Mark Asks: Many weightlifting podcasts, training manual and books spend a lot of time focusing on how to train and perfecting form, while other aspects of the weightlifting life are overlooked or brushed over, such as recovery and nutrition. My questions relate to the times spent outside the gym. Like how should the typical weightlifter eat? How much protein do I need a day? Should I eat carbs? Can I succeed on a vegan diet? Does stress in my job carry over into my training? How does sleep really help me, because when I've stayed up all night and have a couple of screws loose I've hit PRs. I'm really just wondering how most of my day, which isn't spent in the gym can impact me as a weightlifter.
 
Greg Says: Conveniently enough, my book Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches, covers all of those things in detail. I’ll provide the basics here.
 
What you do outside the gym will absolutely affect what you do in the gym and in competition. The more serious you want to be as a weightlifter, the more important all of these things become.
 
Like any athlete, weightlifters should eat a foundation of quality whole foods: animal source protein, a variety of vegetables and some fruit, quality fats (saturated and unsaturated) and carbs primarily from things like rice and tubers.
 
Strength athletes for decades have relied on the 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight rule with success—I think that’s a minimum for most weightlifters, with exceptions being cutting weight, although in that case, protein still needs to be kept as high as possible. I very much believe in animal protein—dead animal parts or things emitted from living animals (eggs and milk). You simply cannot replace these proteins equally with non-animal sources.
 
Can you be successful as a vegan? Maybe, but it’s extremely unlikely. There are exceptions to every rule, and every now and then a vegan manages not only to stay alive, but to be a pretty successful athlete. Keep in mind that there are drug addicts who do the same, so this by no means proves it works, just that you’ve found a particularly resilient human being.
 
I have no problem with nutritional supplements, as long as you understand that’s what they are: supplements. You need that foundation of whole food first, and then you can add to it. For bigger athletes, protein supplements are usually necessary—it’s tough to eat 250+ grams of protein in meat each day, for example. Look for quality products without unnecessary additives or contamination like Earth Fed Muscle and Puori make.
 
The actual amount of carbohydrate that works best varies a lot among athletes. Usually lifters will do better with a pretty big amount, but some can get by with lower carbs and higher fat. That’s definitely something you’ll have to experiment with.
 
Regarding sleep, more of it is better. People want to fight this for some reason, and you just can’t escape facts. PRing after a bad night of sleep happens every now and then, but you didn’t PR because you didn’t sleep—you PRed in spite of it. Sleep is the number one contributor to recovery and performance.
 
All stress, of any nature, affects your body and mind, and contributes to the aggregate. The more stress you experience outside the gym, the less stress you can handle in the gym. It’s important to reduce outside stressors as much as possible and include activities that help you cope with stress well such as sleep, meditation, routine, journaling and the like.