Learn how to eat in order to increase strength in training without increasing muscle mass. In fact, a diet to increase strength is almost the same as a nutritional program for bodybuilders during a period of mass gain. The basic principles remain unchanged and today we will talk about this in more detail.
How to Eat Right to Increase Strength?
Strength parameters are essential for weightlifters and powerlifters. In bodybuilding, athletes are primarily concerned with gaining muscle mass. Thus, today's article will be more interesting to the representatives of powerlifting, whose task is to achieve the maximum result in three competitive movements in competitions.
However, we have already said that a diet to increase strength is almost the same as a mass-gaining nutrition program. According to fitness professionals, strength training is less demanding on the environment and you can start exercising at home. This, however, is possible for gaining mass, although the hall still looks more preferable.
If the builders need not only to gain as much muscle mass as possible, but also need to monitor the constitution of the body. In powerlifting, there are no such stringent requirements, and gaining fat mass for powerlifters is not a serious problem. As a rule, the task of entering the required weight category is solved by them immediately before the start of the tournament.
The main requirement for the training and nutrition of powerlifting representatives is the restoration of muscles after the previous lesson. It is in this issue that the indicator of the energy value of the athlete's diet is far from the last place.
In bodybuilding, overeating can negatively affect the form of an athlete, since it will be quite difficult to dry out qualitatively before a tournament. In powerlifting, malnutrition is much worse, as the body may not have time to recover. For this reason, the breakfast of security officials turns out to be very high in calories. Slow carbohydrates are clearly indispensable here, and you can even afford sweets and starchy foods within reasonable limits.
Diet to increase strength: basic principles
A person should consume such an amount of food to completely compensate for the daily energy loss. In such a situation, he will be able to maintain his body weight. However, this is not enough for athletes and athletes have to consume a lot of food. A diet to increase strength does not imply a decrease in energy value, but an increase. We are all used to the fact that if someone is on a diet, then they must be malnourished. This statement is true when losing weight, but not for increasing power parameters. Let's take a closer look at the basic principles of organizing nutrition for athletes.
Fractional nutrition
Since you need to eat a lot of food, you will have to do this often. Firstly, you simply cannot physically eat a lot at one time. Secondly, the body is able to process only a certain amount of food at a time. In addition, a fractional nutritional system will eliminate starvation of the body and somewhat slow down the process of accumulation of adipose tissues.
Protein compounds
Protein plays an important role in the functioning of the body. In the digestive system, protein compounds are broken down into amines, from which the necessary proteins are then synthesized, including contractile ones. During the day, a person should consume at least one gram of protein compounds for every kilo of body weight.
However, this norm is mostly designed for inactive people. Athletes require significantly more protein, with an average of 1.5 to 2 grams per kilogram of body weight. You must remember that training activates catabolic processes, during which muscle tissue is destroyed. To prevent this, the body must have a lot of protein.
After the lesson, it is important to activate the regenerative processes in a short time, and this again requires protein compounds. Your diet should contain a sufficient amount of protein sources - meat, milk, fish, eggs, poultry, etc. Do not forget about sports supplements, but we will talk about them separately.
Carbohydrates
In order for you to be able to train effectively and increase physical parameters, you need to provide the body with plenty of energy. This is possible only if you consume a sufficient amount of carbohydrates. Recall that the main fuel for the muscles is creatine phosphate, the reserves of which are enough for 10–20 seconds for active muscle work. After that, the body begins to use glycogen, which is synthesized from carbohydrates.
Most often, experts in the field of sports nutrition recommend to consume from two to three grams of carbohydrates for each kilogram of body weight. This is an average value and you should determine the individual dosage experimentally. The values mentioned above can be taken as a starting point.
Fats
This nutrient is also required by the body. Moreover, a diet to increase strength involves the presence of not only unsaturated fats in the diet, but also saturated ones. In the course of scientific research, it has been proven that saturated fat helps to accelerate the synthesis of the male hormone. If the concentration of testosterone in the athlete's body is low, then it will be impossible to increase strength. The best choice here is beef, which contains not only saturated fats, but also protein compounds.
It must also be said that fats help to strengthen the articular-ligamentous apparatus. Strength training involves working with large weights, and the joints are subject to tremendous stress. Also, among the products containing fats in their composition, nuts, avocados, olive and peanut oils can be noted.
Calorie intake
We already said above that the indicator of the energy value of the diet largely influences the body's ability to recover after training. Western powerlifters consume about 20 calories per pound of their body. Only if you consume more energy than you expend during training can you expect the desired result.
The Strength Diet: Essential Nutrient Ratio
The strength-building diet does not simply involve eating large amounts of food. It can only be effective if it is well balanced. Although in powerlifting, as we noted at the beginning of the article, athletes do not attach such importance to body constitution as in bodybuilding, it is still worth adhering to a certain ratio of nutrients. Here are the ratios for all of the major nutrients in your diet:
- Carbohydrates - 55-60 percent.
- Protein compounds - 25-30 percent.
- Fat - 10-20 percent.
If you follow this rule when drawing up a diet to increase strength, then the indicator of the energy value of the diet will be calculated correctly. Only in this case, more energy will enter the body than you expend during the day.
It should also be said about one formula, which can also be used in calculating the caloric content of a diet to increase strength - the weight of the athlete must be multiplied by 30 and add 500. Note that the ratio of nutrients for men and women is different.
Men:
- Protein compounds - since not all amines can be synthesized in the body, different sources of proteins must be present in the diet. The daily dose in this nutrient can be determined by the formula: body weight multiplied by two.
- Fats - Men under the age of 28 need to consume from 130 to 160 grams of the nutrient per day. If you are under 40 years old, then the amount of fat should be reduced to 100-150 grams.
- Carbohydrates - on average, the body's daily requirement for sports is about 500 grams. However, we recommend experimenting with the optimal amount of this nutrient so as not to actively gain fat.
Women:
- Protein compounds - a protein deficiency will very quickly affect the appearance of girls. This is due to the fact that protein compounds are part of the skin, hair and nails. The daily dosage of the nutrient is 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight.
- Fats - as in the situation with men, the amount of fat in the diet should decrease with age. If you are not yet 28 years old, then you need to consume from 86 to 116 grams per day. Women under 40 should reduce the amount of fat to 80–111 grams.
- Carbohydrates - to gain mass or increase physical parameters, women need to consume about 400 grams of nutrient per day, and only slow ones.
Sports nutrition to increase strength
Your strength-building diet will not be as effective as possible without using several types of sports food. Despite the large selection of these products, it is not necessary to consume all of them. Now we are going to tell you about the sports diet that you should definitely consume.
- Creatine. This is the main supplement used by security officials. The effectiveness and safety of creatine has been proven in numerous studies. Of course, in terms of the strength of the effect, creatine is significantly inferior to AAS, as, indeed, all sports nutrition, but at the same time, it is completely safe for the body.
- Glutamine and Taurine. The combination of these amines produces a synergistic effect. The main task of taurine is to accelerate energy processes in the cellular structures of muscle tissues, and glutamine is designed to accelerate the synthesis of anabolic hormones and increase the activity of regenerative processes.
- Chondroprotectors. We have already noted about the strong loads that fall on the share of the articular-ligamentous apparatus. To minimize the risk of injury, you should use special drugs called chondroprotectors. Their main components are glucosamine and chondroitin.
- Anabolic supplements. Anabolic formulas should not be confused with steroids. These supplements are natural products that aim to increase muscle performance and strength at a given moment. They do not include harmful substances, and the mechanism of work is associated with an increase in the activity of the nervous system, accelerating the production of anabolic hormones and increasing the efficiency of energy exchange processes. This is a fairly large group of additives, which include HMB, preparations based on chromium and zinc, ZMA, etc.
Features of nutrition for mass gain and increase in strength in the video below:
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