“Does food impact strength training?” is a question that even if you can’t answer scientifically, it is a question that you can very easily guess. It is quite obvious that it does impact strength training and it actually has a huge impact! So, food plays an extremely important role in our lives – it is crucial to… live. However, it is also crucial to achieve your bodybuilding results. Working out in the gym to achieve your body goals takes a lot of energy. That’s the fuel that must come from somewhere… and that’s the food that you eat.
Your car takes its energy from the fuel, while your body takes it from the food. However, if you were to put poor quality fuel (especially on a constant basis) on your car, it’ll simply not perform as well. Well, the same is true about your body. By eating poor quality foods, your body will poorly perform. So, if you want to lift big and build big muscle, you need the right fuel in your tank. Regardless if you aim to burn fat or gain muscle, it all depends on your diet – pairing it with a regular workout plan.
So, how does food impact your strength training and how do you support your gain goals? Check it all below.
Better Food (quality) = Better Results
Yes, as simple as it sounds. The better the quality of your foods, the better the results. While you are pushing your muscles hard in the gym to increase hypertrophy (muscle growth), it is not very efficient unless your muscles are getting the fuel they need both before and after your workout. The reason is very simple – the muscles need the right energy to be able to perform correctly which will trigger hypertrophy, and your muscles need nutrients to grow by starting the recovery /repair process. The foods that you eat basically provide you with the energy to strength train in the first place and support the rebuilding of stronger, bigger tissues.
This is the reason why junk food just won’t do the job, even if you eat a lot of it. It doesn’t provide the nutrients (macronutrients and micronutrients) your muscles need. That’s why not only the quantity (how much) you eat, but quality (what you eat) matters too. The body needs special nutrients in order to construct new muscle tissues.
In fact, if you are pushing hard in the gym with lots of strength training but do not have adequate nutrition, you can actually end up losing your muscles. The total opposite of your goals. Simply because the body doesn’t get what it needs to regrow muscles. Not to mention that without the right foods, you’re going to feel sluggish in the gym. This way, you’re just wasting your time with your half hearted workout. If you want to maximize your gains (both strength and muscle gains) and help you burn excess fat (revealing that lean and shredded appearance) you need the combination of both:
- The right amount of food (calories) you eat per day
- The right quality of foods (micronutrients) with balanced macronutrients
How much should you eat when strength training?
This is a question that we can’t just give a straightforward answer. It depends on various factors such as your goals and your current body numbers (mostly). When you aim to build muscle, you need to provide more calories (foods) than it burns. This means that you need more calories than calorie maintenance which maintains current weight. But what is bulking calories for one, may be cutting calories for another, because of the big difference in body weights and fat percentages across different people. If you want to burn fat, you’ll need to aim for cutting calories.
Regardless of your goal, you can count your calories based on various factors. Then, with the amount of calories you need for maintenance, and with a goal in mind, you can determine how much food you should be eating. In both cases, it is around 500 calories per day more or less than maintenance, depending on whether you’re trying to bulk up or cut.
Not only that, the tricky thing is – where do those calories come from? As long as you’re getting them from quality foods, you’re going to get muscle development. If you get them from junk food, you’re likely to see fat gains. Even if you’re cutting with junk food, you may be losing weight, but you still won’t get that shredded and lean appearance.
Macronutrients when strength training
It is extremely important to have a balanced diet, rich in nutrients, with proper balance of macronutrients. That’s important to stay healthy, but it is even more important during strength training. When you focus on gaining muscle, for example, you need to up your protein. It is a crucial micronutrient to achieve success in bodybuilding simply because muscles are mostly made up of protein. Want to increase muscle mass? Increase protein intake. People with a sedentary lifestyle (those who are not very active) may not need much of it. 0.8 grams a day per kilogram of body mass is just enough. For fairly active individuals around 1.2 up to 1.7 g/day/kg/body mass is enough. But if you want to gain muscle, you need at least 1.6 up to 2 g/day/kg/body mass.
And that’s just protein. You also need quality (complex) carbohydrates. Around half of what you are eating should come from carbs. They are important to provide your muscles the energy they need and aim for recovery. Then there are also healthy fats that are important to stay healthy, aid recovery, and also provide the energy demands for your muscles. Around 10-20% of the total calories you get a day should come from healthy fats.
In short, you aim for a balance. That’s why you may have heard about the term “balanced diet”. Many avoid carbs or fats, but that’s a huge mistake. While you definitely shouldn’t be getting unhealthy carbs and fats, and you shouldn’t be eating too much of them, completely avoiding them is a huge mistake, hindering your gains. While it is hard to be deficient in fat, try to ensure that every meal and snack includes protein paired with quality carbs and only a small bit of healthy fat.
Why no Junk Food?
Everyone loves various types of junk foods, right? Why wouldn’t they help us grow muscle? Well, junk foods such as pizza may actually be great when it comes to gaining weight, however, it doesn’t mean that the weight you’ve gained comes in the form of lean muscle. You can have some junk food such as pizza every now and then because it is not going to completely sabotage your gains. However, a diet full of processed and sugary foods is definitely not going to maximize your muscle growth but is very likely to maximize fat gains.
Eating high sugary foods will spike your insulin. Over time, it could lead to insulin resistance. Whereas insulin is a vital hormone, too much of it will hinder your fat burning process and increase the fat gaining process. This is one of the reasons why high sugary foods tend to pack on your belly so easily. Moreover, most of them have almost no nutritional value! This means that while they tend to store as fat, they will provide no benefits for your body.
Additionally, chowing down on a bucket of chicken or fat burgers and fries will not be delivering the nutrients you need and will make you feel sluggish and groggy. Over time, it adds up and makes you fat, lowers your energy levels and motivation to work out, and also the way you perform in the gym to achieve your goals.
Food to eat during strength training
It is important to understand that building muscle and strength is possible with the right foods that can fuel your workouts and support muscle growth. Moreover, these are foods that are less likely to store fat, delivering that lean physique everyone is dreaming about. You need the right macronutrient balance from quality foods. With it, you are also going to get the micronutrients you need. You should focus on lean protein rich foods and complex carbohydrates. Here’s the list of foods that you can eat that will deliver your gains:
- Eggs
- Chicken
- Lean beef
- Cottage cheese
- Salmon
- Beans
- Tempeh
- Tofu
- Tuna
- Greek yogurt
- Quinoa
- Brown rice
- Nuts and seeds
- Vegetables
- Various green leafs
- Berries
- Different fruits
- The list does not end here
What to avoid when strength training?
If you really want to maximize muscle growth, it is better to avoid these types of foods:
- Alcoholic beverages (or foods)
- Any foods (or liquids) with added sugars (high sugar content)
- Highly processed and fried foods
Ready to strength train like never before?
With the quality foods that you’ll now be eating, you’re well on your way to hardcore muscle and strength gains! You are going to notice faster recovery, less muscle soreness, better performance, more strength, energy, endurance, and stamina! Now, going to the gym is going to be easier. Your nutrition has always been and always will be an extremely important factor in pre and post workout, the way you feel, the way you perform, and the way you look.
Nevertheless, if you’re trying to diet correctly and you still struggle to achieve your bodybuilding goals, then you may need a little support. With our 100% quality anabolic steroids, you’re sure to hit your goals in no time. We provide the best quality steroids on the market for the best prices, saving you money and ensuring you only get the best in terms of quality and purity. Moreover, at Cycle-Gear.to you may get help in terms of cycle advice so you can be sure you’re well on your way to smashing those goals while ensuring you stay safe and away from side effects.
With them, you can get ready to build lean muscle, burn fat, and strength train like never before. You’ll get extreme strength and energy. Regardless if you’re bulking or cutting, we’ve got different compounds that could support your goals. But even with them, it is still important to remember that you still need the right food as nutrition still greatly impacts your muscle growth and strength training abilities.
