Powerlifting Nutrition 101!!!

[vtec96]

Big people lift big weights. Eating tuna fish and rice cakes is ok if you are on a deserted island and cannot fashion a spear to kill a pig, or monkey or something, but men need to eat meat!!!

Red meat will make you stronger than clean "bodybuilder" foods. I have no emperical evidence to back this up, but I know if I eat steak, baked potatoes and burgers, etc. . . I will lift more than if I eat rice cakes, salads, and tofu.

"Cholesterol increases testosterone." - Louie Simmons

"Nutrition is highly overrated." - Dave Tate

"Real men don't eat quiche" Anonymous

"Hell, a real man eats anything slower than him that at one time could look at him." - Benchmonster.

B.

B, good post, that about sums it up...

Actually I did some research and found the Mac's are not that bad.... they have almost 600 cals (590) around 34g fat 11 sat. 24g protein, and around 47g carbs... Not as bad as I thought.....

Now, with respect to getting more strength from Mac's vs. whey and Flax .... I think one of the main reasons might be that he was not getting close to 3000 cals from the whey and flax ... where as 5 Macs would be close to 3000 cals and plenty of fat!! So it may be that these extra cals & fat were much needed energy and did the trick....

Regarding "Nutrition is highly overrated." ... im starting to get that idea ... However, I feel its still important to some degree, but proably is overrated ... & Prob more so for a PL than a BB... Just my .02 ...

I dont eat too much fast food, but I remember the last time I did: I went to MD's and got like 2 fish sand's, fries and a large soda.. around 12-1pm... Worked out around 6pm and really felt like I had LOTS of energy!! Dont remember if I set any PR's but I remember feeling stong and having plenty of energy..... Maybe a coincedence... but Im starting to think that it wasnt and at some point(s) your body prob needs this type of food to "REFUEL" your tanks ...........
may have to start going to some drive-thru's for lunch more often

 

[benchmonster]

What I eat would make a bodybuilder die from shock just at the knowledge of it, and I PR all the time. My bench has gone up 150 lbs in 10 months. I am planning on a 175 lb increase from July 2001 to July 2002. This is my 1st year powerlifting, and I eat whatever I want. Except when making weight. I eat taco's, burgers, burrito's, steak, pizza, literally anything I can get my hands on.

If I am too heavy for a class, I would cut carbs. Too light? Eat more. Not rocket science. I eat 5 or 6 times per day. Not because Joe Weider says to, but because that is how often I get hungry. If I miss a meal, I get very grouchy. All that having been said. I have not grown in bodywieght much at all in the last year. At least not in relation to my strength increase. I weighed in last July for my first meet at 215, which was the biggest I had ever been in my life. I have been as heavy as 230 since then, but pulled to 218 for a meet this weekend. I had the best day I have ever had. No ill effects.

I really believe that for a powerlifter, diet is way overrated. At least the quality of it. Not necessarily the quantity.

B.

 

[vtec96]

maybe they use high androgenic grade a prime cut cattle beef that were recently injected with a high anabolic vetenarian steroid moments before processing???

could that be why they made him strongeR?

Or maybe Deciever has it right.....

 

[speedDemon]

very well said irishpower,i agree with you totally!!!!!!!..

 

[Arioch]

Red meat will make you stronger than clean "bodybuilder" foods. I have no emperical evidence to back this up, but I know if I eat steak, baked potatoes and burgers, etc. . . I will lift more than if I eat rice cakes, salads, and tofu.

Red meat is a good natual source of, aside from protein, creatine, chromium, B-vitamins, iron, etc. Also very high in the amino acid l-carnitine, which is essential to enable the mitochonria of the cells to fire (which stimulates fat burning). Very good source of conjugated linoleic acid as well.

While a certain amount of cholesterol is necessary for the formation of all steroidal hormones (all of which posses the same four carbon ring structure at the core, including cholesterol and vitamin D-3), the amount is not that significant. However, a diet too low in fat will decrease testosterone levels over time. (numerous studies back this up).

While I feel that nutrition is not as important for a powerlifter as it is for a bodybuilder, obviously, I do think that more powerlifters could improve their results within their weight class with a little more attention to detail.


On a personal note, I cannot eat big macs. I never use salt, and when I eat one of them, I am so bloated I expect to cramp, itch, and start bleeding. I do not see how anyone chokes them down.

 

[gmanlax7]

Abs are made in the kitchen , Big Lifts made in the kitchen, but mainly in the gym. Good excuse to double the meat

 

[Imnotdutch]

Most powerlifters are fatasses??? Uhhmmm ok. Define 'fatass' for me. What bodyfat level is that at??

You mention Tim Bruner.......and I remember him posting that diet. Tim Bruner also has a wicked sense of humour so I wouldn't read too much into it.

Top olympians have appalling dietary practices?? and this rather strong statement is based upon something 'you heard'?? Gimme a break. I heard Ronnie Coleman was clean.....doesn't mean he is. You don't get to beat the best in the world purely through genetics because your competitors have equally good genetics.....why would you risk losing your narrow winning margin through being sloppy??

I really don't understand the comment about lean powerlifters being that way because they have tomake weight. I would have thought it obvious.......

It seems that everything that you posted is based upon things that you don't back up. For example, bad diets are the norm even with top olympians. And Bruner is a genetic freak (even if you had a genetic profile of him it would be impossible to disentangle all of the info.......we just can't do that yet).

Sorry bout the bitty post.......it just had me thinking WTF?

The general consensus of powerlifters seems to be that since they put so much effort into their training and getting stronger, etc.--they don't have the energy and time to plan out their diet and cook chicken breasts/rice for every meal. They usually admit that they try to get 1g/lb of protein in but after that everything is open to them. As a result, most of these guys are fatasses. Especially anyone who competes in the 242lb class or higher. Now, the occasional genetic freak like Chabot or Bruner will still look like a BBer and have pretty low bodyfat, but this is due largely to genetics. I've seen Bruner's diet detailed and it is horrendous. It was something like this for a typical day:

Breakfast: 4 eggs, 2 cheese slices, can of Pepsi
Snack: 6 krispy kremes, pepsi
Lunch: 1 large papa john's pizza, pepsi
Snack 4 eggs, 2 cheese slices, Pepsi
Dinner: Spaghetti, green beans, pepsi
Snack: kripsy kremes, pepsi

So he is a genetic freak and is lean despite of his diet, not because of it. Many of these guys will tell you that elite athletes generally don't eat like bodybuilders, (ie they eat mcdonalds a lot and don't get a huge amount of protein or CLEAN carbs, etc) and that most guys who eat "correctly" are not good athletes. Well, it is unfortunately true as the number one aspect of success in strength sports and other sports is genetics. I guarantee you that 99% of people couldn't look like Bruner even if they did a ton of gear, worked out super hard and ate a perfect diet that was high in protein, EFA's, and had the perfect ratio of macronutrients etc. If you look at his diet, Bruner probably gets around 100g of protein a day and is a lean 260 last time I checked. He is the norm for top athelets, though. EVen the top olympians have appalling dietary practices. I remember hearing that Ben Johnson used to grub at Mickey D's twice a day and then would go out drinking every night even at his peak training stage of his career.

Anyway, most of the lower weight classes in PL have lean competitors because they have to make weight and hence they eat more protein and fewer carbs so they can't eat fast food very often.

Bodybuilders tend to overemphasize diet. Don't get me wrong, for the average man, diet is probably 30% of the picture. But as long as you get enough protein and enough EFAs, it doesn't matter if you eat burger/fries or chicken/rice most of the time. The total amount of calories is more important with regards to bodyfat than the composition of those calories. I think the glycemic index, complex carbs, and saturated fats are not going to make you fat (or keep you from being lean) unless you eat too much. Training, and genetics are the biggest factors, along with gear.