Common Diets for Powerlifters
Introduction:
I originally chose to
research about diets and nutrition for Powerlifters because I currently
powerlift and thought I had a strong understanding of what our diets should
consist of... needless to say I was wrong. The goal in Powerlifting is to
be as light yet as strong as possible. As a result, I learned that a low
carbohydrate diet is the way to go. This can be shown throughout many
different diets in today's fitness world. Some of the one's I will be
discussing and breaking down include: "Shortcut to
Size" by Jim Stoppani, and The Ketogenic Diet.
Shortcut to Size
Jim Stoppani's diet is
based around a high protein and fat intake, accompanied with a low carb intake
(where it is more focused on the timing of fast digesting carbohydrates).
Protein is essentially the "building block" for gaining muscle so it
is no surprise that his diet requires the individual to consume a lot of
it. As for the fat intake, Doctor Stoppani stated that healthy fats are a
great way to help maintain high testosterone levels. On top of this, fats
are used in everyday life and are another fuel source used to be converted into
energy while exercising. Finally, carbohydrates are used in this diet as
a mean of regulating two important parts of training. First, he states
that FAST DIGESTING carbs are a good to eat as soon as you wake up because it
gives your body a fuel source to burn as opposed to eating away at muscle.
One of the most
interesting things I learned from researching about the "Shortcut to
Size" was his 9 Nutrition Rules.
1. Eat Plenty of
Protein
2. Eat
Frequently
3. Eat Ample Fats
4. Manipulate
Carbs
5. Consider Calorie Intake
6. Use a Protein Blend
7. Consume Fast Digesting Carbs Only After
Workout
8. Consume BCAAs, Beta-Alanine, Betaine, and Creatine
Before and After Workouts
9. Find What Works Best for You
It was interesting to
see how he was able to incorporate and explain how each of the nine played a slight
role to the nutrition plan that, when done correctly, could make a big impact.
Ketogenic Diet:
Similar to the “Shortcut
to Size” diet, the Ketogenic Diet is focused on a high amount of protein and
fat intake and minimal carbohydrate consumption. Now the whole point of the Ketogenic Diet is
to get your body more efficient and accustomed to burning fats as opposed to
sugars found in carbohydrates; this is also known as ketosis. This diet has been used to control blood sugar,
help with portion control. The lack of
carbohydrates being allowed in the body is what causes the blood sugar levels
to decrease which results in the ability to control blood sugar. Now this diet took the Crossfit world by
storm so I was curious to see how this would work for powerlifters.
As a powerlifter I was worried
that the since we stay in a hypertrophy state of resistance training, I figured
that the lack of carbohydrates would interfere with our bodies ability to utilize
our Glycolic Energy System. After
researching more about it, I found that I was correct, to an extent. Although the body cannot utilize the Glycolic
Energy System as well does not mean that we cannot still stay doing hypertrophy
training. The article stated that the
only change that would have to occur would be lowering the reps and increasing
the sets in order to maintain the - A Comprehensive Guide to Bodybuilding on the Ketogenic Diet. (2017, October 12). Retrieved from https://www.ruled.me/comprehensive-guide-bodybuilding-ketogenic-diet/
- Scrivens, P. (n.d.). The Ketogenic Diet: A Beginners Guide to Keto. Retrieved from https://ketodash.com/keto-diet
- B. (2017, July 05). 9 Nutrition Rules for Building Muscle | Jim Stoppani's Shortcut to Strength. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSSclUCeBQ4&t=572s
https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/docs/2015/shortcut_to_size_e-book_revised_9-9-15.pdf Citation machine for some reason could not find this so this is the link to the last article I read.
Interesting post! I had hear about the Kito Diet but I never knew how it work. Now, after reading your post I have an idea of how it works. One question that I have is how many grams of body weight should a person consume in carbohydrates based on the Kito Diet.
ReplyDeleteI like the "manipulate carbs" portion. I have never really thought of it in that manner to consume the brunt of carbs around the training times and fats the rest. I recently did a powerlifting program and made the mistake of consuming the same amount of calories in my volume block as I did in my peak block. My volume block consisted of very high volume training and required the calories where my peaking block had a lower volume and higher intensity and in my opinion did not require as much calories. Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteHi, Reggie! I thought that this topic really suited you since you are involved in the sport and seem very passionate about it! Could these diets be implemented during various period in training, and if so, during which periods would this be best? I have read before that the keto diet can be dangerous and is mostly beneficial for diabetics and epileptic patients. How long do powerlifters implement this diet?
ReplyDeleteInteresting blog post. I've always wanted to try the keto diet. But I found it quite difficult to limit my carb consumption because of the easy accessibility factor. I definitely want to give it another go before the end of this summer. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post about diets for powerlifters. I have the same mindset as your understanding about protein intake as it is necessary for growth and muscle repair after high-intense strength training. I wonder what would be the caloric intake during periodization of hypertrophy phase for protein and carbohydrates?
ReplyDeleteThe layout of your post is hard to read as the background is set to dark color with your font color is dark. Also, the ketogenic diet portion is missing the later part of your post.
I really enjoyed your post! I have always heard mixed thoughts on the ketogenic diet but it does sound ideal for powerlifters. The high protein and fat and low carb diet sounds difficult although it is more efficient for powerlifters since it burns fats vs. sugars in carbs. Really interesting, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI found your blog to be very interesting because you mentioned low charbohydratediet was a way to go for powerlifters. I agree with that being light yet strong is very important because being super bulky can limit the range of motion. I'm still inbetween regarding ketogenic diet for powerlifters because they are highly depended on ATP and creatine phosphate system as they are performing high-intensed activity at a very short amount of time. Also knowing that although fat can be converted into ATP, it takes little longer compared to glucose and protein is essential muscle recovery and potein synthesis but is not main source of energy. I would have loved to read the rest of the portion on the ketogenic diet and I hope you had presented more research on it.
ReplyDeleteThe 9 nutrition rule was awesome. It was simply so easy to see a list of 9 nutrition guidelines for competitive power lifters. I'm not a competitive power lifter however I love to lift and enjoy a good pump. Nutrition is so important I know and I learned reading this that fats at least healthy fats help keep high testerone levels! I did not know that! As for me I'm also an advocate soccer player so having a low carbohydrate diet is simply no possible at the moment. Do you think too much fat/protein is bad for a competitive power lifter?
ReplyDeleteI am a big fan of Dr. Stoppani. However, his diets are more geared for hypertrophy programs. A powerlifter would normally be using the phosphagen and glycoltic systems for energy. A higher carb intake would be beneficial for training in this sport. You could still use his diet plan, I would just exceed the max recommended 1.5 g per pound (not kg) he recommends for carbs if your training is more intense.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I found your post to be very intriguing and informative. I am very familiar with Dr. Stoppani and his shortcut size diet. I am not a power lifter but rather more of a physique lifter but dabbled around into different diets to see what best worked for me. This post was a great in debt review on two popular diets for power lifters.
ReplyDeleteGreat work!