Achieving Optimal Strength Building Outcomes through Health Nutritional Choices

Weight Training and Nutrition Mistakes: Optimizing the Benefits of Powerlifting

Today, weight training in the form of powerlifting is a popular individual sport in which athletes can compete in organized events or individually to achieve personal fitness goals, but an important part of this type of training regimen is proper nutrition. Given the significant energy demands that are placed on the human body in preparation for and during powerlifting meets and the overarching goal of powerlifters to increase their strength, it is easy for these athletes to make mistakes in their nutritional intake. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the relevant literature to explain, from physiological standpoint, some of the common training mistakes that are associated with nutrition and physical training for athletes performing the three powerlifting events and how can those mistakes can be mitigated. Following this review, a summary of the research and important findings about weight training and nutrition are presented in the paper’s conclusion.

Review and Discussion

At present, powerlifting is gaining in popularity among American men and women as well as children and adults. In fact, during the competition period between January 2012 and June 2016, there were nearly 22,000 individual powerlifting competitors in the United States, with about 16,000 men and 6,000 women actively training for and competing in these events (Yannone, 2016). The highly competitive sport of individual powerlifting is comprised of three individual weightlifting events: 1) the squat, 2) the bench press and 3) the deadlift, which are performed in that order as depicted in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. Powerlifting events: squat, bench and deadlift

Source: https://www.powerlifting-ipl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/aboutpower.jpg

As can be seen from the events depicted in Figure 1 above, “powerlifting” lives up to its name and each event requires athletes to overcome the forces of gravity for a specified period of time (signaled by a white light) two out of three attempts in order to quality. According to Yannone (2016), “Each lift, and its many variations, are trained throughout different training cycles: a volume phase, strength phase, and peaking phase (if the lifter is approaching a competition)” (para. 4). In sum, the sport of powerlifting involves the significant expenditure of muscular energy for a sustained period of time during competitions as well as during the various training phases that are involved.

Given this diversity in training and performance requirements (Tovstonoh & Roztorhui, 2015) as well as the various event types that are involved in this strength-intensive sport, it is not surprising that many powerlifting athletes fail to obtain sufficient and appropriate nutrition from their daily diet choices (Piletic & Pyler, 2009). For instance, according to one experienced sports nutritionist and coach, “As a powerlifter, you require very different nutrition than the average Joe. I’ve seen way too many powerlifters leave nutrition behind only to find their performance and recovery decline” (Booth, 2019, para. 2).

Every powerlifting competitor’s nutritional needs are unique due to individual differences in metabolism (Tovstonoh & Roztorhui, 2015). In addition, there have also been some gender-related differences identified in the nutritional needs of powerlifting athletes, and many female competitors make the mistake of limiting their fat consumption to modify their body composition but this practice has been determined to be counterproductive for powerlifting competition (Volek, Forsythe & Kraemer, 2006). Regardless of individual differences, though, there are some common requirements that can help powerlifting athletes assess the adequacy of their current nutritional choices. As a general rule of thumb, powerlifters should ensure they receive a minimum macronutrient intake of between 5 to 8 gram per kilogram of their body weight in carbohydrates, between 1.4 and2 grams per kilogram of body weight of protein, and 30% of total calories from fat per day as set forth in Table 1 below.

Table 1

Recommended diet for powerlifters

Category

Recommendation

Carbohydrates

5 to 8 grams per kilogram of body weight

Protein

1.4 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight

Fat

30% of total calories from fat each day

Source: Adapted from Booth (2019)

In addition, these are also five general guiding nutritional principles that can help powerlifters ensure they receive sufficient and appropriate nutritional intake as follows:

1. During most training periods, athletes should increase their caloric intake by about 15% above their baseline calories in order to build lean muscle mass which will lead to greater gains in strength.

2. During competition phases, athletes might need to maintain or reduce their body-weight according to a specific body-weight category.

3. Nutrient timings (e.g., meal times) are not as important as overall caloric intake; however, nutrient timing can support better muscle recovery and strength.

4. Nutrient types (e.g., what is eaten) can improve overall wellness and energy levels.

5. Supplementation such as creatine monohydrate, caffeine, and beta-alanine have been shown to have beneficial effects when added to a healthy powerlifting diet.

6. Competition day nutrition requires proper meal timing, with high carb/protein and low-fat meals (Booth, 2019).

This list of guiding nutritional principles provides some useful general information that can help powerlifters ensure they receive appropriate nutritional intake, but as noted above, these requirements vary according to the phase of competition that is involved. For example, preparing for competitive events requires the nutritional regimen set forth in Table 2 below which is recommended for powerlifting athletes that are in various phases of training.

Table 2

Nutritional considerations during various phases of powerlifting training

Phase

Description

Hypertrophy

? Hypertrophy training phases are usually characterized by elevated levels of volume. This phase must consider ‘higher volumes’ as it relates to baseline volume (the average amount of volume performed on a weekly basis over a 1-3 month time period) because ‘higher volumes’ is both specific to the context and individual.

? Typically, athletes begin this type of training phase by structuring their weekly volumes slightly below or equal to their baseline volume on week 1, and then increase it to well above our baseline volume over the weeks.

? If powerlifting athletes do not know their tolerances for training above their baseline volume, they should aim for 5-10% increases and then monitor signs of fatigue and recoverability as they proceed.

Strength

? Strength phases are usually characterized by moderate amounts of volume with a focus on higher average intensities (75-85% of 1RM).

? Typically, athletes begin these training phases by setting their volumes somewhere in the ballpark of their baseline volume on week 1 which could be slightly below (likely within -10%), equal to, or slightly above (likely within +10%).

? The key variable that is being manipulated is intensity. Intensities are going to be rising, so the purpose of setting weekly volume around baseline volume is to manage recoverability, and put a priority on lifting heavier weight.

? In this phase of training, average intensities would certainly exceed 75% for most people. There are also opportunities throughout the week where you might have even higher intensities (higher 80% range), but the average would balance out through the additional work. In addition, relative intensity is an important metric to monitor as well.

Competition peaking

? Competition peaking phases are usually characterized by low amounts of volume with higher peak intensities; typically, these phases are initiated between 4-6 weeks before a competition.

? The further away from competition, moderate levels of volume are likely still maintained; however, as the weeks narrow towards the meet, athletes generally plan decreases in volume as it relates to their baseline volume. When those decreases actually happen (4-weeks out versus 2-weeks out) is still a highly individualized scenario.

? During this phase of training, the peak intensities are rising above 90% — these are considered the ‘high priority lifts’ because they have the most degree of specialization. For these higher priority lifts, powerlifting competitors want to ensure that their recoverability does not become an issue. Therefore, volumes are set below baseline (10% to 50% below).

? Athletes will also train in heavier zones of relative intensity (medium, heavy, and max) since fatigue is managed through lower than average volume prescriptions.

Deload

? A deload can be structured as a reduction in volume or intensity, or both. ? The important consideration in deciding whether volume or intensity is deloaded is whichever one was being challenged the most throughout the training cycle:

= Volume deload: If you were pushing your volume well above your baseline, a deload would require a reduction in volume. In this example, you want to keep your intensities similar, including the relative intensity zones previously trained.

- Intensity deload: If you were training with moderate volumes but higher intensities, a deload would require a reduction in intensity, and possibly relative intensity too.

Source: Adapted from Silverberg (2018)

Beyond the foregoing nutritional considerations, one powerlifting trainer emphasizes that athletes should avoid including any substances in their dietary regimen that elevates their testosterone or epitestosterone ratios which can trigger positive test results for anabolic steroids, potentially resulting in disqualification for future organized meets. In this regard, Hartle (1998) reports that: