Possible to be a competitive lifter on RPD?

[B.Money]

Hey guys, I am new and kind of testing the waters before making the plunge to becoming a full RPDer. The real question is: Is it possible to eat ENOUGH to be competitive in strength sports? I am talking about Olympic weightlifting and Powerlifting--not general fitness, or body weight strength.

Just a little worried that if I were to make the switch and for whatever reason be unable to eat enough and end up losing a lot of muscle, and strength.

[Josh]

I don't think anyone can give you the answer. There's people doing all kinds of sports on RPD and thriving, but in terms of olympic level where the slightest difference can give you the edge, who knows? Maybe an unnatural diet can give you an unnatural edge at those levels.

[Paleo Donk]

The only unnatural substances, in my opinion, that would give you an edge in oly lifting or powerlifting would be illegal steroids and the such. I see no better form of nutrition for obtaining stronger functioning muscles than what you could get on a raw paleo diet. I do think refined carbohydrates will most likely refill glycogen stores faster than whole fruits, but I don't think this will translate at all to increased muscle.

But maybe we are all wrong, and raw paleo somehow does not allow us to gain muscle beyond a certain limit. I plan on testing this myself and hopefully will be competing in some oly/power lifting in the next couple years if not sooner. I have gotten a bit stronger and am at my all time strongest right now, though I've been cheating immensely with my diet the last couple months, but with a raw meat and fat core.

[ForTheHunt]

I personally don't think so.

[miles]

Yes, B.Money. I think it is possible.

[goodsamaritan]

Hey guys, I am new and kind of testing the waters before making the plunge to becoming a full RPDer. The real question is: Is it possible to eat ENOUGH to be competitive in strength sports? I am talking about Olympic weightlifting and Powerlifting--not general fitness, or body weight strength.

Just a little worried that if I were to make the switch and for whatever reason be unable to eat enough and end up losing a lot of muscle, and strength.

I was never an athlete at any age so I don't know.  Olympic levels?  You've got to ask your Olympic winning coach.

[B.Money]

haha yeah I figured there would be some mixed reviews. Let me ask this...if you were to eat double the amount of meat you did today, would there be problems?

[KD]

It might be a process but I'd like to think it should be possible to have greater strength in the end. I'm not sure at what point that shift would give a +/- edge in Olympic competition but you might have some of your questions answered about quantities and such in these interviews or getting in touch with some of the guys mentioned.
 
http://www.rawpaleoforum.com/primal-diet/raw-eating-on-superhuman-radio/

Although, it's more about traditional pre-supplement bodybuilding and not strength per se its a good listen.

me personally, I think if you are already talking about a strict paleo diet, it seems easier in many ways to consume more food raw -  if that is your goal, but there might be some unexpected changes paradoxically in comparison to those constantly in-taking stimulating cooked foods even with poorer quality proteins, recovery etc...

[kurite]

I think so. When I was just a regular paleo dieter it would have been tough because lean meat doesn't have many calories. With the addition of such densly calorie packed foods such as marrow I think it would definately possible. I play lots of tennis and my energy levels have increased during a match.

[TylerDurden]

Sure it is. Schwarzenegger himself pointed out that when he ate only overcooked animal foods, that the protein therefrom was too denatured to be useful for building up muscle properly so that he had to eat twice as much and also do more exercise in general to burn off the resulting fat-layers. Raw foods have higher nutrient levels than cooked foods and are more easily absorbed. The only catch is that I suspect that almost all competitive athletes(the ones who win anyway) are taking some form of performance-enhancing drug or steroid, so perhaps you'd need those as well in order to compete.

[miles]

tyler, no.. 'almost all competitive athletes(the ones who win anyway)' are not taking 'some form of performance-enhancing drug or steroid'. I can not answer you as to whether 'most', 'many', 'some', or 'a few' are, but.. 'almost all' are not. What would make you think that?

Also B.Money... Why do you think that you wouldn't be able to eat raw paleo foods as much as any other foods an athlete would eat??

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TylerDurden]

There is so much huge pressure on professional athletes to break world records nowadays, that, in many cases, the only way to win is through steroids or performance drugs to reduce competing time by a split-second etc.. Schwwarzenegger has admitted how steroids were used routinely despite being banned, and there are endless stories in the media about former winners being caught out taking drugs - given the difficulty in determining drug-use well before a particular sporting-event, it's clear that drug-use/steroids are endemic in the field of sports.
Obviously, amateur athletes are different re this, as they have less of an incentive to go in for drugs.

[miles]

Well, I don't know any professional athletes... Only funded/sponsored amateur athletes, including World champions and Olympic medalists. It seemed the discussion was regarding Olympic sport, which is predominantly amateur.

[KD]

Schwarzenegger was never a competitive lifter or in the Olympics. He was Mr. Universe in bodybuilding, a governor and probably president someday but could have never competed on an Olympic level. They test for steroids in the Olympics, although this is not to say, that people still don't use them or other non-illegals somehow in their training.

[TylerDurden]

I was speaking generally re all sports. testing for drug-use during an event can provide results(sometimes but athletes have ways to counter such tests), but testing for prior drug-use well before an event is totally ineffective.

[B.Money]

KD- Your the man! that radio interview was just what I was looking for! Although I could only get half of it to load---the 420 one (first one) wouldn't load or save in any way...do you know how I could retrieve it?

Also it looks like these guys drink a LOT of raw dairy just like how I was...still trying to figure out if raw milk is giving me digestion problems, or its something else entirely. Anyway thanks for that link!

Miles- When doing some reading about the diet I found this--

"Many RVAFers have encountered problems when overeating raw foods. Aajonus’ ridiculously high recommendations re huge amounts of raw foods eaten per day make things worse." - http://www.rawpaleodiet.com/raw-food-myths/

Thanks for all your help guys! 

[Paleo Donk]

I tend to agree with TD (but not with the idea about pressure), athletes across the board will cheat vigorously if possible, especially in today's markets where the difference in money from one level to the next is enormous. Take professional baseball where minor leaguers make 50k a year and by just being a little better in MLB the minimum is almost 10x this amount and 100x for an above average player. The incentives to cheat are enormous. Baseball players across the board 'cheated' (technically just used performance enhancing drugs) before they adopted any rules against performance enhancing drugs.

[djr_81]

Schwarzenegger was never a competitive lifter or in the Olympics. He was Mr. Universe in bodybuilding, a governor and probably president someday...

Can't do it here; he's foreign born.

[KD]

heh, it was more of a joke/exaggeration in reference to him and "former winners" as if they were participating in Olympic sports.

but yes, being foreign born would require an actual amendment to the constitution, and is possible albeit unlikely.
any amendment no matter what it is to The Constitution must be approved by two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate, and then be ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures but seems to have no other qualifiers.

here is a petition to sign: http://www.petitiononline.com/robnlisa/petition.html

He already has all the talking points ready:
http://www.crocopuffs.com/soundboard/arnold.html

---
I'm pretty cynical about professional athletes generally as well but the testing they do now in Olympic events is enough that some people do fail, and there are events they enter in between years which probably test. I could be naive but I'd be pretty surprised if someone like Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt, while surely on a number of artificial substances, are actually on steroids. If they really do the extensive tests, like with some of the baseball players, they can tell.

[Raw Kyle]

Are you an Olympic level power lifter now? What have you got to lose? Most people who try to compete at that level on any diet, steroids etc don't reach the top either. I would be very interested in seeing how a focused athlete did on rpd.

[TylerDurden]

Quite frankly, I would be horrified if Schwarzenegger became US president.  I mean, the ruthless way he reached the top re bodybuilding/acting and now governor, is positively frightening.

[B.Money]

haha you guys are funny....Schwarzenegger, steroids, etc. You guys should watch the movie bigger, stronger, faster 

Well I am day 2 into my RPD--although I may include dairy soon if it agrees with me, liquid calories are just too easy to pass up. I also NEED to get some better cuts of beef (but still have a budget)...the "shanks" are not cutting it, takes me like 45 minutes to eat a small one. Hopefully I can find a good deal and order 1/2 a grass fed cow or something soon.

Hey I have a sort of off topic question---I should probably start a new thread, but has anyone ever heard of getting food allergies from eating the same foods day in and day out? I have heard rumor of this, and being that most of you guys eat looots of beef, has there ever been a time where that same food just didn't agree with you any longer?

[djr_81]

Hey I have a sort of off topic question---I should probably start a new thread, but has anyone ever heard of getting food allergies from eating the same foods day in and day out? I have heard rumor of this, and being that most of you guys eat looots of beef, has there ever been a time where that same food just didn't agree with you any longer?

I have an incredibly long list of foods I'm allergic to which continued to get longer and longer over time. I eventually turned to RPD and grass-fed meats as my last bastion of hope.
The trick is to find an animal(s) you tolerate well. I've figured out over time I have issues with lamb, bison, and goat but do fine with beef, wild deer, and some fishes. I stick to these and have fears.
It seems much of the increase in intolerances and allergies in recent years is due to gut permeability. In my experience eating a good raw paleo diet nurtures the body and helps it heal things like this. I doubt any of my allergies will ever disappear but I personally no longer fear them getting worse.

[NEUROSPORT]

Hey guys, I am new and kind of testing the waters before making the plunge to becoming a full RPDer. The real question is: Is it possible to eat ENOUGH to be competitive in strength sports? I am talking about Olympic weightlifting and Powerlifting--not general fitness, or body weight strength.

Just a little worried that if I were to make the switch and for whatever reason be unable to eat enough and end up losing a lot of muscle, and strength.

if you want to be huge just take steroids.  

steroids are bad for you but the results are guaranteed.  garbage food is bad for you but the only things it can guarantee are obesity and heart disease.

i may go back to steroids again, but i will never go back to eating crap.

steroids and clean food however cost $$$.  that's the downside.

[NEUROSPORT]

Quite frankly, I would be horrified if Schwarzenegger became US president.  I mean, the ruthless way he reached the top re bodybuilding/acting and now governor, is positively frightening.

that's silly.  everybody who reaches the top is ruthless.  either that or they are puppets for somebody else who is ruthless.

you should read my site more often and get enlightened.