Valentin Bosioc
Nutrition plays an essential part in the wellbeing of the human body. Our body needs an adequate daily supply of minerals, vitamins, fats, proteins and amino acids to survive and, without these essential nutrients, we can suffer from many health problems, including a higher likeliness for developing diseases. Certain serious diseases have also been linked directly to nutritional deficiencies, including beriberi, scurvy, pellagra and rickets, as reported by Mental Floss. Today, we are not here to tell you that you should eat your vegetables and consume an adequate supply of nutrition every day, as this should already be a fact that has been drilled into you from your childhood life. Instead, we are going to focus on how the diet of a power lifter affects their weight and, of course, their muscle mass in other words, the results they are able to achieve from the efforts they put into lifting weights and reaching for the next weight class.
READ: Why Do Most People Think Powerlifting Is Better Than Bodybuilding?
What Exactly Is “Power Lifting”?
We should really start out by explaining what exactly the term “power lifting” means. Quite a lot of people tend to think of huge guys with massive muscles those monsters of men that we often tend to see in the competitions when they hear the word power lifting, but, in reality, this isn’t actually 100% accurate. While those people may be participating in power lifting activities to help them build their muscles, this particular form of workouts does not necessarily mean a person must be that big. According to BodyBuilding.com, power lifting is a specialized form of training that only includes thee particular lifting exercises: squat lifting, bench lifting and, of course, the deadlift.
Getting Started With Power Lifting
Before a person can participate in power lifting activities, they first have to do some initial planning. If you go into this “sport” blindly, you may end up looking like an amateur in front of the competition, as improper planning will lead to low energy levels. When you do not have an adequate supply of energy, you would not be able to thoroughly lift the weights in your particular weight class; thus resulting in failure to achieve the particular goals you have in mind for yourself.
The very first option that needs to be decided on is the particular weight class that you would like to participate it. The particular weight class that you would like to participate in will determine many aspects of the strategies that you will be implementing into your workout routines. BodyBuilding.com explains that choosing a particular contest that you would like to participate in when you are just getting started can help to motivate you and help you decide on the goals you need to achieve.
Once you have decided on a weight class, the preparations for your power lifting journey can begin. One of the most important aspects of a power lifting journey would be your diet and the nutritional intake you achieve on a daily basis especially on the days that you participate in workouts. If you do not consume the right food at the right time, then you will lack the necessary energy to powerlift. If you do consume the right foods and have a proper schedule for your meals, then you will experience many benefits. Proper nutrition is also known to increase testosterone level in male, you will also feel much stronger when you hit the bench.
Diet And Power Lifting
While preparation and training play essential parts of how well you are able to lift weights on the day of the contest, diet plays one of the most significant roles in your ability to participate in power lifting activities. Unfortunately, a lot of people that are simply getting started tend to get the dieting part of power lifting wrong, which makes them pitch up to a contest unprepared. Ultimately, this causes them to fail in lifting the weights in their weight class efficiently and voids their opportunity for reaching the top ranks in the particular contest.
READ: Nutritional Requirements: CrossFit Athletes, Powerlifters vs. The General Population
Let’s take a look at some of the most essential parts of a diet that affect a power lifter’s efforts and, of course, their ability to lift weight on the day of the contest.
- Different weight classes require different diets; thus it is important to plan out your particular diet according to the weight class you would like to enter in when you decide to enter a power lifting content. Higher weight classes require much more food consumption than a lower weight class.
- According to Healthy Living Heavy Lifting, the very basics of dieting and body building still applies to power lifting which is your calorie input should not exceed your calorie output. They continue on to explain how one particular person picked up excess body fat while consuming healthy foods, which primarily included the consumption of broccoli and chicken. The reason was that his calorie input exceeded his calorie output too much. The same person was able to reduce his body fat percentage and reach a leaner physique while consuming mostly subway take outs and ice cream the reason being he properly accounted for both calorie intake and calorie output.
- If you have a large body fat percentage prior to starting your power lifting journey, then you will need to cut some fat and increase your lean weight. Syatt Fitness explains that losing the excess fat is certainly not an easy feat, but it is important to consider the fact that the strategies behind fat loss are simple enough to keep by and implement into your daily life.
- Understanding what macronutrients are and how they work should become a vital part of your power lifting journey if you wish to be successful. The three macronutrients that you need to account for include carbohydrates, fats and let’s not forget proteins. In addition to these, Power Lifting Town reports that fiber is also often considered a macronutrient, but it is not included as part of the primary three macronutrient types since it is usually classified as a particular form of carbohydrates.
- When accounting for macronutrients, it is essential that you consider the fact that most foods that you consume contain two or all three of these essential macronutrients. For example, meat does not only contain protein, which this food type is very popular for, but also contains carbohydrates and fats. Thus, you should not account for the protein within the meat you consume and forget to account for the other macronutrients in the piece of meat on your plate.
Conclusion
Power lifting is quite different from regular body building and it is a more competitive sport. This particular type of workout routine requires a person to perform heavy lifting in certain positions, and can be used to build immense levels of physical strength and even increase sperm volume for some. It can also be used to build larger muscles. When a person decides to participate in power lifting workouts, however, they cannot restrict their diet to only three regular meals a day. Timing, nutrition and food portions become one of the most vital parts of a power lifter’s life and can mean the difference between being able to life a set of weight to completion… or not. Since physical exercise is often considered as for the one using male enhancement vitamins or supplements like Progentra but is could be done without supplements as well naturally with proper diet, power lifting could hold benefits for other areas of health apart from physical strength and physique.
References:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/50697/4-diseases-caused-lack-essential-vitamins-and-minerals
https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/animalpak50.htm
http://www.healthylivingheavylifting.com/the-ultimate-nutrition-guide-for-powerlifting/
http://www.syattfitness.com/fat-loss/powerlifters-eat/
http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/powerlifting-macros/
