Does Your Nutrition Affect Strength Training

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-woman-using-dumbbells-3757943/

There are many people who make the mistake of thinking that they can outwork a bad diet. As long as they're consistently in the gym each day, they can eat whatever they want. This couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, it's actually backward. As long as you're consistent with your nutritional health and dietary needs, you can still enjoy a lean body and exercise a few times a week. When you're dealing with strength-training goals, it's a slightly different ballgame. Nutrition is definitely a major component that impacts your strength-training ability and progress. However, there are a few key considerations to keep in mind.

1. Building Muscle

When you're building muscle and want to see the definition in your arms, legs, and glutes, you have to eat foods that are filled with protein. As you lift heavy weights, you're tearing the muscle fibers. In order to rebuild them, you have to eat protein. If you don't eat enough protein, you can actually lose muscle tissue. The amount of protein varies from person to person. However, most fitness professionals encourage people to eat 0.5 to 0.8 grams of protein for each pound of body weight. When you calculate the numbers, that amount of protein might seem impossible. Thankfully, this is where meal-prepping strategies come in. Whether you're a vegetarian, vegan, or meat-eater, there are plenty of ways to creatively infuse more protein into your diet. Protein powders, grilled meats, and seeds (pumpkin, flax) are all great sources of protein. Legumes, organic superfood, and protein supplements can help you boost your protein intake as well. Try to mix things up and become spontaneous with your protein choices in order to avoid a plateau.

2. Need for Energy

While food is wonderful, flavorful, and delicious, it's also meant to provide energy for the body. Without enough food in the system, a person can die. When a person is low on energy, sometimes it's common to reach for a snack like an apple. That apple holds the power to provide a spike in energy. Energy is important in order to carry out the tasks of each day. This includes a rigorous strength-training workout. If you're low on energy, you're not going to do well when you're in the gym. Fuel the body in order to make sure it operates at peak performance level.

3. Starvation Mode

If you're trying to lose weight as you incorporate strength-training exercises into your regimen, it might be tempting to think you can just focus on decreasing your calories in order to see progress. While you do need to be in a caloric deficit in order to see results, don't make the mistake of going into starvation mode. If you whittle down your calories to less than 1,000 and still lift heavy weights, your body will go into starvation mode. As you enter starvation mode, your body will hold on to all the fat it can find in order to get the energy it needs to function. If your body holds on to the fat, you won't be able to lose it. However, if you feed your body what it needs in order to function, it'll release the weight effectively.

4. Slower Metabolism

When you're trying to develop strong muscles, you need to eat more. If you opt to eat less and train at the same level of intensity, your cortisol levels will spike. As you do this on a consistent basis, your metabolism will slow down. When women are looking to burn fat during the menopausal years, they're often encouraged to lift weights because of the positive impact it can have on hormones. By refusing to eat enough, you'll only continue to slow down your metabolism that's already slowing down due to menopause. Even if it's a protein bar before the workout and a handful of nuts after the workout, walk with nutritious snacks and eat healthy meals.

If you've developed goals to become the strongest, healthiest version of yourself, a strength-training regimen is an important component to include. However, never negate or overlook the power of a great nutritional program to enhance what you're doing in the gym. In fact, without a solid nutritional plan, you're simply sabotaging your efforts in the gym. Combine the two, and you'll be amazed by what you can accomplish.