Caloric Intake for Pwer Sports

[Matthieu Hertilus]

If I understand this correctly, high power sports such as olympic weightlifting and powerlifting do not deplete the body's glycogen levels to a large degree; however, with the amount of weight moved for both sports I wonder what are optimum levels of caloric intake for someone looking for continued performance improvements? I usually take in less than 2000 calories a day at 170lbs and my performance hasn't really suffered greatly from it, but I wonder if there's a need to take in more calories to really make gains or is the number of calories I take in irrelevant

[Brian DeGennaro]

How much protein are you getting? That's the most important thing for Olympic lifting. I doubt if you eat 2000cals you're getting enough protein at 170lbs. I am at 165 and I eat more than double that in order to get enough protein and fat into my diet. I think calorie counting is a very anal habit to get into. In my opinion try to get 2lbs of meat (this will be about 200g of protein) into your diet a day, and eat a ton of vegetables with olive oil with the meat, eat nuts throughout the day, and you're set

[Matthieu Hertilus]

I've always heard conlicting reports about how much protein to take but my problem is I get full so quickly (probably from all the fiber in the fruits, veggies and nuts). Maybe its a thyroid thing as I've already posted about this in another thread but do you usually go for the "5-6 meal a day" approach, IFing it, protein shakes? What's your opinion on how to fit it all in?

[Steven Low]

Depends on the person...

Aim for that 1-1.5g/lbs protein window.

As long as you're progressing I wouldn't worry too much about how many cals you are/are not eating, especially if your weight is stable and you don't want to move up a weight class.

[Brian DeGennaro]

Personally, I have 2-3 meals and a quart of milk+whey protein (half gallon when I was trying to gain) every day. Drinking calories and nutrients (preferably whole milk) is a really easy way to get what you need in.

[Darryl Shaw]

Originally Posted by Matthieu Hertilus

If I understand this correctly, high power sports such as olympic weightlifting and powerlifting do not deplete the body's glycogen levels to a large degree; however, with the amount of weight moved for both sports I wonder what are optimum levels of caloric intake for someone looking for continued performance improvements? I usually take in less than 2000 calories a day at 170lbs and my performance hasn't really suffered greatly from it, but I wonder if there's a need to take in more calories to really make gains or is the number of calories I take in irrelevant

It's quite easy to get a reasonably accurate estimate of daily energy and macronutrient requirements with a few simple calculations -

1: Go here to calculate total kcals/day.

2: Calculate your protein requirement 1.2 - 1.8g/kg/day.

3: Calculate carbs 6 - 10g/kg/day (Note: this varies depending on training intensity and duration so the more active you are the more carbs you need.)

4: Total kcals/day - (PRO + CHO kcals) = fat kcals/day (divide by 9 to get g/day).

Any book on sports nutrition can provide a more detailed explanation of the math if you're interested in learning more.