Training

Eating for Size, Strength and Performance


Written by

By Chad Wesley Smith

There is plenty of nutrition information on the internet for people looking to get ripped or cut weight, but what about the strength athlete looking to compete at the highest levels. In the quest for ultimate strength, the athlete must consume high volumes of high quality macronutrients.

 Facing New Giants

As I enter a new challenge in my athletics career, Strongman, I am faced with a myriad of new aspects of physical performance. Strongman combines all the strength and technical abilities of my previous endeavors with the added requirement of great alactic, aerobic and lactic capacity. Strongman also tends to reward a larger athlete, as the recent winners of the biggest strongman contests in the World (World’s Strongest Man and the Arnold Classic) have been 6’8” 460 pounds, 6’3” 410 pounds and 6’5” 385 pounds. While I don’t have the height or frame to carry that type of weight, I think I will be best served competing at 325-335 pounds and carrying as much muscle as possible, Derek Poundstone, Mariusz Pudzianowski and Jarek Dymek are all examples I look to as athletes of lesser height and weight that compete at the highest levels of the sport. I am currently at 6’1” and just under 320 pounds.

Great Strongmen Derek Poundstone (left) and 5x World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski are great examples of how an extremely muscular but smaller athlete can compete with the giants of the sport like 6’8” 460 pound 2011 World’s Strongest Man Champion Brian Shaw.
Brian Shaw

The nature of many Strongman events, particularly medleys and maximum rep events, place a great demand on the athlete’s glycogen stores. Shot putting and powerlifting are purely alactic in nature and do not require much if any energy coming from carbohydrates.

To maximize my performance and aid in adding lean mass I will be adhering to a combination of carb cycling and back loading.

training schedule

Sunday-Events (Yoke, Frame Carry/Farmers, Stones, Husafel Stone)

Monday-Off

Tuesday-Single Arm DB Press for Reps and Pressing Assistance Work

Wednesday-Deadlifts, Squats and Lower Body Assistance

Thursday-Off

Friday-Log Clean and Press and Pressing Assistance Work

Saturday-Off

My training all happens in the morning, usually from about 10:30-12 or slightly after. Off days will be very low carb days and I will try to keep carb intake under 30g for the entire day. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday’s training I will Carb Backload, keeping my AM carb intake minimal and after noon will begin to take in large amounts of clean carbohydrate intake. Sunday’s will place the greatest demand on my glycogen stores because that is when I will be training the moving events and medleys. Sunday will be a super high carb day and I will take in carbs with every meal. Strongman events are great promoter of hypertrophy due to the long time under tension that you undergo, so Sunday should serve as a good day for me to take advantage of the tremendous hormonal release the event training will cause.

My diet is based around quality whole foods including chicken, beef, turkey, eggs, bacon, brown rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, black beans, spinach, green beans, olive oil, and natural peanut butter. From a supplement standpoint, I utilize all of the Juggernaut Supplement Series, multivitamin, vitamin C and fish oil.

DAILY MEAL PLAN

Off Days

Meal 1: Green Tea with 5g of L-Leucine

Meal 2: 4 Scoops Juggernaut Fat Loss Formula w/ 1 TBSP of Peanut Butter, 5g of Creatine

Meal 3: 16oz Chicken, 1 Cup of Green Beans, 1 Spinach Salad with Bacon and Olive Oil

Meal 4: 4 Sccops of Juggernaut Fat Loss Formula w/ 1 TBSP of Peanut Butter, 5g of Creatine

Meal 5: 16oz Beef, 1 Cup of Green Beans, 1 Spinach Salad with Bacon and Olive Oil

Meal 6: Juggernaut Anytime Shake w/ 1 TBSP of Peanut Butter, 5g of Creatine

2 Fish Oil Capsules with each meal

Gym Training Day Nutrition

Meal 1: 6 Whole Eggs, 3 Strips Bacon, 3 Turkey Meatballs, 1 Cup of Spinach

Meal 2 (Pre-Training): 4 Scoops of Juggernaut Fat Loss Formual w/ 1 TBSP of Peanut Butter, 5g of Creatine

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Meal 3 (Post-Training): 4 Scoops of Juggernaut Fat Loss Formual w/ 1 TBSP of Peanut Butter, 5g of Creatine

Meal 4: 16oz Chicken, ½ Cup of Black Beans, 2 Cups of Brown Rice

Meal 5: 4 Scoops Juggernaut Muscle Growth Formula, ½ Cup Oatmeal, 8oz of Chocolate Milk-This combination yields over 100g of Protein and 200g of carbs

Meal 6: 16oz Beef, 1 Large Sweet Potato, ½ Cup of Black Beans

Meal 7: 4 Scoops Juggernaut Muscle Growth Formula, ½ Cup Oatmeal, 8oz of Chocolate Milk

**1 Fish Oil Capsule with each meal

[youtube height=”344″ width=”425″]ZC4KWdMdj-w[/youtube]

When your training days are this demanding, you need to fuel the body properly.

Event Training Day Nutrition

Meal 1: 4 Whole Eggs, 2 Strips Bacon, 2 Turkey Meatball, 1 Cup of Spinach, 2 Cups of Oatmeal or a stack of whole wheat pancakes with honey.

Meal 2 (Pre-Training): 2 Scoops of Biotest Surge Workout Fuel

Meal 3 (Peri-Training): 4 Scoops of Juggernaut Muscle Growth Formula

Meal 4 (Post-Training): 4 Scoops Juggernaut Muscle Growth Formula, ½ Cup Oatmeal, 8oz of Chocolate Milk

Meal 5: 16oz Chicken, ½ Cup of Black Beans, 2 Cups of Brown Rice

Meal 6: 4 Scoops Juggernaut Muscle Growth Formula, ½ Cup Oatmeal, 8oz of Chocolate Milk

Meal 7: 16oz Beef, 1 Large Sweet Potato, ½ Cup of Black Beans

Meal 8: Ice Cream or another treat

1 Fish Oil Capsule

Each day I will take 2 Multi Vitamins and 2000mg of Vitamin C.

I make the decision to add fats (through the Peanut Butter) to many of my shakes for extra calories and to enhance the taste. Also I add oats to many of my post training shakes, as well as mixing them with chocolate milk instead of the usual water, for extra carbohydrate intake. The carb content of the standard shakes is more than sufficient to help exploit the insulin response for a normal sized athlete, but most people don’t weigh 320. The high demands of my training schedule, my high bodyweight and physical nature of my work, demand that I have a very high carb intake on my training days.

I do all my shopping at Trader Joe’s an spend right at $100 per weekly trip to the grocery store. All of my meat is prepared on either Sunday evening or Monday morning and stored for the week. Planning your meals and cooking ahead of time will go a long way towards keeping your nutrition strict and avoid scrambling  for healthy meals at the last minute, where you will usually find yourself with few quality options.

A simple nutrition plan, quality whole foods and a bit of planning ahead can yield great gains for you in terms of physique, strength gains and performance.

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