Top 5 Best Foods for Strongman: Diet & Nutrition Guide

If you’ve ever watched the World’s Strongest Man competition, you know that the athletes aren’t just “fit”—they are human hydraulic machines. Whether they are pulling a semi-truck, pressing a log that weighs as much as a motorcycle, or carrying a yoke that would crush a normal spine, the energy demands are astronomical.

But here is the reality of the sport: You cannot out-train a bad diet, and in Strongman, a “bad diet” isn’t just about eating junk food—it’s about eating food that you can’t digest.

Nutrition for Strongman differs significantly from general fitness or bodybuilding diets. When you are pushing your body to move thousands of pounds, the primary goal shifts from aesthetics to pure performance, recovery, and the ability to consume massive amounts of fuel (often 5,000–10,000+ calories) without feeling sick.

Modern professional strongmen, including legends like Brian Shaw and Hafthor Bjornsson, have largely shifted away from the old-school “bro-diets” of dry chicken and brown rice. Instead, they favor the Vertical Diet methodology championed by IFBB Pro and powerlifter Stan Efferding. The focus? Calorie-dense, nutrient-rich foods that are extremely easy to digest.

If you are looking to build a chassis capable of moving big weights, these are the top 5 best foods for Strongman that need to be in your cooler.

5 Key Takeaways: Strongman Diet Rules

Before we dive into the specific foods, here are the five golden rules of Strongman nutrition derived from top coaching platforms like Juggernaut Training Systems:

Digestibility is King: When you eat 6+ meals a day, food must digest quickly to prevent bloating and ensure you are hungry for the next meal.
Red Meat Drives Performance: Beef provides the natural creatine and minerals essential for explosive power.
Salt is a Performance Enhancer: Sodium increases blood volume and improves muscle contractions, preventing cramping under heavy loads.
Fats Regulate Hormones: You need cholesterol (from eggs and animal fats) to produce the testosterone required for strength.
Potassium Prevents Failure: High sodium needs to be balanced with high potassium (potatoes/spinach) to keep muscles firing correctly.

1. Red Meat: The Best Protein Source for Strongman

If you look at the diet of almost any top-tier Strongman, you will find red meat at the center of the plate. While chicken and turkey are fine for lean protein, they simply don’t stack up against the nutrient profile of beef or bison.

Red meat is widely considered the number one food for strongman competitors because it is a nutritional powerhouse. It provides significant amounts of heme iron, zinc, and B12. These aren’t just random vitamins; they are the nutrients that directly support energy levels, red blood cell production, and testosterone production. When you are training for three hours a day, you can’t afford to be anemic or low on B12.

The Pro Tip for Eating Beef

Most Strongmen opt for ground beef (typically 88% to 93% lean) rather than steaks. Why? Jaw fatigue. It sounds funny, but when you have to eat 2 pounds of meat a day, chewing through tough steaks becomes a chore that slows you down. Ground beef is easy to chew, easy to digest, and allows you to consume more calories with less effort.

2. White Rice: The Superior Carb for Mass and Digestion

For years, the fitness industry told us that brown rice was “clean” and white rice was “bad.” In the world of Strongman, the opposite is true.

To move heavy weights, you need glycogen (stored carbohydrates) in your muscles. White rice is the gold standard for this because it is essentially “pure energy” that acts fast. Unlike whole grains, white rice has had the bran and germ removed. This means it lacks the phytic acid and heavy fiber that can block nutrient absorption and slow down digestion.

Why Digestibility Matters

Imagine you need to eat 4,500 calories today. If you eat a bowl of brown rice, that high fiber content might sit in your stomach for three or four hours, leaving you feeling bloated and full. A bowl of white rice, however, digests in about an hour. This rapid turnover clears the stomach, raises your blood sugar for training energy, and most importantly, makes you hungry again for your next meal.

3. Whole Eggs: Essential Fats for Testosterone

High-quality eggs on a patterned table for muscle nutrition and strength building. — Healthy protein source for powerlifters and strongman athletes.

Walk into a strongman’s kitchen in the morning, and you will likely see a carton of eggs—and they aren’t separating the whites. Whole eggs are a staple breakfast for almost every World’s Strongest Man winner.

Eggs score a perfect 100 on the biological value scale, meaning your body absorbs and utilizes the protein incredibly efficiently. But for the strength athlete, the magic is in the yolk. The yolk contains the majority of the vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats.

More importantly, egg yolks are rich in cholesterol. While the general public is often told to lower cholesterol, strength athletes know that cholesterol is a precursor to testosterone. If your fat intake drops too low, your hormone levels can crash, killing your strength gains. Plus, like ground beef and rice, eggs are soft and easy to eat quickly, which is a major logistical advantage when meal volume is high.

4. Salmon: Omega-3s for Joint Recovery and Inflammation

Strongman is brutal on the body. The events—Yoke Walk, Atlas Stones, Truck Pull—place compressive forces on the spine and joints that are hard to comprehend. Recovery is not just about muscle repair; it’s about managing inflammation.

This is where Salmon becomes the MVP. While it is a great protein source, it is prized specifically for its high Omega-3 fatty acid content. These healthy fats act as powerful natural anti-inflammatories. Eating fatty fish like salmon 2-3 times a week can help manage the systemic inflammation caused by heavy lifting, keeping your knees, elbows, and back healthy enough to train again tomorrow.

If you absolutely cannot stomach fish, supplementing with high-quality fish oil is a mandatory alternative, but the whole food source is always superior for absorption.

5. Potatoes: Potassium-Rich Food for Muscle Function

Whether white, russet, or sweet, potatoes are the perfect carbohydrate companion to lean meats. But they offer something that rice doesn’t have in abundance: Potassium.

Potassium is an electrolyte that works in tandem with sodium to help your muscles contract and relax. In Strongman, you are often sweating profusely and consuming high amounts of sodium (more on that below). To keep your body’s electrical system balanced, you need potassium. A deficiency here can lead to weakness, tremors, and the athlete’s worst nightmare: cramping.

There is nothing worse than tearing a bicep or dropping a deadlift because your hamstring cramped up. Potatoes provide the fuel to lift the weight and the electrolytes to ensure the muscle survives the lift. White potatoes tend to digest slightly faster, making them great for post-workout meals to replenish glycogen immediately.

The “Sixth” Food: Salt and Hydration

We can’t talk about food without talking about salt. In the general population, salt is demonized. In Strongman, it is a necessary performance enhancer.

Sodium increases blood volume. When you have more blood volume, you have better circulation and better “pumps.” This fluid retention within the muscle cells also helps cushion the joints, providing better leverage for moving massive weights. Many competitors salt every meal heavily. However, salt without water is useless. You must drink water with electrolytes throughout the day to ensure that the fluid actually gets into your muscle cells rather than just passing right through you.

FAQ: Common Questions About Strongman Nutrition

1. Why do strongmen eat white rice instead of brown rice? White rice is effectively pure starch with the bran and germ removed. This allows the body to break it down instantly for energy without gas or bloating. When an athlete needs 1,000 grams of carbs a day, the high fiber in brown rice would cause severe stomach pain and digestive distress, making it impossible to finish the necessary meals.

2. Can I just drink protein shakes instead of eating meat? Shakes are convenient, but they shouldn’t replace meals. Real food, especially red meat, contains a “matrix” of nutrients (heme iron, zinc, B12) that are absorbed better than synthetic vitamins added to powders. Most pros use shakes only when they literally cannot chew another bite or need immediate post-training protein.

3. How many eggs should I eat a day? It is common for strongmen to eat 4–8 whole eggs daily. The yolk provides the healthy fats and cholesterol needed for hormonal health. If you have specific medical concerns regarding cholesterol, consult your doctor, but for pure performance metrics, the yolk is the most valuable part of the egg.

4. Do I need to eat vegetables? Yes, micronutrients matter, but you must choose carefully. “Gassy” vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts (high FODMAPs) can cause massive bloating. Pros often stick to easier-to-digest veggies like spinach, bell peppers, cooked carrots, or fermented foods like sauerkraut to aid digestion without taking up valuable stomach space.

5. Is sugar bad for Strongman? Not necessarily. Simple sugars (like those found in fruit, dextrose, or Gatorade) are often utilized immediately before and during training to provide instant fuel to the muscles. However, the majority of your daily carbohydrates should come from starches (rice and potatoes) to provide steady energy.

6. What is the best food for joint pain? Fatty fish, specifically Salmon. The Omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon are potent anti-inflammatories. Eating salmon a few times a week helps counteract the joint inflammation caused by events like the Log Press.

7. How often should I eat? Most strongmen, such as those following the Brian Shaw diet, eat every 2.5 to 3 hours. Spreading calories out prevents “gut bomb” meals that make you feel lethargic and lazy. Consistency is the key; in this sport, missing a meal is considered a “training error.”

Conclusion: “Clean” Eating Redefined

For the aspiring Strongman, “clean” eating doesn’t mean low-calorie salads. It means high nutrient density and low gut stress.

Foods that cause gas, bloating, or lethargy are “dirty” in this context because they ruin your ability to train hard. A specialized diet of steak, rice, eggs, salmon, and potatoes might look repetitive, but it is a diet designed for human horsepower. If you want to lift like a giant, you have to eat like one—smart, consistent, and relentless.