Powerlifting nutrition

"The Sumo diet: the art of weight gain”

By Ian Smalley

Powerlifters and other strength athletes often fight an up hill battle against pain and inflammation in the joints. Taking an over the counter anti inflammatory such as ibuprofen or Aleve can help but often leads to large doses over time that can affect the liver. Another option is to add nutritional elements and certain supplements into your regimen to help combat the problem.  Adding foods that reduce inflammation will improve how you feel and help to decrease your risk for chronic diseases. Here are some suggestions.

Fats and Oils

The right types of fats in your diet can impact pain and inflammation in a positive way. Omega-3 essential fatty acids are very powerful anti-inflammatory agents. They’re found in cold water oily fish, walnuts, flax seeds, canola oil and pumpkin seeds. Supplementing your diet with omega-3 fatty acid from flax oil or fish oil can really help to reduce inflammation from hard training. These products are also readily available and not cost prohibitive, a great addition to your powerlifting nutrition regimen.

Olive oil is another type of oil that will reduce inflammation. In fact, olive oil has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, and will help to reduce pain. Other healthy oils include rice bran oil, grape seed oil, and walnut oil. Adding these into your cooking or salads is an easy way to boost your healthy fat intake, getting a calorie increase as well as lessening joint pain.

Protein

Your body needs protein to build strong muscles as well as other body tissues. Great protein sources include lean poultry, fish and seafood. Red meats tend to trigger inflammation, so cut back on fatty red meats and go with leaner cuts if possible. We all know beef is king but try and mix in some chicken or fish to give your body a variety of protein sources.

.

Carbohydrates and Fiber

Most of your carbs should come from whole grains, vegetables and fruits. The bread, cereal and pasta in your diet should be mostly be 100% whole grain products. Whole grain products are excellent sources of fiber, and a high fiber diet will reduce your inflammation. Fiber is often the most neglected element of any athletes’ diet, so just adding some fiber supplements of changing some of your carb choices from white to wheat will make a difference in performance.

Also, if your going to eat veggies, choose the green leafy ones. Green and brightly colored vegetables and lots of fresh whole fruits contain fiber as well that can fight inflammation. You should try to eat at least five, and preferably more servings of fruits and vegetables each day…and no the fruit and yogurt parfait at McDonalds doesn’t count.

Healthy Drinks