Does Physical Strength Depend Upon Food Intake?

Does Physical Strength Depend Upon Food Intake?

When I began my journey of weight training to get bigger and stronger I would often reads a lot of magazines to learn how to achieve my goals. In between the pages there would be the common advice to eat big to get big and strong. It made sense to me and I started to believe in it.

The common reasoning for this advice was that when you train with heavy weights your muscle tissue breaks down. Thereafter a big intake of food focusing primarily on protein would help rebuild the muscle tissue and make it bigger and stronger than before. I guess it all makes sense, right? So I kept up with the big eating and big lifting, and made some good progress with it.

However, I would often come across individuals who came from slightly economically challenged backgrounds and were often underfed. Yet their physical strength was much better than a lot of people who were better fed. This made me wonder if physical strength truly does depend a lot on food intake.

If Your Goal Is Just To Increase Strength, Do You Really Need A High Calorie Diet?

Will A Sedentary Manager Be As Strong As An Under Fed Active Construction Worker?

So if you are on a tight budget and want to add only strength without bulk then you can do so. However, for adding mass you will require surplus calories. A good program to follow to add strength without mass on a lowered caloric intake is to do something like the “Power to the people” program designed by Pavel Tsatsouline.

The program basically involves doing only two exercises like the deadlift and floor press for 5 days a week doing 2 sets of 5 reps. You can also do some other low volume training programs where you don’t do more than 4-5 exercises with no more than 2 sets on most occasions focusing only on compound movements.

Try this routine to gain great strength even if you do not wish to over feed your body for added mass:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

  • Squats: 1-3 set of 5 reps
  • Bench Press: 1-3 set of 5 reps
  • Barbell Row: 1-3 set of 5 reps
  • Windmill: 1-3 set of 5 reps

Do 1 set of 5 reps with your 7 rep max on all the exercises on Monday. On Tuesday and Thursday lift the same weight for 2 sets. Add another set on Saturday to make it a total of 3 sets of 5 reps. Take a rest of 2-2 ½ minutes between sets. Next Monday increase the weight by 2-5 pounds and do 1 set of 5 reps, thus once again starting the cycle.

Similar Posts:

Share

Leave a Reply