Nutrition for Strength Training – the Fun and Easy Way

Nutrition for strength training might seem complex and daunting at first glance, but it’s really not.

You don’t need to make massive changes to your diet when you start training. You don’t need super boring meal plans with nothing but chicken breasts and broccoli.

In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about eating for strength training and weight lifting, without it becoming complicated or boring, the easy way.

Key Points:

Consuming a 250 to 500-calorie surplus is ideal for muscle growth, and a calorie deficit of about 500 per day is the sweet spot for losing fat.
Eat at least 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram (0.5 to 0.8 grams per pound) of body weight per day.
Complex carbs and healthy fats help you perform your best and stay healthy.
A varied and balanced diet, not supplements, is the best way to get the necessary vitamins and minerals.

Table of Contents

The Importance of Proper Nutrition for Strength Training

Nutrition plays a significant role in resistance exercise, regardless of whether you want to bulk up or get lean.

You can eat like the average person and still get results, and lifting weights is still great for your health.

However, you might struggle to get your desired results without knowing what foods benefit your efforts.

You need a mix of proteins for muscle repair, carbs for energy, fats for health, and a cornucopia of vitamins and minerals to keep your body’s systems running smoothly.

You must also eat the right amount of food to reach your fitness goals.

If you want to lose body fat, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn.
On the contrary, a caloric surplus is essential to gain weight and muscle.

Does that mean your diet must be dull and boring, and you need a nutrition degree to figure out the right foods and when to eat them?

Not at all.

You can absolutely enjoy your diet while still hitting your macros and micros.

A flexible approach allows you to focus on nutrient-dense foods while making room for your favorite treats, keeping you motivated and on track.

Let’s get into the what, when, and how of nutrition for strength training and discover all you need to know about how a healthy diet can also be a diet you enjoy.

What Is Good Food for Strength Training?

Good food provides the necessary nutrients for your body to function optimally.

That’s not just if you’re lifting weights regularly but essential for everyone. It means a balance of macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) for growth, energy, and immune function, among many other things.

Whole and minimally processed processed foods generally retain more natural nutrients and fiber, while processed fast foods are often stripped of what makes them nutritious.

Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, proteins, and healthy fats make for a great foundation for your strength training. Don’t worry – you can still enjoy a bowl of ice cream or even candy when you’re strength training, but the foundation needs to be in place first. If anything, lifting weights gives you more wiggle room for foods that don’t do anything nutritionally for you.

When you’re lifting weights, you need more of certain nutrients than the average sedentary person. Good food is adaptable to your nutritional needs, health conditions, and performance goals. When you train hard, you require a higher intake of certain nutrients for energy and recovery, and simply eating more junk food might not cover those needs.

Lastly, good food supports more than your physical health and strength. It also boosts cognitive function and mental health. The right nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and phytochemicals enhance your brain function and mood, contributing to better performance both in daily activities and the weight room.

Nutrition for Strength Training: Calories

Your body uses calories to fuel all of its functions and everything you do.

Most things you eat provide you with calories; sooner or later, that energy powers all that you do, from thinking and breathing to walking and deadlifting.

How many calories your food contains depends on how much protein, carbohydrates, and fat it provides. Those are your macronutrients and provide different amounts of energy per gram:

Protein: 4 calories per gram
Carbohydrates: 4 calories per gram
Fat: 9 calories per gram

Alcohol is often considered the fourth macronutrient and also provides calories, 7 per gram. However, a good rule of thumb is not to consume so much of it that it makes up a significant part of your calorie intake on a regular basis.

The average woman needs ~2,000 calories daily to maintain her weight, while the average man needs ~2,500.¹

These are average numbers for an average-sized person doing average things, and your calorie needs can differ quite a bit.

If you eat more calories than you use, you gain weight over time. Your body stores the calories it doesn’t need right now for future use, mainly in the form of body fat.
On the other hand, if you eat fewer calories than you burn, your body taps into its fat reserves for its energy needs, and you start to lose weight.

You never gain or lose weight from a particular food or meal, be it healthy or “unhealthy,” only by eating more or less than you need over time.

Your strength training results also depend on calories: they fuel your workouts, and you must provide enough to build muscle effectively.

You can use our nifty calculator to estimate how many calories you need to reach your fitness goals:

>> Calorie Calculator: Resting Metabolic Rate and Daily Need

How Many Calories Do You Need to Build Muscle?

When you’re trying to build muscle, a neat positive effect is you get to eat more and claim it’s all in the name of gains!

A caloric surplus – eating more calories than you need for maintenance – ensures your body has enough resources to produce more muscle. You can build muscle without a surplus (even in a calorie deficit in certain situations, like if you’re a beginner or overweight), but doing so is significantly more challenging.

For your muscles to grow, your body needs to be in a state where it’s building more muscle proteins than it’s breaking down. The muscle-building effects of a workout aren’t directly dependent on calories, but the 24/7 process of creating new and repairing old muscle protein is.
Your body uses protein to build muscle, but the extra calories help fuel the process of protein synthesis, which is the fancy term for building and adding to your muscle fibers.
A caloric surplus gives you more energy to push harder in your workouts. With enough calories, you can lift heavier and do more reps without running out of steam. The harder you can train, the more signals you send to your body that it needs to beef up to keep up.
In addition, being in a caloric surplus creates a hormonal environment conducive to muscle growth. More calories means better hormone production and function, helping you recover and grow.

While you always gain some body fat when you eat more calories than you burn, a moderate surplus combined with strength training means maximum lean mass gains and minimum fat gain.

The secret word here is “moderate”: you don’t gain more muscle by massively overeating. Sure, you’ll gain weight rapidly, but most will be fat. Your body can’t create many grams of new muscle tissue per day, no matter how much you eat.

For most people, consuming a 250 to 500-calorie surplus is ideal. Monitor your progress on the scale and in the mirror and adjust accordingly. If nothing happens after a week or two, increase your calorie intake, and if you ever find yourself gaining more fat than you’re comfortable with, cut back a little on your food intake.

How Many Calories Do You Need to Lose Fat?

In fitness circles, losing fat is known as “cutting.” Unlike regular weight loss, where the scale is king, cutting focuses on losing body fat only while maintaining (or even gaining) lean muscle mass.

When you’re on a cut, your goal is to trim down the fat to reveal the masterpiece underneath, like chipping away at the marble to reveal a statue; only the chisel is your diet, and the statue is your abs.

At its core, cutting is about creating an energy deficit, burning more calories than you consume. Combining that deficit with strength training prevents muscle loss, unlike a weight-loss diet without lifting, where 50% of the weight loss can be lean mass.

By monitoring your calorie intake, you make sure you’re in a deficit, but not too big a deficit. That balance is crucial for losing fat while maintaining as much muscle mass as possible.

Also, when you cut calories, the quality of the calories you eat becomes more important. You want most of them to come from enough protein to maintain muscle mass, carbohydrates to fuel your workouts, and fats for essential bodily functions. You can still indulge in treats now and then, but the foundation of a cutting diet should be healthy, whole food.

As you lose weight, your body becomes more efficient and requires fewer calories to operate. That means you’ll need to adjust your calorie intake (or increase your physical activity) as you progress. It’s like playing a video game; as you level up, the challenges get more demanding, requiring you to adapt your strategy.

Generally, a calorie deficit of about 500 per day is the sweet spot for losing fat without sending your muscles into a panic mode. In other words, if your weight is stable at 2,500 calories, you’d cut back to 2,000 (from carbs and fats, not protein). A moderate deficit like this leads to fat loss of around ½ to one pound a week.

The more body fat you have, the more aggressive you can theoretically be with your calorie deficit without losing muscle. However, it’s like running with scissors – just because you can doesn’t mean you should. An aggressive cut speeds up your fat loss, but it can also increase the risk of nutritional deficiencies (unless you have a tailored diet plan) and a lack of energy in the gym.

Remember that the goal is progress, not perfection. A slip-up here and there is part of the journey, and a meal or a day where you’re not on track doesn’t matter at all. What matters is consistency over time.

Nutrition for Strength Training: Protein

Proteins are the building blocks of life and almost everything in your body, including your muscles.

Eat enough protein, and you provide your body with the materials it needs to grow stronger and build muscle mass. Eat too little, and you might struggle to get the results you want from your efforts.

When you eat or drink protein, your body breaks it down into amino acids, the true building blocks for muscle and other body tissues.

Nutrition for strength training: amino acids vs protein

There are 20 amino acids in the protein you eat, nine of which are essential or indispensible, meaning your body can’t create them on it’s own. The essential amino acids are also the ones primarily responsible for new muscle growth: muscle protein synthesis.

Once free of their protein shackles, these amino acids get to work by adding new muscle protein, repairing and reinforcing muscle fibers, supporting muscle growth, and maintaining muscle mass.

They also build and repair all other tissues and organs in your body, but if you eat enough protein to support your workouts, you automatically get enough for everything else, too.

Eating protein is like sending in a team of expert builders and repairers to fortify your body’s structures.

How Much Protein Do You Need?

The average person needs ~0.8 grams of protein per kilogram (0.36 grams per pound) every day to support all the processes happening in the body.

You’re not wasting your time if you lift weights and eat a “normal” amount of protein. You’ll still get stronger and build muscle. However, the process will likely be slower, and you may not reach your full strength training potential.

Generally, if you’re lifting weights or engaging in regular strength training, aim for about 1.2 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. For the metrically challenged, that’s about 0.5 to 1 gram per pound of body weight.

That’s a wide range. How do you know the best amount for you?

You can’t, unfortunately. Everyone is different; some can use more protein for building muscle and strength than others.

That being said, even if you stick to the lower end (1.2 g/kg or 0.5 g/pound), you get enough for good results.

But if you want to make sure you get enough to 100% maximize your muscle-building potential, go for the upper end. There are no negative effects of a high protein intake for healthy people (although it can get more costly).²

You can use our free protein calculator help you figure out how much you need:

>> Protein Calculator for Weight Loss and Muscle Gain

Protein Intake On a Vegan Diet

If you only eat plant-based foods, consider upping your protein intake by 25% compared to standard recommendations.³ ⁴

Plant-based protein contains fewer essential amino acids. However, eating more of it gives you the same muscle-building effects as someone who eats a mixed diet.

You can also use fermentation and germination to increase the nutritional value of cereals and legumes and boost your protein intake with a plant-based protein powder.

Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2022 Jul 1;47(7):700-710.

Protein Intake On a Weight-Loss Diet

When you’re trying to lose weight, your protein requirements increase. Aiming for the upper end of that 1.2–2.2 g/kg (0.5–1 g/pound) range is a good idea to minimize muscle protein breakdown and spare muscle tissue.

You don’t have to make any other changes to your protein intake when on a weight-loss diet. The more the merrier.

You might even see muscle growth during weight loss if you eat plenty of protein and lift heavy.

How Much Protein Should You Eat Per Meal?

One of the most prevalent myths about protein is that your body can only absorb a limited amount of it each meal. If you eat more than ~30 grams, you’re supposed to pee the excess right out.

That is, fortunately, nonsense.

Your body absorbs almost all the protein you provide, no matter how and when you eat or drink it. The only exceptions are people with medical conditions preventing protein absorption or medications that can interfere.

That doesn’t mean all the protein in a meal becomes muscle tissue, of course. Imagine eating 250 grams of protein per day and gaining pounds of muscle every week. In fact, only 10–15%, tops, become muscle protein.

While not all the protein you consume will flex its way directly into muscle, it’s not wasted. Your body uses it for numerous things, primarily building and repairing all the other tissues that make you into you: your skin, intestines, gut, liver, and all the other organs. It also decreases protein breakdown throughout your body, and a minor amount is used to synthesize things like hormones and enzymes.

As for building muscle, most recommendations suggest 20–40 grams of protein per meal (depending on your body size) spread out relatively evenly throughout the day.

Around 20 grams is the minimum amount you need to kickstart muscle protein synthesis fully, so that should be your baseline goal. Ensure you get at least that much protein every time you eat.

You have a great deal of freedom when it comes to protein distribution. You can eat multiple small meals or a few hefty ones. By far, the most important thing is your total daily protein intake. Many people who practice intermittent fasting and concentrate their entire protein intake to a few hours get just as good results as those with traditional meal planning.

In short, get >20 grams of protein each meal. After that, feel free to distribute your protein intake however you enjoy eating, and that fits your schedule. For practical purposes, many people thrive on 30–40 grams every 3–4 hours, but those are not numbers set in stone.

Protein After Working Out

After a strength training workout session, your muscles become more sensitive to amino acids for ~24 hours.⁵

That means that your body uses any protein you eat during that time for muscle-building more effectively.

It also means that a post-workout meal with high-quality protein is an excellent way to give your muscles what they need to grow bigger and stronger when they need it.

Now, there is no need to chug a protein shake the minute you finish your last set. There is little evidence that even an hour or two will make a significant difference if your total protein intake is on point. At the same time, you don’t want to wait many hours to provide your muscles with some fresh building blocks, as the real effects of your training session can’t happen without protein.

So, how much protein should you consume after working out?

Again, at least 20 grams is a good starting point. But after that, the sky is the limit. Recent research shows that there is no upper limit to the amount of protein you can use to build muscle after resistance training. You could eat 100 grams, and your body would make maximum use of it.⁶

For most people, a couple of meals with 30–40 grams of protein each is ideal during the hours following a workout. You get more than enough protein for your muscles, and you don’t overload your digestive system and feel bloated. But you can do a much larger protein intake if you want, and then you don’t have to worry about your protein intake again for many hours, like if you’re going to bed.

Good Protein Sources for Strength Training

Not all protein sources are created equally. Here’s a lineup of 15 valiant allies in your strength training saga and why they deserve a spot on your plate.

They all provide the building blocks for muscle growth and repair and come armed with other nutrients that support overall health, recovery, and performance.

Plus, they cater to any diet, from carnivore to vegan, so that you can find your protein match regardless of your preferences.

Chicken Breast: The classic. Packing about 31 grams of lean protein per 100 grams, chicken breasts are high in protein, low in fat, and perfect for building muscle.
Turkey: Not just for Thanksgiving! Turkey is another lean fowl, offering about 29 grams of protein per 100 grams. It’s also rich in selenium, which helps with muscle recovery.
Whole Eggs: Nature’s perfect food, with the best protein possible. Each egg is a mini treasure chest with 6–7 grams of high-quality protein. Plus, they’re rich in vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats. Egg whites are almost pure protein, but the nutritional yumminess is in the yolks.
Cottage Cheese: With 11 grams of protein per 100 grams, it’s a slow-digesting protein source, perfect for repairing your muscles while you dream (have nightmares?) of your next deadlifting session.
Greek Yogurt: Thick, creamy, and loaded with about 10 grams of protein per 100 grams. It’s also a probiotic powerhouse, keeping your gut in tip-top shape.
Salmon: Swims upstream into this list with its omega-3 fatty acids and about 20 grams of protein per 100 grams. Great for inflammation, recovery, and building muscle.
Tofu: A plant-based hero. With 8 grams of protein per 100 grams, tofu is versatile, bringing the power of soy protein (which is as good as most animal-based proteins) to your muscles.
Beans: Legumes of strength. With ~20 grams of protein per 100 grams, depending on type, they’re not just protein-rich but also loaded with fiber and antioxidants.
Lentils: Offering a whopping 25 grams of protein per 100 grams, lentils are protein-packed and rich in iron and fiber, perfect for plant-based power.
Quinoa: It’s a grain, but also not a grain. With 14 grams of protein per 100 grams, quinoa is a complete protein, meaning it provides enough of all nine essential amino acids, which is rare for a plant-based source.
Peanut Butter: Sticky, delicious, and with about 25 grams of protein per 100 grams, it’s a tasty way to add protein to snacks and meals. It’s very calorie-rich, though, so you probably don’t want to base your protein intake on it.
Lean Beef: Packed with about 26 grams of protein per 100 grams, it’s a powerhouse of iron and B vitamins. There is nothing wrong with fattier cuts, although the protein content per serving will go down.
Almonds: With 21 grams of protein per 100 grams, they’re also a crunchy source of healthy fats and fiber. Perfect for snacking or as a pre-workout boost.
Tempeh: With 19 grams of protein per 100 grams, tempeh is rich in quality plant protein and probiotics that aid digestion and muscle recovery.
Protein Powders: Food in powdered form, protein supplements can help you conveniently reach your protein target. Whey protein is the most popular, but other options include casein, egg, beef, soy, and pea protein.

Nutrition for Strength Training: Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates, or carbs, are your muscles’ primary fuel during hard work. They are like the premium gas for your body’s engine.

The carbs you eat end up in your muscles and liver as glycogen, a stored form of carbohydrates ready to be called into action when you’re lifting weights and doing other physically demanding things.

While protein and fats are essential nutrients, carbohydrates are not. You don’t have to eat a single gram of carbs in your life to be healthy.

That being said, they can be incredibly beneficial for strength training.

Without enough carbs, your tank might hit empty, and your performance might sputter and stall halfway through your workout.

After a workout, carbs replenish glycogen stores in your muscles, speeding up the recovery process and preparing you for your next round in the weight room.

How Many Carbohydrates Do You Need?

Carbs don’t directly build muscle, and while you don’t need them, eating enough carbohydrates will help most people perform better in the gym.

However, there is no one-size-fits-all carb intake.

For general fitness enthusiasts, you can aim for about 3–5 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight per day.
If you work out 5–6 times per week and spend an hour or more doing heavy lifting, you can rev up your carb intake to 6–7 grams per kilogram of body weight.
If you also have a physically demanding job, you might need up to 10 grams per kilogram of body weight to perform your best, but that’s unusual for strength training alone.

The above numbers are just guidelines and suggestions. Feel free to experiment to find the carb intake that suits you best. Remember that you don’t get fat from carbohydrates, only from eating more calories than you burn overall.

Low-carb, high-fat diets are also viable for strength training. If you’re doing low-carb or keto, your daily carb intake will be much lower than the suggestions above.

Pre- and Post-Workout Carbs

Again, you don’t need carbs before or after lifting weights, but they will help you perform better.

If you eat a regular meal before training, timing it to 2–3 hours before your training session is an excellent strategy. It won’t sit in your stomach while you lift, and your muscles will have access to the energy from it.

If you haven’t eaten in a long time, or if you train early in the morning before breakfast, some carbs along with an easily digestible protein like whey 15–30 minutes before your workout stabilizes your blood glucose levels and provides the amino acids your body will use to kickstart muscle protein synthesis post-workout.

Consuming at least 15 grams of carbs during the hours before your workout helps you perform your best.⁷ More doesn’t hurt, but doesn’t necessarily mean better performance, either.

After training, carbs fill up your depleted muscle glycogen stores and fuel you for your next session. There is no immediate hurry to gulp down sport drinks for glycogen replenishment unless you need to perform your best only a few hours later. If you eat a regular, mixed diet, your muscles will have filled up enough once your next training session rolls around.⁸

Aim for 0.5–1.2 grams of carbs per kilogram of body weight (~0.25–0.5 g/pound) in the meal following your workout, and you’re good to go. But again, there is no rush.

Good Carb Sources for Strength Training

Just like protein, not all carbs are created equal. Focus on getting your carbs from whole foods and unprocessed sources.

While donuts might whisper sweet nothings to your taste buds, your muscles prefer the long-lasting love affair with complex carbs like oats, quinoa, sweet potatoes, fruits, berries, and whole grains.

Sweet Potatoes: A strength training aficionado’s best pal. These tubers are not just sweet by name; they’re packed with vitamins, minerals, and fibers. Best of all, they’ll keep you powered through the most grueling deadlift sessions. Regular potatoes are awesome too! 🥔
Quinoa: The grain of the gods, or so the Incas believed. It’s high in quality carbs but also a complete protein.
Oats: Oats are your go-to for long-lasting energy for breakfast or a pre-workout carb boost. Whether you prefer them rolled, steel-cut, or instant, oats are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates and come with built-in health benefits. They are loaded with beta-glucan, a compound in oats with proven cholesterol-lowering and antidiabetic effects.
Rice: This whole grain is a staple in the pantry of strength trainers. It goes with everything, offering complex carbs for long-lasting energy, and comes in many varieties, the most common being brown rice and regular white rice.
Bananas: Nature’s own energy bar. Bananas are packed with potassium and a mix of quick and slow carbs for a speedy energy boost. Perfect for a pre-or post-workout snack or when you’re on the go.
Chickpeas: These powerhouses are filled with both carbs and protein, ready to beef up your salads, stews, or snack time.
Beans & Lentils: These little legumes are not only a good choice of carbs but also rich in protein, fiber, and multiple positive health effects. They’re perfect for bulking up both your meals and your muscles.
Beetroots: Beets are not just high in carbs; they’re loaded with nitrates that improve blood flow and oxygen to your muscles, improving your performance and stamina. And as a neat bonus, they turn your pee red if you enough of them.
Pasta: Who doesn’t love pasta? It’s a great excuse to whip up a delicious carb-loading meal pre- or post-workout.
Berries: Deliciously sweet and perfect for satisfying your sugar cravings without going overboard. They’re also packed with fiber and antioxidants, making them a go-to snack for energy and health.

Nutrition for Strength Training: Fat

Fat is one of your body’s primary fuels, providing a dense energy source and packing nine calories per gram, more than double that of proteins or carbs.

Dietary fat is crucial in synthesizing hormones, including testosterone and growth hormone. You likely won’t be able to increase them enough to boost your muscle strength and gains by eating more fat, but eating too little can lower your muscle-building hormones.

Also, specific vitamins (A, D, E, and K) are fat-soluble, meaning they need fat to be absorbed by the body. These vitamins are essential for a plethora of functions, including bone health (important for lifting heavy stuff without breaking), immune function, and muscle recovery.

In addition, fats help maintain the integrity of your cell membranes, and some types of fats, especially omega-3 fatty acids, help manage inflammation in the body.

Not many decades ago, many people tried to reduce dietary fat as much as possible, mostly because of disproven heart health scares. However, research has since shown that fats are your supportive friend who’s there for you, helping you lift heavier, recover faster, and grow stronger.

Aim for a mix of saturated, monounsaturated, and particularly omega-3 fatty acids to reap the most benefits for strength training.

How Much Fat Do You Need?

A daily fat intake of 20–35% of your total calories is good news for health, performance, and hormones.⁹

Don’t go too much below that, as doing so could compromise your levels of muscle-building hormones.

On the other hand, eating more fat has no adverse effects if that’s your diet preference. Low-carb diets with plenty of fat work well for both health and strength training.

Good Fat Sources for Strength Training

Let’s oil the gears of your strength training with these top-notch fat sources.

Avocados: loaded with monounsaturated fats for your heart and muscles. Spread them on toast, blend them into smoothies, or eat them with a spoon.
Fatty Fish (Salmon, Mackerel, Sardines): Fish builds your muscles with terrific protein, and these fatty options are full of omega-3 fatty acids, keeping your heart swimmingly healthy.
Nuts (Almonds, Walnuts, Cashews, Hazelnuts, and More): Almonds are rich in monounsaturated fats, while walnuts give you a hefty dose of omega-3 polyunsaturated fats. Nuts are brimming with calories but aren’t generally associated with weight and fat gain.
Olive Oil: Brimming with monounsaturated fats, ~75% by volume, olive oil is perfect for dressing leafy greens or using in cooking.
Eggs: The whole egg, that is, not just the whites! The yolks are where the fat’s at, along with a suite of vitamins and minerals. Eggs also come packed with the best protein in the world, making them perfect for breakfast, supper, or any meal in between. They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but eggs make any meal delicious and nutritious.
Seeds: Chia seeds, flaxseeds, and pumpkin seeds are like the confetti of your nutrition parade. They come loaded with healthy fats, fiber, and antioxidants and go nicely in smoothies, yogurt, or almost anything.
Dark Chocolate: Dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa: the more, the better) is a treat for your taste buds and a good source of monounsaturated fats. Plus, it’s loaded with antioxidants. Now, chocolate shouldn’t be your primary fat source, but you can indulge knowing that dark chocolate in moderation is not bad for you.
Full-Fat Dairy (Cheese, Yogurt, Milk): Mmmmmm cheese. If you tolerate dairy, full-fat versions are a good source of saturated fat and nutrients like calcium. Plus, milk proteins are the most muscle-building proteins of all.
Butter: Often vilified, moderate amounts of butter, preferably from grass-fed cows, can be a good source of fat. It’s also filled with vitamins like A, D, E, and K2 (which you need for bone health, immune function, and cell growth, among other things) and the powerful antioxidant selenium.
Grass-Fed Beef: Richer in omega-3s compared to their grain-fed cousins, beef is a muscle-building staple for meat lovers.

Nutrition for Strength Training: Micronutrients

Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals your body needs on a daily basis. They are essential for your health, building muscle, and performing your best. They might not be directly involved in the muscle-building process, but if you get too little of them, everything functions less effectively.

Nutrition for Strength Training: vitamins and minerals

Unlike their visible buddies (the macronutrients proteins, fats, and carbs), micronutrients don’t provide energy. Instead, they keep your body’s systems running smoothly behind the scenes.

Vitamins are your body’s maintenance crew, involved in everything from keeping your skin healthy to guaranteeing your nerves function as expected.
On the other hand, minerals are your little construction workers, building strong bones and teeth, tinkering with essential tasks involving muscle function, and many other metabolic processes.

Vitamins

Vitamin A: It’s great for seeing in the dark, keeping your skin smooth and healthy, and keeping your immune system in tip-top shape.
B Vitamins: There’s a whole gang of these little guys (B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, B12). They work together to help your body convert food into energy, maintain brain and nerve function, and produce red blood cells.
Vitamin C: Vitamin C is your personal bodyguard against infections, helps wounds heal, and doubles as a powerful antioxidant.
Vitamin D: The sunshine vitamin helps your body absorb calcium for strong bones and teeth. It’s also essential for muscle function and strengthens the immune system. If you’re out and about in the sun enough, your body can create all the vitamin D it needs.
Vitamin E: This antioxidant protects your cells from damage, keeps your skin and eyes healthy, and works with your immune system to shield you from nasty viruses and bacteria.
Vitamin K: Vitamin K, the koagulation kommander, is essential for blood clotting and keeping your bones strong and mighty.

Minerals

Calcium: Calcium is your bones and teeth’s best friend. It also maintains muscle function and nerve signaling.
Iron: Iron carries oxygen in your blood to all parts of your body, including your muscles, and helps your energy levels.
Magnesium: Magnesium aids in muscle and nerve function, blood sugar control, blood pressure regulation, and in creating bone and proteins.
Potassium: Potassium helps maintain healthy blood pressure and proper muscle and nerve function and moves nutrients to your body’s needs.
Zinc: Zinc helps your immune system fight off invaders and helps with wound healing. In addition, it allows you to taste and smell things properly.

Those are just some of the most important micronutrients you need from your food. They all work together, and getting too little of one can mean others can’t do their job.

Consuming them from their natural sources (a.k.a. foods) is usually more fun and beneficial than getting them from popping pills. Indeed, supplementing without the need for supplementing can sometimes do more harm than good.

That being said, a regular multivitamin and mineral supplement is like insurance against nutritional gaps in your diet. One a day won’t provide harmful amounts of any micronutrient. In addition, most of us need extra vitamin D, especially during the winter months.

Speaking of supplements, if you want to know which ones work and which ones to avoid, check out StrengthLog’s Supplement Guide, our free guide, where I review 26 of the most popular supplements.

An easy way to get the micronutrients you need is to eat the rainbow. No, that is not about snacking on a bag of Skittles, tempting as that may be. It’s about selecting fruits and vegetables of many colors, each representing a unique micronutrient. If you always eat only broccoli, you’re not getting the lycopene that makes tomatoes red or the anthocyanins that make blueberries purple.

Also, many don’t know that the most abundant and easily absorbed micronutrients can be found in animal foods like meat. If you eat meat and other animal-based foods, you likely don’t have to think much about meeting your vitamin and mineral needs.

Nutrition for Strength Training: Hydration

Water is the second most essential nutrient, after oxygen. You can go weeks, or, in some cases, months, without food, but you don’t last long without water.

Hydration is also crucial for anyone lifting weights or doing other physical work.

Your muscle mass is at least 70% water. If you lose just 2% of your body mass from dehydration, your performance suffers significantly. Your blood volume shrinks, your skin blood flow and sweat rate decrease (meaning you can’t cool off properly), and your core temperature and rate of muscle glycogen use increase.

How Much Should You Drink?

Making sure you drink enough before, during, and after working out helps you perform your best and recover properly.

Before Training

Drinking 500 mL (~17 ounces) of water an hour or two before hitting the weights is an excellent idea to ensure you’re hydrated. It is particularly important if it’s sweltering and sweaty or if you train soon after getting out of bed and haven’t drunk anything for many hours. In the latter case, start your day by gulping down plenty of fluids to hydrate and get ready.

During Training

Drinking 250 mL (~8.45 ounces) during regular strength training every 20 minutes helps you maintain body water.¹⁰ Simply sipping water between sets is usually enough. More advanced strategies like adding electrolytes and sugars are typically only needed with strenuous aerobic activity lasting more than an hour.

After Training

After your workout, try to replace the fluids you’ve lost in the form of sweat and then some. How much that is will be highly individual. If you barely break a sweat, letting your thirst decide is enough. If you’re dripping towards the end of your training session, you want to drink at least as much water as you did pre-workout.

And ideal workout hydration protocol could look something like this:

Two hours before training: drink 15 to 20 ounces of fluid.
Thirty minutes before training: drink 5 to 10 ounces of fluids.
During exercise, drink five or more ounces every 15 minutes.
After exercise, replace lost fluids and then some.

Don’t sweat it if you’re not following those pointers to a T. It’s not the end all be all; get enough fluids overall, and you’re good to go. Timing every gulp is very much overkill for regular gym workouts.

What Should You Drink to Rehydrate?

What you drink doesn’t matter much as long as it provides the necessary water. Water, milk, juice, soda, and sports drinks are all equally effective. Even coffee and beer, which many people consider dehydrating, work fine, although they are one tier below the best.

Hydration Index for commonly consumed and commercially available drinks. The higher the better.

If there is one fluid that stands out for post-exercise hydration, it’s moo juice: regular cow’s milk. It restores your fluid balance after a workout equally well or better than commercial sports beverages and water, and you get the most muscle-building protein of all in the same package.

Adding Electrolytes and Carbs

Electrolytes are minerals that help with many important processes in your body, including maintaining fluid balance. Examples of electrolytes often included in sports drinks are sodium and potassium. Sodium helps your body retain fluid and rehydrate effectively, while potassium pulls fluid into your cells.

The electrolytes you get from your regular diet are enough for most people who lift weights. Adding electrolytes and using sports drinks are only really helpful if you do extensive endurance training for hours or train in a scorching and humid environment.

That being said, if you haven’t eaten for long, like after an overnight fast, adding 0.3 to 0.7 grams of sodium to your workout beverage can be a good idea for hydration purposes. In addition, you’ll get a better pump.

Adding carbs to the water you drink during training can also be helpful. First, you get an energy boost, which can be welcome when training fasted, and second, carbs help you absorb more water from the small intestine.

Again, for the average gym workout, carbs beyond those in your regular diet aren’t necessary, but they can work wonders on a strict low-calorie diet and when training fasted.

Knowing When to Drink

Your body is smarter than you think. Your thirst is a good indicator that you need to drink water. However, some people forget to drink. If that’s you, you can get and app that reminds you with when it’s time to take a sip.

Also, keep an eye on the color of your pee. If it’s light, like lemonade, you’re good. Grab a glass of water if it’s dark, like apple juice.

Nutrition for Strength Training In Practice: Daily Sample Meal Plan

With all that in mind, let’s sit down and create a day of eating for someone engaged in strength training. We’ll go a bit outside the norm to show that you can eat pretty much how you like and still provide your body with adequate nutrition for strength training.

Let’s make our test specimen a 180 lb man who needs 2,200 calories for a stable body weight. He’s looking to gain muscle, so he’s aiming for a caloric surplus for a total intake of 2,700 calories. He prefers a high-protein, high-fat, low-carb diet, so we won’t go overboard with the pasta but give him more than enough protein.

Macronutrient Breakdown

Protein: At least 180 grams, but the more the merrier, as long as it doesn’t intrude on other essential nutrients. Since protein has 4 calories per gram, that’s at least 720 calories from protein.
Fats: 20–30% of 2,700 calories is 60–90 g fat since fats have 9 calories per gram, but our client enjoys a high-fat diet, so we’ll go higher. Below 20% of the energy intake isn’t the best way to plan your fat intake, but there is no upper limit. You just have to balance it with your carb energy,
Carbohydrates: The remaining calories.

Sample Meal Plan

Breakfast

Scrambled Eggs with Spinach and Feta: 3 large eggs, 1 cup of spinach, 30 g feta cheese, cooked with 1 tbsp olive oil.
Whole Grain Toast: 2 slices of whole grain or whole-wheat bread
Greek Yogurt and Mixed Berries: 1 cup of Greek yogurt with ½ cup of mixed berries.
Protein: Approximately 58 g
Carbs: Approximately 55 g
Fats: Approximately 38 g
Calories: ~800

Lunch

Grilled Chicken Salad: 150 g grilled chicken breast, mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, ¼ avocado, dressed with 1 tbsp olive oil and vinegar.
Quinoa: 1 cup cooked.
Protein: Approximately 54 g
Carbs: Approximately 42 g
Fats: Approximately 26 g
Calories: ~625

Post-Workout Whey Protein Shake

Whey Protein: 2 scoops mixed with water.
Banana: 1 large.
Protein: Approximately 48 g
Carbs: Approximately 30 g
Fats: Approximately 2 g
Calories: ~345

Dinner

Salmon: 200 g grilled salmon.
Sweet Potato: 1 large, baked.
Steamed Broccoli: 1 cup.
Protein: Approximately 55 g
Carbs: Approximately 33 g
Fats: Approximately 35 g
Calories: ~600

Nighttime Snack

Casein Protein Shake: 1 scoop mixed with almond milk.
Mixed Berries: ½ cup.
Almonds: A small handful (about 20 almonds).
Protein: Approximately 32 g
Carbs: Approximately 17 g
Fats: Approximately 20 g
Calories: ~365

This all comes down to:

Calories: 2735
Carbs: 178 grams
Fat: 121 grams
Protein: 247 grams

We could have gone much lower in protein, and he’d still have all the building blocks he needs. However, in this example, he enjoys chowing down on the protein and doing so has no downside.

Sure, you should vary your diet so it doesn’t become stale. But this sample menu is an example of a day of healthy eating for someone looking to put on weight in the form of lean body mass while meeting their nutritional needs.

Nutrition for Strength Training: Meal Timing and Frequency

So, now you know what to eat.

But when should you eat it?

The good news is that you need to follow almost no “musts” when it comes to nutrition for strength training.

Multiple small meals or a few sizeable meals – there is little evidence that meal frequency influences your training results.

For losing weight, intermittent fasting is no more or less effective than spreading your meals out over the day.¹¹

According to current recommendations, it’s a good idea to spread your protein intake over the day and eat every third to fourth hour. That way, your muscles always have access to the amino acids they need for growth.¹²

That being said, newer research suggests that you can use practically unlimited amounts per meal to build muscle, particularly during the 12 hours after a workout.¹³

This suggests that your daily total calorie and protein intake are the most essential things for building muscle. How you distribute it is far less critical, if at all.

If you’re a competitive bodybuilder, constant access to nutrients and energy might be more crucial. However, for most people, focusing on the big picture is the only thing that matters.

The one thing to keep in mind is to eat reasonably close to a workout. Your muscles can only start growing once you provide the building blocks, meaning protein. But even then, the importance of post-workout nutrition timing pales compared to your total daily intake.

Final Words

You’ve reached the end of this guide to nutrition for strength training. Thank you so much for reading.

Now, it’s time to take action. Remember, muscles aren’t cooked up in the kitchen. You need to sweat in the gym for them, too. When a good diet meets consistent efforts in the weight room, that’s when the magic happens.