Carb loading

[Lighter Fighter]

I do carb cycling of sorts, but definitely not CKD. I typically run high carb on workout days (M,W,F) and low carb on cardio days or rest days. It gas been a very effective method for me to stay lean year round and build muscle slowly over time.

Im doing the same thing and its extremely effective, specially on off days, where i eat 50-60g carbs and doing 45 min of cardio, i just feel more shredded on those days.
i would not go high all the time if you want to drop bf, 2 high days are more than enough and i put those days where im doing a heavy hard draining workouts.

Aussiemuscle, carb cycling is only effective when your bf is below 12% and you want to get really ripped, if you're over 12%, you can just do the basic caloric deficit and you get to eat your carbs if its important for your sport.

 

[stevesmi]

Its called ckd (cyclic ketogenic diet). Never tried it but it could work if you want burn fat.
Im doing carb cycling and its fantastic, carbs dont build muscle, before i used to to think if you eat alot of carbs you get big well i did got big in the waistline, now i use carbs as a supplement, if you abuse carbs you just get fat as fuck, some people can get away with it, but not me.. The only macronutrient that build muscle is protein, fats and carbs do not contain nitrogen.. Carb cycling is usually 3 low 1 high but i go by the days i workout, off days it 50g carbs, on any bodypart i wan to improve i eat more calories and carbs specially around workouts, and moderate other days.

carbs build size. so yes you need it if you are bulking up.

also what you say about carbs building a gut just isn't true. endurance athletes consume more carbs than anyone on this board who lifts. but they are skinny as a rail.

i'm not saying go out and eat big macs. i'm saying good whole food carbs like a sweet potato/brown rice, etc. these are muscle building foods. do either contain protein?

protein is highly overrated, you have kids drinking protein shakes and protein bars all day who think they are gonna get big.. they don't go nowhere. veggies don't have much traces of protein either, should we avoid those to build muscle?

a meal like chicken/brown rice/green veggies. OR chicken/sweet potato.. something like that is a balanced meal

also this carb off diet has been tried and MOST everyone fails at it. unless you stick to it you won't get anywhere long term. you will lose weight and then when you go back to a normal diet gain everything back. another reason these keto 'diets' don't work nor does any diet. its about lifestyle. there are certain foods to AVOID always. no such thing as a treat .. back in the old days they used to have 1 cheat day, but the cheat foods of the 70's are the typical american diet of today so it doesn't fly anymore

and those of us that cycle will go hypo after a hard workout without carbs... many AAS will drop blood sugar quicker during workouts.

 

[RickRock13]

I think it depends on preference and the individual. For me personally I am very sensitive to carb intake even with Need2slin. So, I prefer to center my carb intake around workout days when I need them, and 100% of that is done post workout. I always train fasted (except BCAAs) and have for a couple years now. I experience no negatives from this method, and I train in shorter duration high intensity sessions of about 45 minutes. Its working well for me to stay very lean year round while adding mass. I saturate the muscles with glycogen and carb load on workout days, then deplete with cardio and low carbs on other days that helps with fat loss. Its probably not for everyone, but I enjoy this lifestyle change and it seems to work better for me than the typical bulk or cut philosophy.

 

[Lighter Fighter]

carbs build size. so yes you need it if you are bulking up.

also what you say about carbs building a gut just isn't true. endurance athletes consume more carbs than anyone on this board who lifts. but they are skinny as a rail.

i'm not saying go out and eat big macs. i'm saying good whole food carbs like a sweet potato/brown rice, etc. these are muscle building foods. do either contain protein?

protein is highly overrated, you have kids drinking protein shakes and protein bars all day who think they are gonna get big.. they don't go nowhere. veggies don't have much traces of protein either, should we avoid those to build muscle?

a meal like chicken/brown rice/green veggies. OR chicken/sweet potato.. something like that is a balanced meal

also this carb off diet has been tried and MOST everyone fails at it. unless you stick to it you won't get anywhere long term. you will lose weight and then when you go back to a normal diet gain everything back. another reason these keto 'diets' don't work nor does any diet. its about lifestyle. there are certain foods to AVOID always. no such thing as a treat .. back in the old days they used to have 1 cheat day, but the cheat foods of the 70's are the typical american diet of today so it doesn't fly anymore

and those of us that cycle will go hypo after a hard workout without carbs... many AAS will drop blood sugar quicker during workouts.

Carbs build size? Carbs help you bulk up? DEFINE SIZE AND BULKING UP, i want to know what you mean by that statement, if its building muscle its WORNG, if its getting fat and bloated its right.. i used to think exactly and i mean exactly like you do. i was going on these bulks eating what you said brown rice, sweet potatoe, yams, oats chicken breast, egg white, lean meats veggies and clean whiole foods, but i got to 30%bf eating that way, my calories was the same everyday.. Right now im eating the same foods but in smaller amounts and cycling carbs, and doing cardio everyday, right now im 9% bf natty.. Dont get me wrong carbs are very imporatnt for sparing muscle mass but they are not necessary and abusing them is asking for trouble.

Endurance athlestes burn all the calories they eat, its a no brainer they are skinny, their sport is different than bodybuilding their goal is to keep their fuel tank full, thats why they eat lots of carbs.
Without carb cycling i would not be able to get to were i am, like rickrok said poeple responds different to macros than others, im very sensitive to carbs and if i eat them in a constant manner i get fat bloated, and nasty looking.
Also im not cutting carbs completely i eat carbs everyday from veggies but i cycle starchy carbs like yams, sweet potatoes brown rice, i put the starchy carbs on workouts days and green veggies on off days where i do 45min cardio.. Its a bodyrecomp, its not a bulk cut thing. and its a lifestyle that anyone can adapt to without cutting any micro and macro nutrient out of their diet

 

[Anthony1980]

I try to eat more carbs on workout days and eat as little carbs as possible on off days. That's working for me.

Sent from my DROID X2 using EliteFitness

 

[stevesmi]

Carbs build size? Carbs help you bulk up? DEFINE SIZE AND BULKING UP, i want to know what you mean by that statement, if its building muscle its WORNG, if its getting fat and bloated its right.. i used to think exactly and i mean exactly like you do. i was going on these bulks eating what you said brown rice, sweet potatoe, yams, oats chicken breast, egg white, lean meats veggies and clean whiole foods, but i got to 30%bf eating that way, my calories was the same everyday.. Right now im eating the same foods but in smaller amounts and cycling carbs, and doing cardio everyday, right now im 9% bf natty.. Dont get me wrong carbs are very imporatnt for sparing muscle mass but they are not necessary and abusing them is asking for trouble.

Endurance athlestes burn all the calories they eat, its a no brainer they are skinny, their sport is different than bodybuilding their goal is to keep their fuel tank full, thats why they eat lots of carbs.
Without carb cycling i would not be able to get to were i am, like rickrok said poeple responds different to macros than others, im very sensitive to carbs and if i eat them in a constant manner i get fat bloated, and nasty looking.
Also im not cutting carbs completely i eat carbs everyday from veggies but i cycle starchy carbs like yams, sweet potatoes brown rice, i put the starchy carbs on workouts days and green veggies on off days where i do 45min cardio.. Its a bodyrecomp, its not a bulk cut thing. and its a lifestyle that anyone can adapt to without cutting any micro and macro nutrient out of their diet

you won't get fat on sweet potato's and brown rice bro. don't fear carbs.

and I was 6% body fat naturally too when i was younger too, not hard to accomplish .. once you get older though mass becomes important. not being fat lol, but good solid muscle mass. thats what lands the pussy

 

[MattJS]

Lol @ lands the pussy

Well my take is as follows, I'm on a cut right now and using a carb cycling method... At the start my bodyfat was in the high teens so I really didn't have to do anything too complicated to drop the first 25lbs... Just went low carb moderate-high protein moderate fats with a refeed day once every two weeks, now that my bodyfat is in single digits I'm no longer comfortable dropping weight that quickly because I don't want to lose performance, so I have one 250g day, a couple 150g days, a couple of 100g days and a couple of 50g days, I don't ramp up and down because I prefer to eat my carbs around workouts and my job, this has slowed down my weight loss but its helping me hold onto muscle... I'm done with bulk and cut, I like Rick's idea, stay lean with slow and steady gains...

 

[Jack steel]

That is the basic principle of the Keto diet, which can be very effective for fat loss. Probably not the best diet if building muscle is your primary goal however

What Rick said... I'm doing this now yet still adding lean mass (epi-strong). I've dropped a BF% point and added a pound to my weight. So yes, definitely if you wanna burn fat, but add in epi if you want some real lean gains.