Nutrition - the missing link to success?

I can guarantee that 9 out of 10 guys who train using SS or a similar full-body routine (Madcows 5x5, Stronglifts, Texas Method etcetera) train hard. Yet so often their gains stall at around the same mark, their progress slowing to a snails pace or even worse, they quit. Training intensity is not the issue for most people, and I can say with utmost confidence that recovery (sleep) isn't a problem either for young guys hitting the gym. More than likely it is their nutrition letting them down, and I definitely count myself among this crowd.

When I was training at an even more amateur level than I am now (squatting my BW, benching 75% BW, not deadlifting) I would not make sure of my macronutrient intake, I would occasionally skip meals (thinking I would make gains after not eating breakfast was Three Stooges material), and I would eat a lot of carbs but not get in the required 1g of protein per pound of BW for actually building muscle. I'm glad to say that those days are well and truly behind me, and I'm hoping my commitment to nutrition will pay dividends in the future.

This isn't to say that you can't get stronger with a slightly sub-par attention to what you put into your body, but once you reach a certain level of strength (1.5xBW squat, over BW bench, 2xBW deadlift) extra macronutrients and recovery efforts are needed to maintain the aggressive overload of linear progression. I've seen this done to the point of a 4 plate squat (180kg), and it made me think to myself 'Why am I struggling with 2.5kg increases when I'm not even squatting 2 plates (100kg)?' The reason was obviously nutrition, and so after I broke my hand I started scheming (as you do when you can't actually LIFT weights) my rise to glory when I was healed up. This involved upping my calories from the get-go, so I would be best prepared to continue my progression well past my previous PRs.

I'm happy to say that I currently have a great nutrition plan in place that is easy to follow and gives me a pretty fool-proof blueprint for gains, both in BW and in strength. Here is my general outline:

Breakfast and morning snack:

6:00am - Wake up, cereal for breakfast: 300-400 cals (20g protein, 35g carbs, 15g fat)

7:00am - Drive to work protein shake: Musashi Mass Gain, 600mL milk with 60g powder (600 cals, 45g protein, 55g carbs, 30g fat)

9:30am-10:00am - Trail mix: sultanas, apricot, cashews, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds (400 cals, 20g protein, 40g carbs, 30g fat) I eat this every day without fail now.

So before 10am I've consumed 1300-1500 calories, with 85g protein, 130g carbs, 75g fat. Fairing well so far.

Lunch & afternoon snack:

12:00pm-2:00pm - Adding up to 1000 cals, normally leftovers or sandwiches. Today I have 2 big turkey, cheese & mayo sandwiches.

3:00pm - Cheese, crackers and kabana,

Food over this period should add up to 1200 cals at least with 40g+ of protein, 130g of carbs and who knows how much fat, probs around 40g.

Dinner:

This is the toughest one to count on because as we all know, meal sizes and macronutrient content varies widely depending on whether you're eating a steak and roast potato to pasta carbonara (both of which I love).

6:30pm-7:00pm - Adding up to 800-1000 cals, really making an effort to get a decent portion of meat in to any and every evening meal.

8:00pm - Protein shake (600 cals, 45g protein, 55g carbs, 30g fat)

Over the course of the day that means over 4000 calories, and:

• 180g-200g+ Protein
• 350-400g Carbohydrates
• 150g-200g Fat

The proof is in the pudding, so I won't go crowing about this until I'm at at least a 120kg squat, but the weights don't feel heavier each session, and I'm feeling less cautious of reaching a 2 plate bench too, so that's a good sign. When I get to the latter weeks and months of the program, I will most likely need to bump up my carbs to help recovery, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.