Ancient Greek Olympic athletes followed specific training diets. These weren't secret. These were documented by physicians and trainers.
— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) December 31, 2025
The Olympic training diet: Meat. Primarily meat. Heavy on meat.
Specifically: Beef, pork, goat, fish. Cheese, figs for quick energy. Wine… pic.twitter.com/N47RDIo70j
Ancient Greek Olympic athletes followed specific training diets. These weren't secret. These were documented by physicians and trainers. The Olympic training diet: Meat. Primarily meat. Heavy on meat. Specifically: Beef, pork, goat, fish. Cheese, figs for quick energy. Wine diluted with water. Grain consumption: Minimal. Some bread, but not the focus. Milo of Croton, six-time Olympic wrestling champion: Documented eating 20 pounds of meat daily during training. Whether exact or exaggerated, the emphasis is clear: Massive meat consumption. Other documented champion athletes: Similar patterns. Meat-heavy training diets. The Greeks weren't guessing. They observed: Athletes on meat-heavy diets performed better than athletes on grain-heavy diets. They didn't have studies. They had outcomes. Champions ate meat. Losers ate less meat. Roman gladiators by contrast: Fed grain porridge intentionally. Called "barley men." Not because it was optimal. Because it was cheap and fattened them for spectacle. Olympic athletes: Fed meat because performance mattered. Gladiators: Fed grain because cost mattered and performance was secondary to appearance. Same empire. Different objectives. Different nutrition. Medieval knights in training: Meat-heavy diets documented in household records. Not for taste. For building strength and maintaining combat capacity. Modern Olympic athletes: Many still gravitate toward meat-heavy diets despite modern nutritional advice suggesting otherwise. Why? Because when performance is measured objectively, meat works. You can theorise about plant-based athletic performance. Then you measure actual outcomes. Champions across history: Ate meat. The pattern is consistent across cultures and time periods. When physical performance is the goal, meat is the solution. Ancient trainers didn't know about protein synthesis, amino acid profiles, or bioavailability. They knew: Feed athletes meat, they win. Feed them grain, they lose. That was sufficient. Modern sports nutrition rediscovered what ancient trainers knew: Meat builds strength. They just had to dress it up in scientific language to make it sound like a new discovery.
