lean strength athletes

[jeremys]

we all know the stereotype that powerlifters and strongmen are fatasses. but if you look at b-fold, mendelson, vogelpohl, pudzianowski, captain kirk, etc, you see that this just isnt true.

low-carb diets really won't work for strength athletes, as carbs are needed to fuel training and recovery.

so what do these guys/you guys do to be rather lean? im thinking just the basics..a little cardio/GPP, not mixing fat and carbs, and not eating sugary crap.

anything else?

 

[spatts]

Diet and the calories in/out factor.

Personally, I carb rotate. That way I always have enough fuel for my training, but not any left over that storing extra is a problem.

I also do alot of agility work, sprints, and other GPP...as you mentioned.

So yeah, I think you're ideas are pretty accurate.

 

[IronLion]

You can mix fat and carbs all you want, the menardi plan is a good one for bb because it allows for lean bulking but it is not the best strength wise.

One thing I have noticed is that once my lbm got up above 260 pounds it became hard to put on weight, especially when training. Take Bill Kazemeyer for example: he was 330 pounds at 8-10% bf in his prime. That means his lbm was around 300 pounds. That means that his basal metabolic rate was somewhere at 5-6000 calories BEFORE training. As you can see it would take an inhuman daily intake of food to create a calorie surplus.

 

[Zander1983]

Good thread jeremys.

We'll take proper weight training as a given, obviously...

There's no doubt that energy system training is incredibly important. Not slow-go hour-long bullshit cardio. Real stuff like sprinting, interval training, 400m runs... This type of training is not going to compromise strength or lean muscle gain. It can enhance both if used correctly.

How you use carbs is crucial, I think. Type and timing are especially important when you're concerned about being lean. I'm not really into worrying about whether I should be avoiding carbs at night time before bed, but I do think it is important to time the right type of carbs around your workout. Low GI before, high GI after, quite simply.

There's a lot more to it than that, however...

 

[jeremys]

There's a lot more to it than that, however...

please elaborate if and when possible. thanks

 

[Zander1983]

Well, the guys you mention are a choice bunch from the genetic pool. That's something you can't train or manipulate. Sure, at 175lbs and 17 years old you would've never said that about b fold, but you have to concede that not everybody can get to where he has got naturally in such a short time frame.

As for low carb diets not working for strength athletes, that isn't necessarily true either. Poliquin has his footballers such as Dave Boston on diets that are what the majority of athletes would consider extremely low-carb. Likewise John Davies. Their diets promote quality produce rather than excessive carb intake.

 

[jeremys]

Well, the guys you mention are a choice bunch from the genetic pool. That's something you can't train or manipulate. Sure, at 175lbs and 17 years old you would've never said that about b fold, but you have to concede that not everybody can get to where he has got naturally in such a short time frame.

As for low carb diets not working for strength athletes, that isn't necessarily true either. Poliquin has his footballers such as Dave Boston on diets that are what the majority of athletes would consider extremely low-carb. Likewise John Davies. Their diets promote quality produce rather than excessive carb intake.

i know that for me, the low-carb route is hell on my strength and energy levels. i've heard others say the same things happened to them. it's interesting that a few can make it work. i suppose 'low-carb' is relative also

 

[Zander1983]

For those people, low carb doesn't mean no carb. They still have their high GI carbs during and after training, and plenty of oatmeal and good quality vegetables, on top of the meat and the like. Relative to other athletes they are very low carb, but relative to a bodybuilder, it would be a moderate to low (not no) carb diet.

 

[jeremys]

For those people, low carb doesn't mean no carb. They still have their high GI carbs during and after training, and plenty of oatmeal and good quality vegetables, on top of the meat and the like. Relative to other athletes they are very low carb, but relative to a bodybuilder, it would be a moderate to low (not no) carb diet.

oh. gotcha.

 

[SeanHolmz]

genetics and the sauce helps too. no, im not referring to you, b-fold.