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How low are we taking?
The lower range for endurance athletes translates to 21% of your calories coming from highly available protein sources. The maintenance minimum is about 13%. 21% doesn’t even require supplements for anyone who eats animal products, it’s pretty hard to only eat that much most of the time :)
It’s also not simply protein but a large number of minerals and vitamins involved in synthesis too. Lots of people focus on the protein aspect when it’s other nutritional aspects that constrain synthesis for them.
> Does that mean my workouts have been pointless?
No. Even if you were below the ideal range and the rest of your diet was perfect it would just mean reduced muscle growth, you would still add tone and improve the function of your muscles (and the rest of your body).
> Will I be able to gain muscle at a quicker rate now that I am going to adjust my protein, or is that essentially just most time?
That’s not really an answerable question. Maybe, it could also have no impact at all.
If you’re cutting & consistently in a caloric deficit you won’t be gaining muscle, unless you started the cut as a total noob in the gym. Recomposing is possible, but usually only if you’re really fat &/ or are brand new to the gym or coming off a very long training hiatus (12+ months).
High protein diets on a cut will help you retain whatever lean mass you have as well as satiate your appetite, but you won’t be gaining for the most part. How large of a deficit are you in? A lot of people will sell you lies but .8 grams per pound of body weight is a good number for hypertrophy training/ cutting, etc.