them to go over that target.
Hence the question posed in this article.
There are a few components to this that I'll go through here in order to answer it.
The first is to say that my general recommendation is for athletes to consume around 2g of protein per kg of bodyweight per day.
I give this recommendation because it's a simple one to remember and use, but to be transparent, when calculating a protein target for my clients, I actually use a calculation based on an estimate of their lean body mass as opposed to bodyweight.
It's not necessary to get into that here, but the reason for this is that it accounts for the fact that leaner individuals generally need higher intakes of protein relative to their bodyweight than overweight individuals.
Regardless of that digression, let's take an 80kg athlete.
Their protein target will usually work out at around 160g per day.
For most athletes, who tend to eat a decent amount of food, have their main meals built around a protein source, and maybe throw down a protein shake after training, a target like that tends to be quite easy to hit.
But as is typical with us athletes, if it doesn't feel difficult, we often think we should be doing more.
“If my muscle gain, adaptation to training, and recovery is improved by eating sufficient protein, eating more will bring more of those benefits.” - that's the thought process.
Unfortunately, however, outside of a few specific scenarios, going beyond a certain threshold of protein intake doesn't seem to yield more of those benefits.
So the question then becomes, "Even if there are no upsides, can I go over my protein target just to be sure, or because I enjoy eating that way, or are there any downsides?"
If we're speaking strictly from a health perspective, there doesn't seem to be any major downsides to going over the previously-mentioned protein target.
There are even studies showing this at intakes as high as 3g of protein per kg of bodyweight per day.
Of course, at this high intake, your food bill might be higher given that protein sources tend to the more expensive ingredient on the plate.
Some people might also find digestive discomfort becoming an issue at those higher intakes.
But the biggest potential downside I see is that in order to stay within a certain caloric target, the calories consumed through protein will have to be compensated for by a decrease in carb and/or fat intake.
Importantly for athletes, those extra protein calories could have been allocated to carbohydrates instead.
Carbohydrates are your primary fuel source for high-intensity training and competition.
So whilst hitting your protein target is crucial for adaptation and recovery, once you've met that requirement, additional calories will usually be better spent on carbs to support your performance and training quality.
In summary, going over your protein target isn't necessarily harmful from a health perspective, but it's worth considering the opportunity cost.
My recommendation is to aim to hit your protein target consistently, knowing that if you occasionally go slightly over, it's not a concern.
However, if you find yourself regularly exceeding your target by a significant amount, especially at the expense of your carbohydrate intake, you may be limiting your performance potential without gaining any additional benefits from the extra protein.
Article Written By Conor O’Neill
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