In conclusion: This post discusses the pros and cons of following a powerlifting diet plan as well as how it may or may not be beneficial for those who want to make gains in both muscle mass and weight loss goals simultaneously.
When powerlifters are looking into powerlifting diets, the first thing most people look at are the disadvantages. If you know what you’re getting into before you start powerlifting, you’re much more likely to make wise decisions and not make common mistakes. These are things you should know if you want to succeed as a strongman or athlete in your sport.
A good powerlifting diet should include some sort of high protein and high-fat food. There is nothing wrong with eating this type of food; it just shouldn’t be the sole source of your nutrition. A powerlifting diet plan should also have a high-carb food focus.1 Carbs can give you sustained energy and keep your metabolism going while working out, which can help boost your power, but make sure you don’t overdo it.2
Some people think that powerlifting diets don’t take into account the person’s individual tastes and needs. This is not necessarily true. You should always have your personal preferences taken into account, whether you’re a man or a woman. It’s not hard to find foods that are great for both men and women, it’s just getting the right one sometimes takes some work.
But the truth is that many disadvantages of powerlifting diets for bodybuilders exist. Firstly, the common advice to “just eat more” doesn’t work. This advice is always followed, but the only thing that actually gets you bigger is muscle mass, not fat. You also have to consider that most of your meals will consist mostly of carbohydrates, which will turn into sugar in your blood and this will put extra stress on your kidneys and liver. Plus the excess fat will take much of the calcium and magnesium out of your bones, and you will also end up with weak and brittle bones.
It’s true that a lot of the disadvantages of powerlifting diets are related to the fact that most people struggle to gain weight and muscle during their teenage years, but the overall picture is that a powerlifter should consider a long term goal of gaining muscle mass and strength, not just trying to reach his weightlifting goals.
What is a Powerlifting Diet?
The best thing about a powerlifting diet is that it can be easily prepared and formulated to meet the exact requirements of the powerlifter. This diet is formulated keeping in mind the powerlifter’s body type, muscle group, and goal for bodybuilding. For example, if the powerlifter wants to bulk up and gain maximum strength, then the diet will have to contain foods that are high in protein content. The protein should be taken in the form of eggs, meat, beans, or even cheese. These foods can be consumed at any time of the day as long as they are consumed in the right quantity and combination.
Another aspect of this diet that people tend to misunderstand is the number of calories and fats included in it. The concept of this diet is that you consume a lot of calories and fats while at the same time losing weight. This diet is most suitable for those who want to achieve their goals in bodybuilding or weight lifting without suffering from serious health problems. However, this diet can be used effectively as a fat burner when used along with some other forms of exercise. It will still however be recommended that one consult their physician before embarking on a diet such as this one.
A powerlifting diet does not mean that you have to deprive yourself of certain foods that you like to eat. Your diet should consist of all the essential nutrients required by the body in order to perform your daily tasks properly. Also, always remember to eat a well-balanced diet consisting of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and essential vitamins and minerals.3 Also, make sure to listen to your body and eat it only when you are feeling hungry. With all the benefits of following a powerlifting diet, some say that this diet does more harm than good. At the end of the day, it’s up to each person to determine this for themselves, but for now, here are a few disadvantages that following a powerlifting diet could bring.
Complications In A PowerLifting Diet
Bodybuilding or powerlifting diets are characterized by a high protein, low carbohydrate, and high-fat diet plan. This diet has been proven to be helpful to all kinds of athletes from cyclists to wrestlers. Athletes who want to gain muscles fast will certainly benefit from the bodybuilding diet. But what about the diet for those who want to lose weight?
In addition to the disadvantages of a powerlifting diet, there are also some risks that can be caused by the diet. The most common one is dehydration.4 Many bodybuilders and powerlifters have suffered from this problem, especially when they perform too many intense weightlifting sessions. When the water levels in the body drop significantly, the muscles cannot replenish themselves and the results will be a loss in strength.5
The other common bodybuilding diet complications are kidney problems and kidney failure. There is a higher risk for a powerlifter to develop kidney problems if he or she eats too much protein. As a matter of fact, one of the greatest causes of kidney failure is a high protein diet which can lead to kidney damage. One more thing is that bodybuilding diet complications can also result in injury and pain in joints, tendons, and muscles.
On the contrary, bodybuilding supplements such as whey protein, creatine, amino acids, zinc, and multivitamins are very helpful in maintaining the health and fitness of a bodybuilder. These supplements can also help you prevent injuries during your workout session. Ingestion of these supplements is very important for bodybuilding dieters. But aside from these benefits, consuming supplements during your bodybuilding diet can help you reduce the risks of having a heart attack or stroke.
Other bodybuilding diet complications include constipation and gastritis. If you are on a strict bodybuilding diet, it is more likely for you to suffer from constipation and gastritis because of your intake of protein-rich foods. To address this problem, consume more fibrous vegetables like green leafy vegetables, dandelion greens, cabbage, and lettuce before and after workouts.6
How is a Powerlifting Diet impractical?
How is a powerlifting diet impractical? Because each and every cycle of eating is critical to your ability to increase your weight. It’s important to understand cycles; they’re pretty much the most important aspect of weightlifting.
Here’s the reason: powerlifters know that powerlifting diets are just that – impractical. They’re diets that are designed for bodybuilding purposes, not to give you a functional fitness buff. Because of this, they tend to load their diets with large amounts of calories (which means bad for you) and very little in the way of nutritional content. This is exactly why a powerlifting diet is so impractical. If you want to get big and muscular, then you need a different approach altogether.
The secret to getting big and strong is by combining your dedication to bodybuilding with the proper diet. The fact of the matter is that there are many weightlifting diets available to bodybuilders and if you were to do some research on this subject you would quickly realize that there is no one right answer. What works for one person may not work for another. Every bodybuilder is different and because of that, it’s impossible to state which particular diet will work best for you.
What weight lifters all agree on though is that you need to consume a high amount of protein. Without it, your muscles won’t grow and you won’t be able to grow big. This is what the bodybuilding industry refers to as “Protein overload.”
Now, what about carbohydrates? The two together make up 90% of the calories we eat. Bodybuilders need a high intake of carbohydrates to promote faster muscle growth. So this makes sense, but are low-carb diets better than carb-loading diets? Most bodybuilders would say no, it depends.
So yes, you should definitely use a powerlifting diet but only to supplement your regular diet. Don’t let anyone tell you that you need a powerlifting diet to bulk up. Your regular diet will do just fine. You should also keep in mind that there is a difference between weight lifting and bodybuilding.
Unhealthy Behaviors That Could Stem From A Powerlifting Diet
Powerlifters are at risk of developing unhealthy behaviors from a powerlifting diet. Bodybuilding diets are designed for and should be used as supplements to traditional, healthy eating routines. They should be part of an athlete’s fitness plan, but they are not a replacement for eating a balanced, low-calorie, high-protein diet and getting regular exercise. Athletes who develop unhealthy behaviors from a powerlifting diet may experience greater body fat loss and weight gain, slower recovery, and poor muscle development.
In order to build lean, toned muscles, a diet must be rich in protein, but it can also include a lot of “empty” calories. That is, calories that come from carbohydrates, fats, and other sources are counted toward the daily intake but are not necessarily true sources of calories that will help bodybuilders lose weight. Some carbohydrates may enter the body in the form of glucose, which occurs when sugar molecules are broken down; some fats may enter the body as ketones (or acetone), which occur when the body breaks down fat cells; and some empty calories may even be carbohydrates or electrolytes that enter the body and are not immediately metabolized.
These empty calories add up to more calories than needed, which leads to a drop in energy levels and physical performance. Low energy and low performance can shorten the time it takes to reach your goals, meaning more workouts and more weight loss. And sometimes, simply eating enough calories to support regular activity is not enough. Bodybuilding diets should contain more carbohydrates and fewer calories. This is where bodybuilding diets differ from most other diets, in that they are designed for athletes, who are working to build muscles instead of simply losing weight.
The lean body mass that you seek in order to develop larger muscles must be complemented by a healthy diet. When you lift weights, the concentrated force that you use against the weight causes your body to use fuel in an effort to do the work that you ask of it. The fuel that is used is mostly water, but some muscle fibers may temporarily burn through to provide the body with the strength that is required to lift the weight. However, muscle fibers cannot grow unless the water within the muscle cell is replaced, and water is the main source of fuel for these muscles. Bodybuilding workouts should be designed to increase muscle size, not leanness (tissue).
If you are someone trying to develop huge muscles, you need to focus on exercise, but you also need to ensure that you are eating enough calories so that you can replenish the water within the muscle cells. As mentioned, any excess weight that is not used is stored as fat cells, and these fat cells make you look fatter than you really are. By combining an intense workout with sensible nutrition, you will begin to develop the body you have always wanted.
While you may be hard-pressed to completely eliminate unhealthy behaviors from a powerlifting diet, you can certainly learn to limit your intake of specific foods. A complete overhaul of your workout is usually not necessary, and the most important thing to remember is that your goal is to get stronger. The slower you move the more muscles you are using and the faster you can build lean tissue, the quicker you will reach your goals. While you may be tempted to cut calories to reduce fat, this is rarely a good idea when you are trying to get bigger and stronger. As long as you are eating enough to maintain your bodybuilding lifestyle, you will reap the benefits of eating well while building muscle.7
Image Credits
Unsplash / August 16, 2019
Culligan / 2021
Quora / September 25, 2019
1 “The Advantages of a High-Carb/Low-Fat Diet | The Art of Manliness.” 24 Aug. 2018, https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/the-benefits-of-carbohydrates/ Accessed 21 Jun. 2021.
2 “Carbohydrates: Uses, health benefits, nutrition, and risks.” https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161547 Accessed 21 Jun. 2021.
3 “Balanced Diet: What Is It and How to Achieve It – Healthline.” https://www.healthline.com/health/balanced-diet Accessed 21 Jun. 2021.
4 “Dehydration – Symptoms, and causes – Mayo Clinic.” 19 Sep. 2019, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dehydration/symptoms-causes/syc-20354086 Accessed 21 Jun. 2021.
5 “Dehydration: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and More – Healthline.” https://www.healthline.com/health/dehydration Accessed 21 Jun. 2021.
6 “Why Is Fiber Good for You? The Crunchy Truth – Healthline.” 23 May. 2018, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/why-is-fiber-good-for-you Accessed 21 Jun. 2021.
7 “Bodybuilding Meal Plan: What to Eat, What to Avoid – Healthline.” 19 Nov. 2018, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bodybuilding-meal-plan Accessed 21 Jun. 2021.</p
