Protein rebuilds you, but carbohydrates are what let you do the work in the first place. I have seen plenty of strong lifters cut carbs too hard, chase a leaner look, and watch their bar speed and their grind disappear at the same time. If you want to move heavy weight session after session, you have to fuel it.
Why Carbs Matter for Powerlifting
Heavy singles, doubles, and triples run on stored carbohydrate, called glycogen, sitting in your muscles. When that tank is full, your sets feel snappy and you recover between them. When it is low, the bar feels heavier than the number on it, your last sets fall apart, and you start dreading the work. Carbs are not the enemy of a powerlifter. They are the fuel that keeps the engine running under load.
How Many Carbs You Need
A practical starting range for most powerlifters is around two to three grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight on training days. A 200 pound lifter lands somewhere between 400 and 600 grams depending on how hard and how often they train. Bigger training days call for more. Rest days can come down a little, since you are not draining the tank as fast.
Use the mirror and the bar to adjust. If you are getting puffy and soft, pull carbs back a touch. If your strength and energy are sliding, add them back before you blame the program. The number is a starting point, not a law.
Best Sources and When to Eat Them
Build the base from foods that sit well and keep you full. Rice, potatoes, oats, fruit, and bread you tolerate do the job for most lifters. These give you a steady supply of fuel without wrecking your gut before a heavy session.
Put more of your carbs around training. A solid carb meal a couple of hours before you lift tops off the tank, and a carb-rich meal afterward starts refilling it for next time. Faster digesting carbs, like white rice or fruit, are useful close to the session when you do not want a heavy stomach.
The lifters who fear carbs almost always end up under-fueled and frustrated. Feed the work, place most of it around training, and let your strength tell you whether you have the number right.