Gaining Muscle Olympic Weightlifting With Peat-style Nutrition

[chispas]

Hi, I am new to the forum! Looking forward to sharing with anyone who cares my experiences employing some of Peat's nutritional ideas to the cause of getting stronger at olympic weightlifting (I am a beginner - been training about a year with a proper olympic coach, no crossfit).

There's a lot of bro-science around regarding satisfying the body's recovery needs post-exercise, however I've been inspired by Peat's ideas, as well as those of the Bulgarian weightlifting school where weightlifters "recovered" on a diet of mostly sugary American candy products. I find this very interesting, and also a little hard to believe, but then reading Peat's ideas made it seem as though there could be an element of truth to it all.

Anyways, I've designed an eating program of approximately 3500 calories - listed below, might be interesting or useful for anyone attempting the same. I've already been employing many of Peat's recommendations (such as the regular fruit, salt, coffee - easy to obtain good quality fruit in Australia), and this makes me feel fantastic. In my experience, doing weightlifting training powered by fructose or sucrose is a ticket to a stress-free workout, with high strength output. The difference has been so startling, that I have decided to implement some of Peat's ideas a bit more comprehensively and seriously. I'm going to log changes and provide photos as I go along and progress, and hopefully get some good results that are Peat-worthy!

I've already read a couple of threads on the forum about weightlifting/muscle gaining - feel free to post any questions or comments about my methods/training/diet. Also the protein powder is this one (high leucine, low tryptophan and methionine): http://nutritionscience.com.au/product/ ... onal-facts

Currently I am 82kg (and approx 20% bodyfat). Will post some results of the next weightlifting comp. I ate PHD-style diet for about a year and gained about 10kg, but that did not translate into tremendous strength gains, although I did start to fill out. Just playing around with some of Peat's ideas has enabled my strength to leap and my body weight to increase with minimal fat gain. Hopefully this can continue through increasing metabolic rate, body heat, etc. Any advice is highly appreciated!

Breakfast drink (1050 calories):

Protein powder (must be 2 scoops)
Powdered skim milk (make 1 litre)
3 tablespoons of golden syrup
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 piece of fruit (banana, ½ cup of berries or cherries)


Morning tea (680 calories):

3 dates, 3 slices cheese, 1 cup of fruit juice with added salt and creatine, 1 carrot, 1 coffee


Lunch (400 calories):

200g+ potato, 1 piece of fruit and preferred meat choice (pick one):

2 cans tuna slices
3 large eggs
Medium sized chicken breast/pork steak/other meat approx. 150g


Afternoon tea drink again (820 calories):

Protein powder (must be 2 scoops)
Milk (make 1 litre)
3 tablespoons of golden syrup
No coconut oil at afternoon tea
1 piece of fruit (banana, ½ cup of berries or cherries)


Dinner (600 calories):

Meat with rice or potatoes and vegetables with added salt
Small quantities of butter or olive oil to taste
Ice cream or frozen yoghurt for dessert with fruit


Total: 3550 calories, 250g protein, 450g carbs, 90g fat

 

[gummybear]

Milk milk and then some more milk

 

[chispas]

Yes, it definitely looks to be the way...

Funnily enough, George Hackenschmidt used to drink 11 pints of the stuff everyday, as recommended by his Russian coach/physician. He also ate a lot of fruit, and not much meat. He had an idea that you shouldn't eat too much after exercise, as he claimed the body spent too much energy consuming the food rather than repairing the muscles. Not sure about that claim.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hackenschmidt

I think Peat has said that he is fond of some of the older Russian nutritional concepts.

 

[Zachs]

Hi there and welcome! Im relatively new here too and its refreshing to be able to talk like minded people who dont feel the need to assert dogma into every topic. I been booted from MDA forums more then once just for sharing differing views.

Your plan looks good, i would say if you ever feel the need to drop weight just drop fat down to 30g or lower for awhile. Also adding in a glycine source could speed up recovery even further.

I have been into weight lifting for quite some time along with more oldschool lifts like one handed variations of the c+j/snatch and bent press, two hands anyhow, etc. ill be interested to see your progress. Where are you currently training and what are your best lifts?

 

[chispas]

Thanks for the encouragement. I started weightlifting 5 days a week in May 2013. I went from not being able to lift the bar, to snatching 55kg, clean and jerk 65kg, squat 100kg (I understand these weights aren't big - hence the need to increase the food, and experiment more). Nutrition and exercise has all been very new to me, and although I've followed all the advice given to me by coaches, nutritionists, and the like, it never made me feel very good, and I always got very slow muscle gains and strength increases. I'm hoping I can employ some of Ray's views, train a little less, eat a lot more (and more appropriately), and get really strong.

At the moment, I haven't gone to the gym for about a month due to other priorities, and I've been training at home. I have gained good improvements in my lifts by just training pulls and push press. I do these as heavy as I can for many sets - sometimes 10. I sometimes do a high rep (20 or more) set at 80% as part of this programming (which I log). I don't have a squat rack at home, so I've been working on Romanian deadlifts mostly - these have gone up a lot in a small amount of time, and I have increased my grip strength. This home training has mostly been done using fruit and milk, and Ray's advice.

I train in Brisbane Australia. Does anyone know if powdered milk is relatively OK for consumption - it is very convenient, rather than buying a million litres of milk in liquid form.

 

[charlie]

chispas,

Check out lazz's post on this forum if you like. He is a beast, in a good way, and totally gets it on how to work out and get maximum results from minimal efforts.

edit: minimal meaning the amount of days lifting, and sets. No need to go overboard, less is more.

 

[chispas]

Thanks Charlie - I think I read some of Lazz's posts in one thread, but not all. I will seek them out. Thanks for the tip. There's a weightlifting competition next weekend. I'm going to get serious, and report back on how I go. Wish me luck!

 

[Daimyo]

Zach mentioned already glycine - get some gelatine in one form or another. Jelly would be one tasty way.

 

[chispas]

Yeah, I've been eating gelatine a lot. It gives me strong nails, clear skin and thick hair - I'm practically a teenage werewolf on the stuff.

I've looked into Lazz's posts, and I'm going to dial back the protein to 200g, and the fat back to 75g. Will report on how I go. Cheers!

 

[chispas]

Wondering if anyone has any Peat-inspired post-workout ideas? What does Peat think about creatine? It replenishes ATP, so it should be a good thing in his way of thinking. Should you wait a while before eating after training? I've heard free fatty acids are circulating in your body after exercise, and you should wait for them to leave - no idea why, don't know if it's a load of crap.

 

[Velve921]

Is there anyone on here whose been peating for 3 years plus and are avid weigh lifters or olympic lifters? If so then physically what have been major results? Muscle gain? Fat loss? Both?

I'm curious as I've been Peating for almost 9 months now...took 7 months off fro, any physical activity to heal...I've put on about 31lbs (fat and muscle). I just to do a Paleo low carb diet and could never put on muscle! Now I can put muscle but have also put on a lot of fat. In 3-5 years time does it seem likely I will lean back down?

DIet:

Thyroid - 2 grains of dessicated a day
Pregenenolone - 1-2 pinches a week
Niacinamide - 666mg a day
Red Light Therapy - 60 minutes a day
Epsom salt baths - 3-4 a week - 3lbs each bath
20grams of amino acids mixed in with my shake during workout (milk, oj, gelatin, salt)
2 tbsp of baking soda a day..1 pre workout and 1 post workout

1/2 gallon of fat free milk a day
1 pint of ice cream a day

1/2 gallon of OJ a day
1 carrot a day
1 potato a day
40 grams of gelatin a day
2 eggs a day
1-2 oz of cheese a day
5oz of Liver once a week
5 oz of shrimp 2x a week
5oz of cod once a week
8oz of pasteur raised pork a week
8oz of grassfed beef a week
8oz of chicken a week
1 oz of butter a day
Only using coconut oil when I cook now.
1 cantalope a week

 

[managing]

Is trimethylglycine a decent source of glycine when gelatin is not handy? What about the methyl groups?

 

[chispas]

I have to admit, I have put on fat. But it's a compromise in order to put on muscle faster.

I was actually thinking this morning, what would a lower-calorie Peat-inspired diet look like - could it exist?

I know more calories are supposed to burn more energy, but clearly if we are gaining fat, we are consuming more than our bodies can burn under the conditions. Even when I wasn't eating 3000+ calories a day, I noticed that the introduction of fruit and milk added fat to my body - I suspect it was the full fat milk.

Until I see some significant muscle gains, I do not intend to eat less. Will report back soon.

No idea about trimethylglycine, sorry about that.

 

[aquaman]

I was actually thinking this morning, what would a lower-calorie Peat-inspired diet look like - could it exist?

eat fewer fat grams - aim under 50 including 10-15 from 2-3 tsp coconut oil. If you're in aus and can get really ripe, good quality fruits, then it's easy to keep stocked up on them.

Have skim milk and skim milk powder.

 

[Velve921]

I've heard this on many forum posts..but is the general consensus to put on the most lean body mass (lots of muscle and no fat) to eat as low fat as possible? And load up on fruits?

 

[Zachs]

Yes, fat does not equate to muscle gain. I saw significant body composition of an almost fat free diet. As long as your getting a bit of cholesterol and saturated fat, you will be fine.

For the poster above, no that form of glycine is not good since the main role for glycine is to aid in demethylation.

 

[managing]

I would love for somebody to post an adequate explanation of that. When I was low carb (not that I am recommending it) I could eat fat all day and lose weight. Peating, I've gained both fat and muscle.

I realize that low carbing makes lipolysis the default form of energy. But peat makes sugar the source of energy. When low carbing, "excess" fat didn't seem to matter. Yet when Peating, excess sugar (I presume) seems to turn into fat.

Yet everybody here and on Peatarian says to cut the fat to lose fat. This just seems too simplistic. There is an underlying explanation of raypeatian subtlimnity. I just don't know what it is.

How does fat consumption lead to fat loss when low carbing, yet when peating (many say) fat consumption leads to fat gain.

 

[Zachs]

99% of the time, the low carber is simply eating fewer calories. Usually around 1600-2k seems to fill most people up when only eating animal products, veggies and fat. So you lose weight simply from CICO.

On a high carb diet, usually one is eating in the 3k range which for most people is maintanence calories. Contrary to what you mentioned above, dietary fat is almost always the only source of stored body fat. Turning carbs or protein to body fat is a very inefficient process and basically just does not happen in a individual without metabolic syndrom. So if you are eating a diet with adequate energy (carbs), fat really has nowhere to go but to be stored for use later when carbs are lower (sleeping).

This is simplified but is basically what is going on. This is why a high calorie diet that is very low in fat will still produce fat loss since the excess energy (carbs) gets dissapated as heat (increased metabolism) and fat stores provide all the fat energy. It is also the best way to clear excess PUFA from the body since you are not dumping fat stores like on a low carb or low calorie diet and instead slowly burning the fat stores as energy throughout the day and mostly night.

 

[cantstoppeating]

I would love for somebody to post an adequate explanation of that. When I was low carb (not that I am recommending it) I could eat fat all day and lose weight. Peating, I've gained both fat and muscle.

I realize that low carbing makes lipolysis the default form of energy. But peat makes sugar the source of energy. When low carbing, "excess" fat didn't seem to matter. Yet when Peating, excess sugar (I presume) seems to turn into fat.

Yet everybody here and on Peatarian says to cut the fat to lose fat. This just seems too simplistic. There is an underlying explanation of raypeatian subtlimnity. I just don't know what it is.

How does fat consumption lead to fat loss when low carbing, yet when peating (many say) fat consumption leads to fat gain.

This is something I struggle to understand too. It seems no one has a clear explanation other than "restore metabolism and then you'll be thin".

As far as I understand low carbing switches our cell's fuel source from sugar to fat. Peating switches them to sugar. Since fatloss occurs through a caloric deficit (either we burn more or we consume less or a combination), Peat style fatloss is to eat enough sugar to keep metabolic rate high (i.e. temps at 98.6f), yet reduce fat to limit calories as it's the most calorically dense macronutrient and least likely to cause problems when drastically reduced.

But since our cells are running on sugar, that calorie deficit is balanced by the burning of excess fat at rest within, supposedly, the cells in our skeletal muscles.

Other than that, the goal of excess fat loss while Peating seems to be the big elephant in the room that no one wants to address.

 

[Zachs]

I lost close to 40lbs eating a Peat inspired diet. It really is as simple as getting adequate, balanced protein, keeping fat intake low (under 30g), sugar intake high and eliminate stressors, get good sleep and optimize your thyroid.

I didnt see any significant fat loss until i limited my fat consumption. See my post above for explanation.