Choosing the best weight training diet is a crucial component to building muscle and increasing strength. The extreme demands that weight training makes upon the body mean that it is vital for an athlete to provide his or her body with proper nutrition. Doing so will provide the body with the nutrients it needs to generate new muscles tissue. The best weight training diet will also help to reduce the recovery time between workouts, which will enable the athlete to work out more often and thus to develop muscles more quickly.
The first key to an effective weight training diet is to consume a high quantity of protein. For every pound (0.47 kg) of body weight, an athlete should try to consume one gram of protein every day. Protein is crucial because it is the nutrient that the body uses to generate new muscle tissue. So, an athlete should try to consume lean meats and healthy dairy products, such as yogurt and cottage cheese, in order to get enough protein for the body to get the maximum benefits from each workout.
An effective weight training diet should include carbohydrates, although the amount of carbohydrate that the athlete should consume will vary depending on the amount of exercise the athlete performs during the day. On days between workouts, the athlete should try to limit carbohydrates, especially later in the day, because the body at that point does not need the carbohydrates for sustained energy throughout the day. On days that the athlete works out, though, he or she should try to consume carbohydrates before, during and after a workout. Doing this will provide the body with a constant energy supply so that it does not have to resort to burning proteins for energy. Consuming carbohydrates in this timed manner will prevent the muscles from breaking down and thus will speed recovery.
In addition to proteins and carbohydrates, it is important that a weight training diet also contain a sufficient amount of fat. Fat should make up no more than 25 percent of the daily intake, but it still is a vital nutrient in the best weight training diet. When consuming fats, though, athletes should try to do so through healthy oils such as fish oil or flaxseed oil. The athlete should avoid less healthy sources of fat, especially saturated or trans fats, because they provide little benefit and can be unhealthy for the heart.