Want to lift like a beast? Nutrition is #1.
A powerlifter should focus their diet on whole foods, balancing macronutrients (calories, protein, carbs, and fat) to support strength, energy, and recovery.
Macronutrient ratios and timing of your meals matter. I’ll get into that in a second. But here’s a general idea of what to shoot for: 30% protein, 50% carbs, and 20% fat.
And don’t even get me started on hydration and avoiding crap food. Those are important too.
Here, I’ll explain how a powerlifting diet can support your training with calories, macronutrients, and meal timing.
The Powerlifting Diet
A Powerlifting Diet is a customized meal plan designed to help powerlifters perform at their best on their three main lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift.
This diet is all about providing you with the energy and fuel you need to get through grueling workouts while also helping you make weight for competition.
Powerlifting is a demanding sport that requires both strength and endurance. In order to perform at your best, you need to fuel your body with the right foods in the right amounts.
By manipulating your calorie intake, balancing your macronutrients, and timing your meals, you can boost performance and build more strength.
Because powerlifting is such an energy-intensive activity, your diet should be centered around providing extra calories to help feed your muscles and aid in recovery.
Common Powerlifter Diet Mistakes
Many powerlifters make dieting mistakes that hinder their performance and progress. Some common mistakes include:
- Irregular eating schedules
- Relying too heavily on convenience foods and protein powder
- Following fad diets that don’t take into account their unique nutritional needs
If you want to max out your lifts, you need to focus on a powerlifter diet plan that takes into account your individual needs and progress.
Calculating Calorie Intake
The first step in any effective powerlifter diet plan is calculating your calorie intake.
You’ll want to determine your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), which is a combination of your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and your energy expenditure from exercise.
This will give you an idea of how many calories you need to maintain your current weight.
As a competitive powerlifter, you’ll want to play with your calorie intake based on your goals. If you’re not getting stronger or bigger, you need to eat more. If you want to lean out, you may need to eat less.
I generally recommend a calorie surplus as it helps with recovery from hard training.
Macronutrient Breakdown
A balanced macronutrient ratio is important for any powerlifter, but if you’re looking to max out your lifts, you’ll want to focus on a specific ratio.
Many powerlifters follow a 30/50/20 ratio:
- 30% protein to help with muscle recovery
- 50% carbohydrates for energy
- 20% fat for hormone production
Powerlifters need much more protein than your average sedentary person to help with recovery. Aim for at least 1.4-2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.
You’ll also want to keep your carbohydrate intake high to provide energy for training, and your fat intake low to help with hormone production.
A good starting point is 55-60% carbohydrates, 25-30% fat.
Nutrient Timing for Powerlifters
Nutrient timing is important for any athlete, but it’s especially important for powerlifters.
You’ll want to focus on a meal timing strategy that helps you recover from intense training and provides you with energy when you need it most.
Also, Your pre-workout meal should be high in carbohydrates and moderate in protein.
This will provide you with energy and help with muscle recovery. Aim for 100-200 grams of carbohydrates and 20-30 grams of protein.
Key Nutrients for Powerlifters Diet
There are several nutrients that are critical for powerlifters to help you boost your strength, energy, and recovery.
Here are some of the most important ones to help you optimize your performance:
- Protein: muscle recovery and growth
- Carbs: energy
- EAA’s: hormone production
- Fat: overall health
You’ll want to shoot for a protein intake of about 1.2 to 2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight to help you recover and grow lean muscle.
Carbs should be 55-65% of your total calorie intake to help you power through your training and competitions.
Fat should be about 30% of your total calorie intake to help with hormone production and overall health.
Don’t forget to drink plenty of water! Even mild dehydration can cause weakness and fatigue.
Now that we’ve covered the basics of a powerlifter diet, let’s take a look at the importance of protein, carbohydrates, and fat.
Protein
Protein is one of the most important nutrients for any powerlifter. You’ll want to focus on a high protein diet to help with muscle recovery and growth.
Whey protein is a great source of lean protein and is easy to digest due to its high bioavailability.
Protein not only helps with recovery, but it also helps promote muscle protein synthesis, which is important for muscle growth.
Carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates are an often-forgotten macronutrient, but they’re extremely important for powerlifters.
You’ll want to make sure you’re getting plenty of complex carbs in your diet to help with energy and recovery.
During training, you’ll want to focus on a high-carbohydrate diet to help replenish glycogen stores.
You can do this by making sure some of your meals and snacks are centered around complex carbohydrates like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
A balanced breakfast for a powerlifter looking to max out their lifts might include protein-rich eggs with oatmeal and fruit.
Complex carbohydrates like oats and fruit provide sustained energy and help with anabolic signaling.
Fat
Healthy fats are important for powerlifters because they help with hormone production. You want to make sure you’re producing enough testosterone to help with protein synthesis and recovery.
Fish oil is a great supplement to take because it helps reduce inflammation and promotes recovery with its powerful omega-3 fatty acids.
You can also use it to balance out your dietary fat intake, which should be moderate at 25-30% of your daily calories.
Fats and carbohydrates are important for joint health, so make sure you’re getting plenty of healthy fats in your diet.
Magnesium and zinc are also important for powerlifters because they help with hormone production and energy metabolism.
You’ll want to make sure you’re getting enough of these minerals in your diet to help with strength production.
Powerlifting Diet Meal Plan
A powerlifter meal plan is important for maximizing muscle and helping you perform at your best. A 90kg powerlifter will want to aim for at least 3330 calories per day.
You’ll want to make sure you’re tracking your calories and macronutrients to ensure you’re getting enough of the right foods.
I suggest using an app like MyFitnessPal to track your food intake and monitor your calories.
Breakfast
You’ll want to start your day off right with a protein-rich breakfast. Eggs, chicken, and Greek yogurt are all great protein sources to start your day.
A healthy breakfast is 4 whole scrambled eggs with spinach, turkey, and avocado. The eggs provide protein, while the spinach and avocado give you healthy fats.
Lunch
For lunch, you’ll want to opt for lean protein sources like poultry or fish with complex carb sources like brown rice or quinoa.
A healthy lunch is grilled chicken or turkey with brown rice and steamed veggies.
Dinner
Dinner is where you’ll want to focus on nutrient-dense foods. Some healthy dinner options include:
- Lean red meat or fish with a huge serving of veggies
- Lean protein sources like fish or chicken
- Complex carb sources like quinoa or sweet potatoes
- Healthy fat sources like nuts or avocado
A healthy dinner option is grilled salmon with sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli.
Salmon provides you with omega-3 fatty acids, while sweet potatoes give you fiber and complex carbs.
Snacks
Snacks are critical for providing you with energy and helping with recovery during training. You’ll want to opt for healthy snack sources like Greek yogurt with fruit and nuts.
Greek yogurt is high in protein and will help you recover muscle. Fruits and nuts provide you with healthy carbs and fat sources.
Supplements
Supplements are critical for helping you recover and boosting your strength during hardcore training.
They’ll help maximize your performance and recovery. Here are some of the most critical supplements for powerlifters:
Keep in mind that supplementation should always be paired with a healthy diet rich in whole foods for optimal results.
Creatine
Creatine monohydrate is a favorite among powerlifters to help boost strength and pack on muscle mass. It’s critical for increasing muscle protein synthesis and overall performance.
Protein
Protein is good for repairing and building muscle tissue.
Protein shakes are ideal for powerlifters as they help you meet your daily protein intake and support recovery and energy with healthy options like smoothies.
Other Supplements
I recommend BCAAs to many of my clients as they help reduce muscle soreness and recovery time.
BCAAs can stimulate muscle protein synthesis and help you recover between meals.
They’re ideal for taking during your long cardio sessions or when you’re on the road.
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Powerlifter Diet Mistakes to Avoid
Staying hydrated and performing at your best during competition is important.
You’ll want to make sure you’re drinking plenty of water and electrolyte-rich drinks to help with muscle function and performance.
Refined and Processed Foods
Refined and processed foods are bad news because they’re full of sugar and unhealthy fats that can harm your health and performance.
Ultra-processed foods have been shown to be detrimental to your health and can even hinder athletic performance.
Powerlifters who eat sugary processed foods may experience energy crashes that hinder their performance.
Not Drinking Enough Water
Hydration is important for powerlifters because it helps with performance and recovery. Dehydration can cause decreases in strength and endurance, making it harder to recover from training.
It can also hinder your body’s ability to adapt to training. Hydration is especially important after exercise because it helps transport nutrients to your muscles and removes toxins.
Hydrate Properly
You should drink water throughout the day and track your hydration levels during exercise. This is the best way to ensure you’re rehydrating properly after exercise.
Periodized Nutrition for Training and Competition
As a powerlifter, you know that nutrition is not something to be overlooked. In fact, your nutrition strategy should change drastically between training and competition.
I’m not talking about macronutrients here, I am talking about timing and overall calorie intake. What you do during training periods is vastly different from what you do leading up to competition.
It’s not that one is right and the other is wrong, it’s just different.
Training Nutrition
Now let’s talk about nutrient timing. This is a important concept to grasp if you want to maximize performance and recovery.
You want to be eating protein and carbohydrate rich meals before training sessions.
This helps with recovery, but it also helps with performance.
After training is where carbohydrate and protein combination becomes very important. This is not the time to grab a handful of protein and call it a day, but it’s also not the time to consume carbohydrates and no protein.
You want to be combining the two.
Competition Day Nutrition
Now competition day is a whole different situation. On this day you want to be eating high carbohydrate meals with low fat and fiber.
This helps with energy and prevents digestive issues. This is not the day to eat foods you are not familiar with.
I know it can be boring eating the same old foods over and over, but it’s necessary.
You don’t want to be risking digestive issues on contest day, do you?
After weighing in, you want to be focusing on high carbohydrate foods to replenish glycogen stores. You also want to stick to a consistent diet.
This helps with performance and energy.
Monitoring Progress and Adjusting Intake
Tracking your nutrition is important to see how your calorie intake is affecting your weight. A food diary or a nutrition app is a great way to see your overall daily intake.
Tracking Calories and Macros
If you’re trying to build muscle and strength, then tracking calories and macros is important. Calculate your TDEE and add calories if you want to gain muscle mass.
For macros, a higher protein intake is always recommended. Carbohydrates should be enough to cover your energy needs.
And don’t forget about fat, it’s important for hormone production.
The most important thing is to look at how you feel and your progress. If you’re not gaining weight or muscle, then you’ll need to adjust calories and macros.
Hitting Variables Based on Progress
Look at how you’re doing in the gym. Are you lifting heavier? Are your body measurements changing? These are all important indicators of how you’re doing.
When you’re not lifting heavier and your measurements are off, then you may need to adjust calories. If you’re not gaining weight, but losing, then you need to adjust calories.
If you’re gaining fat in certain areas, but not other areas, then you need to adjust calories.
By looking at how you’re doing in the gym and how your body is changing, you’ll be able to make adjustments to your diet to help you reach your goals.
Bottom Line
As a powerlifter, you know how important it is to be strong and perform at your best. A well-planned diet is the foundation of success.
You need to focus on caloric intake, macronutrient balance, and timing your nutrition around your workouts.
Also Supplements can be helpful, but they are no substitute for a diet rich in nutrients. Don’t fall into the trap of avoiding certain foods or macronutins.
Be sure to hydrate and individualize your diet to your training and upcoming competitions.
