Nutrition For Powerlifters – 3 Easy Steps From A Doctor and Powerlifter

If you scour the internet you will find a million diet articles tied to some product or service being pitched. It is the ONLY way to get lean, get stronger, get jacked, get healthy. I’m here to tell you that Nutrition For Powerlifters doesn’t have to be that difficult, and doesn’t require any special codes, programs, subscriptions, or plans. For the average lifter, paying for a subscription, counting calories, and counting macros is likely unnecessary. Instead, I suggest a much simpler approach: protein, fiber, and water. So, lets dig into what I consider to be the basics around Nutrition For Powerlifters.

If you have specific diet needs based on a medical diagnosis as instructed by a physician or other medical professional, schedule an appointment prior to making changes to your current medical plan

Protein

The number one item might not be too crazy for most people. We are talking about Nutrition For Powerlifters after all. And that is protein.

This is the only thing I would recommend calculating in order to have a general idea of the amount of protein intake per day and per meal. For the average lifter, 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight per day (g/kg/day) would be a solid target. For example, my current weight is about 185 lbs. Converted to kg (divide by 2.2) that is roughly 85 kg. So my daily protein intake goal is around 120 grams per day, or about 40g per meal if I stick to the typical Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

You can increase this amount to around 2.5g/kg/day if you are doing higher volumes, pushing the intensity, or otherwise need to maximize your recovery.

Do I count my protein intake each meal? Absolutely not! Do I hit my protein intake goal each day? Sometimes yes, and sometimes no, but instead focus on the general principle of trying to include quality sources of protein with each meal throughout the day. Whenever possible, try to obtain your daily protein from non-processed food sources (i.e. chicken breast vs chicken nuggets), but it’s totally fine to add in a protein shake if it’s hard to get it all via food.

Some of my favorite go-to protein sources include:

• Greek Yogurt (about 20g per serving)
• Eggs (about 6-8g per egg, 3 eggs is about 20g)
• Canned Chicken (about 30g per serving)
• Grilled chicken breast (about 30-40g per serving)
• Beans (about 20g per serving)
• Cheese (About 10g per serving)

For a comprehensive Nutrition For Powerlifters protein guide, I’d suggest checking out the “Barbell Medicine Guide to Protein”.

Fiber

In general, fiber is often lacking in the average adult diet and low fiber intake can contribute to poor gut health, insulin resistance/diabetes, diminished satiety, and other negative health outcomes. Unfortunately, some of the biggest lifters are the worst eaters. So when we talk about Nutrition For Powerlifters, our goal is to help clean up the diet, make us healthier, and keep us on the platform. Hard to lift big weights when you are in the hospital.

The more variety of fiber sources you include in your diet (fruits, vegetables, whole grains), the less we need to focus on things like soluble vs insoluble fiber, the total amount of fiber per day, or the timing of fiber and protein in relation to training, unless otherwise recommended by your healthcare provider. As with protein, try to include quality sources of fiber with each meal throughout the day.

Plus, eating a varied amount of vegetables and fruits can help ensure you get all those fancy minerals, vitamins, and other good stuff for you.

Some of my favorite go-to fiber sources include: 

• Adding fruit to my Greek Yogurt
• Adding spinach or kale to my eggs
• Whole grain breads
• Adding Chia seeds to everything

For a comprehensive Nutrition For Powerlifters fiber guide, I’d suggest this article by Barbell Logic “Why Fiber?”

Water

Once again, keep it simple: Stay hydrated! Did you know that roughly 60% of your entire body is water? And upwards of 75% of muscle tissue is water? This is why water is a key piece to the puzzle for Nutrition For Powerlifters.

Unless you train in more extreme conditions such as high heat + high humidity, you are doing intense cardio or HIIT workouts, or unless otherwise directed by your healthcare provider, the average home gym lifter should just stick to water. The current market of pre-workouts and electrolytes is oversaturated and often unnecessary. Instead, carry a water bottle and take sips throughout the day and try to refill it multiple times. If you eat your vegetables and fruits and eat good food overall, you are likely getting enough of the salts, potassium, and other electrolytes you need. Just add water!

Summary

If you have very specific bulk or cut goals for competition purposes, or if you are chasing down bigger and badder goals in and out of the gym, take the next step with this article for Nutrition For Powerlifters. For everybody else, make protein and a quality fruit/vegetable/grain a regular inclusion in every meal. Then add water. Listen to your body, stay hydrated, and find creative ways to add more protein and fiber to the foods you already enjoy. Once you include these general guidelines into your day-to-day life and training program, you’ll set yourself up for much greater success in your training, and with any future diet-specific goals you choose!

This doesn’t have to be the end for Nutrition For Powerlifters, but it definitely could be. This approach will get you the majority of the results, without hyper focusing on smaller details that only matter when you start perfecting every single piece to the puzzle. We’ll save that for another day.

Stay strong and stay healthy!

Check out my YouTube video for my go-to Greek Yogurt breakfast.

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