help me with my diet (strongman diet)

[smiffy180]

Right after reading/starting threads in the health section the time has come to ask about my diet. Obviously the most important thing about training. Rather than sign up to another specific forum I'll give PH a go as your all powerfully built
So this is it so far and I know ill need adjustment

Breakfast:
2x brazil nuts (not sure how many I can consume)
30g of almonds
100g of oats
25g of 80% whey protein
5g of creatine
500ml of milk
All blended into a shake which comes to roughly 950cals, 57g of protein, 88g of carbs, 40g of fat (this is the only one ive worked out btw)

Pre workout:
100g oats
25g of 80% whey protein
5g of creatine
500ml of milk
All blended into a shake (don't use pre workout supps as they've never worked for me)

Post workout:
25g of 80% whey protein
100g of dextrose (a highly rexommended carb source for those who don't know)
5g of creatine
Either water or 500ml of milk (most likely water)

Post workout meal/ lunch:
500ml of egg white (scrambled)
Roughly 130g of cooked chicken breast (that's how they come)
Roast potatoes? 2 large ones are roughly 600g so roughly 120g of carbs?

Tea:
Same as above

At some point:
25g of 80% whey protein
5g of creatine
(Maybe oats again to keep carbs up)

Talking to a personal trainer/bodybuilder friend of mine. He recommends 250+g of protein, 600g of carbs (if I can manage that much) and about 120g of fats.

So I need help as im sure it's not the best diet plan. What do you think?

[smiffy180]

Also wanted to mention I will have different meats such as beef one night a week and steak of some sort during the week too

[didelydoo]

What's your aim? At 133kg (I think you said that in another thread) do you plan to come down in weight to 105 or stay at open level? I ask as after a few novice comps (you may get moaned at for doing to many), the strength jump to Open is a HUGE one to make and you may be limited comp wise.

Of course, this depends on your strength levels (not sure where you're at with them just now?)

[smiffy180]

didelydoo said:

What's your aim? At 133kg (I think you said that in another thread) do you plan to come down in weight to 105 or stay at open level? I ask as after a few novice comps (you may get moaned at for doing to many), the strength jump to Open is a HUGE one to make and you may be limited comp wise.

Of course, this depends on your strength levels (not sure where you're at with them just now?)

Britain's strongest man in the long run but natural - don't want to use steds.
Im happy to go up but I want to look half decent like mark felix.
Strength levels to say ive not had much luck over the last year isn't too bad.
Had 3 months off for rotar cuff, recently 10 weeks off due to suspected arthritis is back and my face/leg injury which I had to take 4 weeks off for
But currently 100kg military press
140kg bench
170kg deadlift, was 180 before accidents
140kg squat, again down because of most recent accident
So hopefully with new diet etc I can start some novice comps this year

[smiffy180]

Bump

[SignalGruen]

I'd personally try and get at least another solid meal in there - appears to be an over reliance on whey. Your DL and Squat numbers appear out of whack with your numbers for the pressing movements - is this due to your injury ? Appear to be a lot of carbs in there, are you fairly lean at present ?

[smiffy180]

SignalGruen said:

I'd personally try and get at least another solid meal in there - appears to be an over reliance on whey. Your DL and Squat numbers appear out of whack with your numbers for the pressing movements - is this due to your injury ? Appear to be a lot of carbs in there, are you fairly lean at present ?

Jeez ill pop with 5 meals
Yes due to injury 10 weeks in total they are low my legpress was up at 650kg×3 and 1×690kg. Just doing over 500kg now
Erm nope am like your typical strongman bloke. Bit of a gut but I want to trim up a bit. I thought the carbs were reasonable?

[mattikake]

Britain's strongest man? Nice goal! I think that goal deserves respect in the effort of a reply so here's my 2p. I expect many will have their own ideas.

Depends on the timings of your workouts and meals, so on the presumption that...

Breakfast is around 0800
Pre workout is 1100
Workout is 1300
Post workout is 1400
Post workout meal is 1600
Tea is 1900
"At some point"? What is this? Snack/boosters?

Breakfast:
I'd swap the 25g of Whey protein for 25g egg white. You have plenty of time to digest high biological value protein, so don't fast Whey protein.

Also add a load of vitamin C sources here - any sort of berry, blueberries, strawberries are common favourites.

Pre-workout:
I'd get rid of the oats. If the pre-workout is pretty soon before your workout (<2 hours), you want to have some faster absorbing sugars. I'd also be adding the creatine here, but you'e got that in breakfast anyway. Depends if you feel bloated really. How long is pre-workout before workout?

Post-workout:
Not sure you need creatine here unless you're struggling on recovery and/or looking to gain size as well as strength.

Fast absorbing disaccharides are a good idea but it doesn't have to be Dextrose.

Tea:
Have a vitamin and mineral rich balanced full meal + loads of animal protein.

Is 500ml of egg white correct? If 500ml = 287g and 1 medium egg = 12g egg white protein, that's like 24 eggs! Or is my maths wrong?

Drink more water, especially before your workouts. Muscles need to be well hydrated.

Severe lack of minerals, Omega 3, 6 and vitamins
It's not just about macro nutrients. You need loads of good micro nutrients too.

Minerals:
Depends on what's in your Whey supplements but I'm not seeing a good restocking of Mg K P Na (Ca should be ok in this diet). Add things like Broccoli, Pumpkin seeds, Spinach, Kale, Walnuts. Loads and loads - proper portions incorporated into at least two meals for you I'd say (for the veg), maybe more.

Vitamins:
Again depends on what's in your Whey supplements but you're not getting much vitamin D (egg yolk the only source in your diet). Add Oily fish - Mackerel, Salmon, Sardines, Pilchards, Trout.

Omega 3 & 6:
Again depends on what's in your Whey supplements but I'm not seeing much here either. Again add Oily fish - Mackerel, Salmon, Sardines, Pilchards, Trout.

Consider other wonder foods for inflammation/free radical/recovery benefits - Tumeric, Ginger, Cumin, Cinnamon and even Garlick. (Loads of reading here, so google them up)

Also, what quality is your Whey protein? It sounds like concentrate. You want as much % isolate as possible. Don't undervalue Caesin, although you're drinking milk so you should be ok here. Caesin best of over night absorption.

If pure strength is your ultimate goal, does looking like Mark Felix matter quite so much? Go for strength now, worry about ladies later. The types that like it will flock your way anyway.

[smiffy180]

mattikake said:

Britain's strongest man? Nice goal! I think that goal deserves respect in the effort of a reply so here's my 2p. I expect many will have their own ideas.

Thanks i appreciate the input. Hopefully ill reach my goal

mattikake said:

Depends on the timings of your workouts and meals, so on the presumption that...

Breakfast is around 0800
Pre workout is 1100
Workout is 1300
Post workout is 1400
Post workout meal is 1600
Tea is 1900
"At some point"? What is this? Snack/boosters?

Times are not far off. Will be more 10/11 waking up for breakfast as i work nights
At some point means inbetween lunch and tea i guess, just a snack/protein,carb booster etc

mattikake said:

Breakfast:
I'd swap the 25g of Whey protein for 25g egg white. You have plenty of time to digest high biological value protein, so don't fast Whey protein.

Also add a load of vitamin C sources here - any sort of berry, blueberries, strawberries are common favourites.

I was looking into that as i need something to make flavour so probably a banana chucked in aswell as strawberries

mattikake said:

Pre-workout:
I'd get rid of the oats. If the pre-workout is pretty soon before your workout (<2 hours), you want to have some faster absorbing sugars. I'd also be adding the creatine here, but you'e got that in breakfast anyway. Depends if you feel bloated really. How long is pre-workout before workout?

Pre-workout would be around 20mins prior to going to the gym, im lucky in that i dont bloat or anything if i eat before the gym and work out; infact having a burger king before workout makes me lift heavier

mattikake said:

Post-workout:
Not sure you need creatine here unless you're struggling on recovery and/or looking to gain size as well as strength.

Fast absorbing disaccharides are a good idea but it doesn't have to be Dextrose.

I plan to add lots of creatine as im taking no chances this year
Also dextrose is pretty cheap to buy from myprotein.com and research on google suggests it good.

mattikake said:

Tea:
Have a vitamin and mineral rich balanced full meal + loads of animal protein.

Is 500ml of egg white correct? If 500ml = 287g and 1 medium egg = 12g egg white protein, that's like 24 eggs! Or is my maths wrong?

I think 1 litre is just over 33 egg whites or so it says on the website but thats dependent on the size of the egg

mattikake said:

Drink more water, especially before your workouts. Muscles need to be well hydrated.

Severe lack of minerals, Omega 3, 6 and vitamins
It's not just about macro nutrients. You need loads of good micro nutrients too.

I plan on getting fish oil capsules but especially vitamin d3 which ive been told is very important

mattikake said:

Minerals:
Depends on what's in your Whey supplements but I'm not seeing a good restocking of Mg K P Na (Ca should be ok in this diet). Add things like Broccoli, Pumpkin seeds, Spinach, Kale, Walnuts. Loads and loads - proper portions incorporated into at least two meals for you I'd say (for the veg), maybe more.

I forgot to mention i would have spinach somewhere however its probably the only veg i like

mattikake said:

Vitamins:
Again depends on what's in your Whey supplements but you're not getting much vitamin D (egg yolk the only source in your diet). Add Oily fish - Mackerel, Salmon, Sardines, Pilchards, Trout.

Omega 3 & 6:
Again depends on what's in your Whey supplements but I'm not seeing much here either. Again add Oily fish - Mackerel, Salmon, Sardines, Pilchards, Trout.

Consider other wonder foods for inflammation/free radical/recovery benefits - Tumeric, Ginger, Cumin, Cinnamon and even Garlick. (Loads of reading here, so google them up)

will do

mattikake said:

Also, what quality is your Whey protein? It sounds like concentrate. You want as much % isolate as possible. Don't undervalue Caesin, although you're drinking milk so you should be ok here. Caesin best of over night absorption.

If pure strength is your ultimate goal, does looking like Mark Felix matter quite so much? Go for strength now, worry about ladies later. The types that like it will flock your way anyway.

its the ome of my protein
'Impact Whey Protein® is produced using only premium grade whey protein concentrate, delivering a high 82% protein content. This product has broken all sales records due to its exceptional value for money and great taste. We guarantee* you won't find the same high quality protein anywhere else in '
http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/impact_whey_p...
Also i will be having glucosamine for my joints
And phew i think ive answered everything on there

[mattikake]

If you want to be stronger than any other person in this country, you don't want to spare any expense or cut any corners. You'd be better off with this http://www.myprotein.com/UK/products/impact_whey_i... are a purer Whey source for e.g. I'm not much of a supplement user though so I'm sure those that are will have ideas on that. But it's got to be isolate, not concentrate, regardless of what they say on the packet.

I can't emphasize Mg K P Na enough. You will need these bigtime. The food sources I mention you really need to get down you somehow and in good quantities. Try mixing them into curries/chillis. I do.

I forgot to mention the other vitamins - B's, A and E. You're going to need the lot.

If you want to be the best, it's going to mean sacrifice and in your case that seems like eating things you don't like!

[smiffy180]

mattikake said:

If you want to be stronger than any other person in this country, you don't want to spare any expense or cut any corners. You'd be better off with this http://www.myprotein.com/UK/products/impact_whey_i... are a purer Whey source for e.g. I'm not much of a supplement user though so I'm those that are will have ideas. But it's got to be isolate, not concentrate, regardless of what they say on the packet.

I can't emphasize Mg K P Na enough. You will need these bigtime. The food sources I mention you really need to get down you somehow and in good quantities. Try mixing them into curries/chillis. I do.

I forgot to mention the other vitamins - B's, A and E. You're going to need the lot.

If you want to be the best, it's going to mean sacrifice and in your case that seems like eating things you don't like!

Ill go for isloate then. And yeh I tried broccoli and nearly puked. Ill have to blend it and chuck it into stuff

[HonestIago]

mattikake said:

If you want to be stronger than any other person in this country, you don't want to spare any expense or cut any corners. You'd be better off with this http://www.myprotein.com/UK/products/impact_whey_i... are a purer Whey source for e.g. I'm not much of a supplement user though so I'm sure those that are will have ideas on that. But it's got to be isolate, not concentrate, regardless of what they say on the packet.

I can't emphasize Mg K P Na enough. You will need these bigtime. The food sources I mention you really need to get down you somehow and in good quantities. Try mixing them into curries/chillis. I do.

I forgot to mention the other vitamins - B's, A and E. You're going to need the lot.

If you want to be the best, it's going to mean sacrifice and in your case that seems like eating things you don't like!

lol.

The type of whey protein you use has zero bearing on strength. Nor does diet for the most part assuming adequate calories. The only things that matter a lot are training and drugs.

[didelydoo]

HonestIago said:

lol.

The type of whey protein you use has zero bearing on strength. Nor does diet for the most part assuming adequate calories. The only things that matter a lot are training and drugs.

I'd second this- a sensible diet will do the job- Training is more important if you want to get strong. Even Novice comps are heavy nowadays. Who cares what kind of Protien you're getting, as long as you're getting enough (even then, 'enough' is open to debate). Gettign strong is simple, it just takes time and effort.

Also, a pretty large portion of strongmen use PEDS, rest assured you'd find it hard to find many of the top guys clean, despite what they may say.

[pilchardthecat]

That is a lot of creatine!

How come you can bench 140kg and only deadlift 170/180? Back problems? My deadlift is more than twice my bench press

Your overhead press is very impressive though

I would add more red meat and eggs if i were you, too much whey, not enough real food!

[smiffy180]

pilchardthecat said:

That is a lot of creatine!

How come you can bench 140kg and only deadlift 170/180? Back problems? My deadlift is more than twice my bench press

Your overhead press is very impressive though

I would add more red meat and eggs if i were you, too much whey, not enough real food!

Yeh I had 10 weeks off for back and legs due to 2 seperate injuries one after the other
More eggs! I though 33eggs per day might have been enough. As for red meat I would have it twice a week in replacement of lunch or tea

[pilchardthecat]

smiffy180 said:

Yeh I had 10 weeks off for back and legs due to 2 seperate injuries one after the other
More eggs! I though 33eggs per day might have been enough. As for red meat I would have it twice a week in replacement of lunch or tea

I was joking about the eggs

But twice a week isnt enough red meat - i would aim for every day, even if it's just a bag of beef jerky. Nothing compares to red meat IMO.

[smiffy180]

pilchardthecat said:

I was joking about the eggs

But twice a week isnt enough red meat - i would aim for every day, even if it's just a bag of beef jerky. Nothing compares to red meat IMO.

What if I chucked some burgers in?

[pilchardthecat]

Sure. You might as well eat the yolks from those eggs too you know.

If you are worried about the fat, lose the nuts - more fat in them, and an incomplete amino acid profile too.

Animals > nuts and seeds and st

[smiffy180]

pilchardthecat said:

Sure. You might as well eat the yolks from those eggs too you know.

If you are worried about the fat, lose the nuts - more fat in them, and an incomplete amino acid profile too.

Animals > nuts and seeds and st

Egg whites are cheaper to buy
Its good fats in the nuts anyway

[mattikake]

pilchardthecat said:

If you are worried about the fat, lose the nuts - more fat in them, and an incomplete amino acid profile too.

Egg Yolk is over-rated. You'd have to eat loads and loads to use them as a viable mineral and vitamin source. The only vits amd mins that are abundant in egg yolk are B-12, K and Folate. Small amounts of A & D where you'd have to eat like 10-20 whole eggs to get your RDA for the average person.

The ratio of sat:mono: poly fats in nuts makes them a superb food, especially Walnuts with high are high enough in poly fats to have Omega-3 present. The only issue is the number of calories but calories, in good ratios from good sources is what smiffy needs.

To what I have researched not long ago, the words "imcomplete amino acid profile" are a bro-science myth. There are some scholarly and other articles I was reading (but I can't find them now on a quick search so I'll just regurgitate what I know); The only protein which doesn't have a complete amino acid profile is Gelatin (missing Tryptophan and Cystin), everything else has proportions of all the essential and non-essential amino acids (although there are conflicting articles referring to the amino acid profile of Collagen, some say complete others say incomplete and of course Collagen is used in the production of Gelatin).

Just like fats, it's the ratios that matter - e.g. the ratio of BCAAs:non-essential amino acids in a single nut like Brazils is much lower than Beef, but it doesn't mean the BCAAs don't exist. Also what you have to consider is the amino acid transport system during absorption in the small intestines. There's only a certain number available, determined by your biology and genes, and they can become saturated with a particular amino acid if it's in abundance in the food you've just eaten, whereas the less common stuff may not have the adequate transport proteins left to be absorbed. In short, the key to living with that is to eat a variety of protein sources or something that has a more balanced amino acid profile - something that has a high biological value, like Egg, Milk, Chicken, Beef etc.

Largely I'm still sat on the fence of the incomplete v complete amino acid profile argument as I'm still reading articles that are pro and con, although significantly more erring on the side of myth atm... In forming my own opinion though, a balanced diet is a sure winner!

Of course nuts are superb as mineral sources too.

In my educated opinion you'd be silly to remove nuts from your diet, but it's up to you of course.

Edited by mattikake on Wednesday 9th January 12:50