Olympic Weightlifting Recovery 101: Eating

It’s no secret that our diets can have a massive impact on our performance in the gym. ‘You are what you eat’, as the old saying goes. 

In this edition of Mem’s Weightlifting Blog, we asked our respected London Olympic lifting coach for his take on nutrition, and how things have changed since his days as an international competitor.

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Olympic Weightlifting Nutrition: The Basics

“I would start by saying that there is far more information available about nutrition now than there was when I was competing. 

“Back then, I didn’t think too much about it – I trained twice a day and had fast metabolism so I never had to count my macros or anything like that; I pretty much ate what I wanted. But with one exception – I only ate home-cooked meals, never fast food or anything processed. I think that’s important for any weightlifter – when you cook a meal yourself you know you’re getting real, good quality ingredients and there’s no additives or preservatives.

“My other basic tip would be that you need to get enough protein each day. It’s been proven to help with muscle growth and recovery, so it can help you train consistently.”

Nutrition For Olympic Weightlifting Beginners

“The advice I would give to beginners is if you’re serious about training and want to optimise your diet but aren’t sure where to start, speak to a sports nutritionist.

“They can recommend how much carbs, protein and fats to eat before and after each training session, based on its length and intensity. You’ll learn how much you need to eat to perform at your best. Once you have this information it doesn’t take long before you have it dialled in, so you know almost instinctively how to fuel your body.

“My athletes who’ve been lifting for five years or more have good knowledge of how they should be eating. They know when to eat carbs, how much protein they roughly need – and they know when to rein it in if they’ve gone off the rails a little bit. It comes with experience.”

What Do Professional Weightlifters Eat?

“As a weightlifter, I was lucky. I always seemed to be able to eat well right up until a competition. And I never had problems going into the weigh-ins. 

“But I had a friend who hardly ate or drank anything for two days before a competition to make weight. In that scenario, you won’t be able to lift the same numbers you’ve been hitting in training. If you’ve been lifting 140kgs in training and you have to starve yourself before the competition, you’re probably only going to be able to lift 130kg in competition. That’s why training hard is so important – you improve your baseline performance level. 

“I had another friend who had to sit in the sauna right up to the last minute of the weigh-in to try and sweat off some extra weight. In the end, he couldn’t make it, he just gave up. The weigh-in finishes an hour before the competition starts, so he would only have an hour to rehydrate.

“It’s extreme! But that’s why they're professionals because the lengths they go to are greater than the average person. They get out of their comfort zone, leave the box!”

“Nowadays, most professional athletes will be able to call on sports nutritionists who can help them plan ahead and avoid the panic of having to lose several kilos at the very last minute!”

The Best Supplements For Olympic Weightlifters

“The supplement market is massive at the moment, and there are so many available that can potentially benefit athletes. Protein and creatine are the most researched. 

“The best advice I would give anyone taking a supplement is to check it’s been approved by the UK Anti Doping Association (UKAD). This is especially important if you’re a competitive athlete. You never know when you can get tested so you really need to be careful with this.

“My favourite supplement: walnuts and honey! It’s the perfect pre-workout snack because it has fats and carbs. You wouldn’t be able to eat too much of it because it’s very rich – all you need is a couple of teaspoons and you’ll have plenty of energy for a session.

“If you train early in the morning and don’t feel like eating, this is perfect! Give it a go for a month, you’ll see!”