Diet for armwrestlers?

I was wondering what sort of diets you guys have whether you have just a normal eating plan or if you go for a more sports specific/bodybuilding style diet with 6 meals a day high protein etc? My diet changes quite often as in the past when training for strongman i was always having high protein high calorie diet as the heavier i got the stronger i was but now as i'm trying to drop weight i'm more careful and have been watching the calories. Now I have dropped the bulk of the weight I'm going back to a high protein diet but still being careful with the calories and am refining my source of carbs more.

Normally a sports specific diet with 5-6 meals a day and high protein, but that's mainly as I've concentrated on losing a lot of weight over the last year and a half.

Dunk, try using Waxy maize starch with your protein shakes, it's digested very quickly and absorbed rapidly by muscles without spiking the bodies insulin. I use it with 3 of my shakes a day but in different ratio's according to when i take it. Equal amounts with protein for my normal shakes and 2 parts WMS to 1 part whey in a post workout shake for instant fuel to repair the muscles. Because of this i can cut carbs from my whole food meals and reduce calories without sacrificing muscle glycogen. It's working too as i seem to stay the same weight but get leaner and stronger.

Dan wrote:

Dunk, try using Waxy maize starch with your protein shakes, it's digested very quickly and absorbed rapidly by muscles without spiking the bodies insulin. I use it with 3 of my shakes a day but in different ratio's according to when i take it. Equal amounts with protein for my normal shakes and 2 parts WMS to 1 part whey in a post workout shake for instant fuel to repair the muscles. Because of this i can cut carbs from my whole food meals and reduce calories without sacrificing muscle glycogen. It's working too as i seem to stay the same weight but get leaner and stronger.

What does the WMS taste like Dan? I didn't realise that about it not spiking insulin, might be a good replacement for my maltodextrin in my post workout shakes while I'm cutting...

It has a slightly chalky consistency but tastes a little like custard especially if used with a vanilla flavoured whey.

And cutting weight


From where

Dan wrote:

It has a slightly chalky consistency but tastes a little like custard especially if used with a vanilla flavoured whey.

Sounds fine to me then, will give it a whirl.

Dan wrote:

And cutting weight

From where

The back of my head

i cut down on a few takeaway & do some jogging thats how i lose weight......

I dont know the meaning of the word cut. Eat what I want, when I want. FAvourite meal at the moment is roasted chicken breasts, green beans, sweetcorn, roasted carrots and my own spicy tomato sauce.

Cant beat mince and potates with carrots, onions and green beans!

I saw a thread on here where Paul Maiden was showing someone the supp he uses to cut. That might help, me talking about food certainly wont so I apologise.

obk wrote:

I dont know the meaning of the word cut. Eat what I want, when I want. FAvourite meal at the moment is roasted chicken breasts, green beans, sweetcorn, roasted carrots and my own spicy tomato sauce.

Cant beat mince and potates with carrots, onions and green beans!

I saw a thread on here where Paul Maiden was showing someone the supp he uses to cut. That might help, me talking about food certainly wont so I apologise.

That's the advantage of being a super heavy, I have to get to under 100, at 104 i'm the lightest super heavy and often give away more than 20kg to my opponents.

i cut all the crap, then use the slimming world diet..... (i still eat crap on sundays) ... WORKS FINE.

Dean wrote:

i cut all the crap, then use the slimming world diet..... (i still eat crap on sundays) ... WORKS FINE.

That sounds like the cheat to lose diet, which I've used to great success too, 6 days of dieting mixing foods around followed by one cheat day...

instead of having a half pounder bacon cheese burger ill only hav a quarter pounder with small chips not large,thats my diet

paul mortimer wrote:

instead of having a half pounder bacon cheese burger ill only hav a quarter pounder with small chips not large,thats my diet

there really is no need for harsh diets trust me i had to loose 15kg in 1 month!!!! to make worlds 06 it killed me! i was weak as hell, low carb is nto good for a strength athlete eat what you want!! just make sure you burn it off you will loose weight as long as you burn more calories than you take in, strength athletes need protein in order to repair muscle, one protein shake of good quality will do this after a work out, morning cardio works wonders for weight loss!

I've got to agree with Jo here. I'm a natural 85kg, if i try and lose weight, i lose power. I think it's important you've got the weight to lose in the first place. If you are just over the class weight you've chosen and are already training hard, then loosing additional weight by means of your diet will only starve your muscles of either strength or stamina.

yo mark at the world some people will lose 5 kilo in the sauna to get in a lower weight class.. so say they weighed in today like the british team have at the worlds today is tuesday.. and if there a senior wrestler wrestling right arm so they would be wrestling on the saturday so they have nearly 4 days to put that weight back on..

Under those circumstances an individual could recoup their strength by the time the competition begins because they are only loosing fluid which is easy to replace, however if the weight lost is due to dieting then the individual is loosing much needed nutrition. Also, sweating it out a few days before a competition is great if the weigh in is held a few days in advance, but surely you wouldn't recommend people try any of these methods if the competition is held on the same day like the juniors or amateurs!

Can anyone suggest supplements i could take to promote muscle growth other than protein and glutamine?

I'd also like to know if there's any supplements or vitamins that will strengthen tendons. I'm already taking glucosamine sulphate.

I'm using a supplement called Mega Cissus, it based on the Cissus quadrangulas herb and is available through MyProtein.co.uk, it's worked well for me so far.

Thanks very much Dan i'll check that site out. Is it for muscle or tendons?

It works for tendons but also stops any anti catabolic effects that training may have.

If you are cutting weight for a comp where the weigh in is the same day then i recommend starting about 12 weeks out to make sure you burn the fat off and not deplete the glycogen stores in your muscles, keep your protein intake to 1.5-2 grams per kg of body weight so for an 85kg man you will need 127.5 to 170 grams of protein per day over 6 or 7 meals, and have your carbs before 4 from whole grain sources for a slow energy release but don't cut all the fats out as some types of fat are required to help break down certain vitamins that are essential to the body.

If you get to weigh in 4 days before pulling you can start 12 weeks out but cut the carbs out 3 weeks away from weigh in to reduce muscle size, you can carb up after the weigh i with high GI carb sources and plenty of fluids. I went from 104 to 91.5 in 12 weeks and shed the last 2.35kg in the sauna, stepping on the scales at 89.15, as soon as i got off i took an electrolyte drink, a protein bar then had a pizza. I was back up to 94 when i stepped on stage for my first pull. It all starts again tomorrow for the British.

Thanks Dan for taking the time to go through that for me, i really appreciate how you broke it down and explained it. I'll check it out and see how i can incorporate it into my diet.