INSTITUTE OF IRON BLOG

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INSTITUTE OF IRON

INSTITUTE OF IRON

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

How's Your Diet




You can’t build a house without bricks. You also can’t build a body without calories. this doesn’t mean that because you are on a strength program is it a free-for-all (unless you are deathly thin and really want to put on some weight). It means that you eat for performance. If you have physique-specific goals as well, just keep it simple. If you need to gain some weight, eat a little more. If you need to lose some, eat a little less. If you’re a good weight, eat at maintenance but perhaps switch up your macros slightly so that it is performance-driven nutrition. You might even experience a recomp this way. The important thing to keep in mind is that you’re not going to build strength and muscle off of a big calorie deficit.
I say that if you are not very overweight, save the fat loss for a little later, OR keep a very small deficit. Another option would be to lose the fat first, and begin the program after you have taken a few weeks off from dieting and are back to maintenance calories. Prioritize a goal before moving on to the next one, as it is very difficult to achieve two things at once and get the most out of both.
Protein is a big staple, of course, but there is no reason to eat over 1.5g per lb. of bodyweight in my opinion. Higher carbs on training days can be beneficial, with lower carbs on conditioning/off days. You’ll want to play around with your carb levels to see what works best for you, but most people like cycling carbs. Keep fats in your diet always, as they’re very important for maintaining healthy hormone levels.

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