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Nutrition For Strength Development

Written By Samuel Biesack

You’ve undoubtedly heard how important nutrition is for attaining a great physique, but your nutritional practices are just as important for optimizing strength development.

Strength training is often rigorous, demanding energy for difficult workouts and also recovery. If you happen to be an athlete that needs to build muscle and strength while limiting overall weight gain, your nutrition practices become even more important.

To come in this article, I’ll discuss what you should be focusing on when it comes to manipulating your nutrition for efficient strength development.

nutrition basics for strength gain

Before getting into specific nutrition ideas focused directly on improving strength, you need to understand a few basic principles of how the food you eat influences how your body grows.

Above all else, you need to first consider how many total calories you consume each day relative to how many calories you expend through exercise and simply everyday activities. Termed energy balance, this equation of the number of calories you consume through food versus the calories you burn through exercise and daily living plays an integral role in whether you’ll build quality strength or not (1).

When you consider strength, you’re attempting to improve the quality of your muscular system, as well as improve the ability of your muscles to contract forcefully under load. When doing this, you need to ensure that the body has enough energy to not only support this extra growth while also being able to deal with the demands of everyday life. Oftentimes, we forget that the protein and calories we consume each day have other purposes than simply building muscle.

Quite simply, without enough total calories, in addition to adequate protein, carbs, and fat, you won’t be able to build muscle or strength. But that’s also not a free pass to binge, as so many strength athletes have mistaken. Despite a requirement for adequate energy, maintaining control of your intake is still a requirement for efficient and healthy growth.

VOLUME DETERMINES CALORIC NEEDS

A male CrossFit athlete doing his WOD for strength development.

No matter if your goal is to build muscle, build strength, or both, the amount of food and thus, calories you consume should be based largely on your total training volume, or the amount of work you complete for any given workout. In a basic sense, the higher your volume of training, the higher your caloric needs will be, since you’re expending more energy.

For instance, when the goal is to build muscle, many workouts include high numbers of exercises, completed for many sets and for higher rep ranges. This means you’re burning through loads of calories each and every workout. In order to then balance out calories in versus calories out, you’ll need to consume a higher amount of calories.

However, with many strength-training workouts, the focus is on fewer exercises, completed with heavier weight, for fewer repetitions. While everyone is an individual and this is a generalized statement, many strength-focused workouts are quite low in terms of volume, meaning, calorie expenditure is relatively low compared to muscle building workouts.

This is really important to understand, in my opinion. While yes, you need to ensure that you’re eating enough calories to support growth and strength gain, you also don’t require thousands of calories above your energy balance.

ADJUSTING YOUR MACROS

Once you dial in the appropriate amount of calories you should be eating for your individual needs, you can begin to manipulate how you consume those calories.

Macronutrients like protein, carbohydrates, and fat have caloric values, which make up the total amount of calories you eat. By manipulating which of these macronutrients contributes to calories the most, you can potentially improve the quality and efficiency of your strength improvement.

ADEQUATE PROTEIN IS MOST IMPORTANT

It’s no mystery that in order to build muscle and strength, you should be consuming adequate protein in your diet. Protein provides the amino acids necessary for the body to construct new contractile proteins, which improve muscle size and function.

A recent meta-analysis, which is a combination of hundreds of different studies, revealed that to maximize muscle gain, consuming up to 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight each day was optimal. What they also found was that consuming greater than that amount provided little to no additional benefit. For reference, that’s around 134 grams of protein daily for a 185 lb. individual (2, 3).

Now, there are indeed sources that suggest lower values ranging from .55-0.8 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight each day, are adequate for muscle and strength development. This means that at minimum, these are the values you should aim for improving muscle size and strength (4).

Chocolate whey protein for strength development.

However, it’s important to also consider that building muscle is not the sole purpose of protein in the body. The body also requires protein and amino acids to support cellular regeneration, development and maintenance of enzymes and a host of other processes. This makes erring on the side of caution appropriate when considering total daily protein. Overall, it’s a better idea to over-consume protein than under-consume.

I recommend sticking with a range of 0.8-1.6 g/kg of body weight to ensure at least, adequate protein consumption.

CARBS & FAT

How many grams of dietary carbohydrates and fat you consume come down to two factors: what you prefer and what you’re used to.

What research shows is that strength performance can be achieved when consuming a higher amount of carbs, as well as a lower amount of carbs. But the catch is that your body needs to be acclimated to whichever you choose (5, 6).

Really, this does make sense. If you normally consume large amounts of carbohydrates, the body adapts according to this intake, relying heavily on a steady stream of carbs being ingested. Should you all of sudden remove carbs from your diet and replace them with dietary fat, the body requires a period of acclimation in order to function properly (7).

Mostly, with regards to strength development, you should prioritize either carbs or fat based on your personal preferences.

MACRONUTRIENT RATIOS

Raw foods that provide macronutrients for strength development.

Depending on your preferences, the ratios of macronutrients you consume will vary. However, the percentages of carbs and fat you consume should be determined based on adequate protein consumption. That means, determine the percentage of protein you’ll consume each day first and then adjust carbohydrate and fat amounts based on preference.

Here’s an example for a 185 lb. individual, hoping to consume at least 1.2 grams of protein per kg of body weight, splitting the recommendation of 0.8-1.6 g/kg of body weight:

Protein: 1.2 x 84 kg = 100.8 grams of protein

From here, you’ll want to fill the remaining calories with carbohydrates and fat, depending on your preference.

Using the example above and assuming a 2000-calorie diet, total protein intake will then account for around 20% of your total calorie intake. This means the remaining 80% of calories can come from carbohydrates and fat, in amounts that suit your preferences.

Just remember that these ratios can be dynamic and should be based on preference and how you respond. If you find that 1.2 g/kg is too low or too high, you can adjust to meet what works best for you and the same with carbs and fat. Just make certain that you’re consuming adequate protein.

CALORIE & MACRO TRACKING

Regardless of your overall goals, you should determine your preferred level of scrutiny when it comes to nutrition.

If you’re a strength athlete that requires a competitive advantage, tracking calories and macros affords you an unparalleled level of authority when it comes to how your body functions and grows. In this case, tracking intake is always recommended since it provides you with clear data of how much you’re eating and how that influences your ability to grow stronger. If you’re simply looking to improve your strength ability, tracking calories and macros may not be necessary for you, as it can be time-consuming.

As with most other suggestions here, tracking or not tracking will depend on your preference and the level of control you desire.

CALORIE CYCLING IS A GOOD IDEA

A relatively new concept in sports nutrition is the idea of cycling calories based on your activity level. Rather than simply eating a static amount of calories regardless of exercise and activity, cycling the total amount of calories you eat based on this activity again provides you with an extra layer of security over your bodyweight and growth.

For example, let’s assume you require an average of 2000 calories each day to support muscle and strength development.

When using a cycling approach, you can adjust your daily intake so that on training days, you consume 2200 calories and on off days, you consume only 1800. In this scenario, food intake is elevated when energy demands are higher and lowered when energy demands are low. This happens while still maintaining an average intake of 2000 calories.

While you’re certainly welcome to consume a static number of calories daily, cycling based on activity level is a great approach, especially for competitive athletes who rely on optimizing strength gain, while limiting bodyweight gain.

SUPPLEMENTATION FOR STRENGTH GAIN

No nutrition guide is complete without at least mentioning supplementation. In terms of strength development, two supplements truly shine.

WHEY PROTEIN

Whey protein is a good idea for the strength athlete because it provides additional protein in an easy-consume-form. This makes consuming adequate daily protein quite easy.

Second, whey protein is a very high-quality protein, used readily by the body to stimulate new muscle growth. So even if you use whey to simply hit protein requirements, you can rest assured that the quality of that protein is high (8, 9, 10).

A female CrossFit athlete drinking a whey protein shake to help with strength development.

CREATINE

Creatine monohydrate, in particular, has tremendous evidence to suggest it improves power and force development, which is certainly appropriate if your goal is to maximize strength development.

When your muscle is saturated with phosphocreatine (the storable and usable form of creatine in the muscle), this allows for rapid energy usage and replenishment, especially during strength-based movements and rep ranges. This means creatine helps you lift heavier weights more explosively while allowing you to recover and repeat at a faster rate. Together, that leads to more effective and more efficient strength development (11, 12, 13).

DON’T FORGET TO REEVALUATE NEEDS REGULARLY

Lastly, it’s always a good idea to reevaluate your nutritional needs based on how you’re responding. As you grow and become more experienced, your needs can drastically change relative to when you first began. Mostly, the adjustments you need to make are straightforward.

If you find that you’re rapidly improving in strength ability and muscle growth, it’s possible that you’re consuming the appropriate amount of food and the right types of food for your needs. If you’re not developing strength fast enough, you might need an increase. If you’ve found that you’ve gained weight that isn’t quality muscle, you should consider reducing your total intake.

Just keep in mind that your lack of strength development or increase in body fatness may also be due to a poor training program, rather than simply the amount and type of foods you’re consuming.

FINAL WORD

Nutrition requirements for strength development vary widely based on preference, body size, experience and overall goals. However, many suggestions transcend this individuality, such as consuming adequate protein daily, to support growth.

Regardless of your overall goals, first guarantee that you’re consuming the appropriate amount of calories for your goals and your body requirements. From there, you can manipulate where you attain those calories from, based on personal preference and evaluation of your progress.

Grass fed whey protein isolate and colostrum.

References:

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Schoenfeld, B. J., & Aragon, A. A. (2018). How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 15(1), 10.
Tarnopolsky, M. A., MacDougall, J. D., & Atkinson, S. A. (1988). Influence of protein intake and training status on nitrogen balance and lean body mass. Journal of Applied Physiology, 64(1), 187-193.
Escobar, K. A., Morales, J., & Vandusseldorp, T. A. (2016). The Effect of a Moderately Low and High Carbohydrate Intake on Crossfit Performance. International journal of exercise science, 9(4), 460.
Leveritt, M., & Abernethy, P. J. (1999). Effects of carbohydrate restriction on strength performance. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 13(1), 52-57.
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Coburn, J. W., Housh, D. J., Housh, T. J., Malek, M. H., Beck, T. W., Cramer, J. T., ... & Donlin, P. E. (2006). Effects of leucine and whey protein supplementation during eight weeks of unilateral resistance training. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 20(2), 284-291.
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Cramer, J. T., Stout, J. R., Culbertson, J. Y., & Egan, A. D. (2007). Effects of creatine supplementation and three days of resistance training on muscle strength, power output, and neuromuscular function. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 21(3), 668.
Koenig, C. A., Benardot, D., Cody, M., & Thompson, W. R. (2008). Comparison of creatine monohydrate and carbohydrate supplementation on repeated jump height performance. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 22(4), 1081-1086.
Rawson, E. S., & Volek, J. S. (2003). Effects of creatine supplementation and resistance training on muscle strength and weightlifting performance. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 17(4), 822-831.