Most people who walk into a gym are seeking weight loss, or at least the loss of body fat. An elite minority, however, seek to gain as much weight as necessary to increase their ability to lift. Power lifters want to be big and strong. Few care about a bit of body fat, as long as they can reach their goal of benching, squatting or dead-lifting more weight. The mantra is, "Eat big, lift big, get big."
Protein is Power
The first important step in developing a high-calorie meal plan for increasing your power-lifting strength is to increase the amount of protein you eat. Animal protein sources like meat, eggs and dairy are ideal.
Dietary protein is broken down during digestion into amino acids. They are re-synthesized into protein to build new muscle cells. You cannot eat too much protein as a power lifter. At a bare minimum, you need to eat at least two grams of protein per pound of the body weight you want to be.
Get Giant Gains with GOMAD
One simple way of easily increasing protein content is the GOMAD diet. GOMAD is a Gallon Of Milk A Day. Whole milk is a very calorie-dense source of healthy, protein-rich nutrients. Consuming a gallon of whole milk each day, above what you are normally eating, is a surefire way of consuming enough protein and calories.
Starches are Sweet
In addition to protein, the weight-seeking power lifter needs to increase his carbohydrate consumption. While low-carb diets are extremely important to weight loss, when you want to gain weight, you need lots of carbs. Fiber-rich vegetables are still the best sources of healthy carbs. Consuming a lot of starch in the form of potatoes and bread is beneficial when your goal is to gain weight.
Fantastic Fats
Dietary fat, the much-maligned bad boy of the nutrition world, is critically essential to weight gain on the high-calorie power lifting diet. Dietary fat is a critical precursor to testosterone production in the body. Testosterone of course, is the male hormone that is responsible for synthesizing protein into muscle tissue. Additionally, scientists now know that the consumption of dietary fats raises levels of the "good" HDL cholesterol more than the "bad" LDL cholesterol.
Cheeseburgers are Paradise
Troy West, CSCS, CPT, and owner of Empower Fitness Company, in Portland, Ore., is a former power lifter. He says, "While good macronutrient ratios are important to health, for power lifters who want to get big, it's more important to just eat enough."
West says that eating calorie-dense food is hard and easy at the same time. "It's hard to eat the vast amounts of calories needed to gain weight. On the other hand, though, it's easy to eat the right kind of food, 'cause it's all the stuff we're told is bad for us. Pizza by the entire pie, bags of cheeseburgers . . . you get the idea. Just eat as much as you can keep down. Then eat a little more."
Tags: gain weight, power lifter, lifters want, weight loss