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starskulker
Active member
Thanks for the input everyone. Just deciding on how I want to run my diet and what will workout best with my next cutting cycle.
Is it possible to gain muscle without carbs?
- Thread starter starskulker
- Start date
Yes you can try to manipulate your carbs around your workout but it's still not a good idea for people who train. You do better with glucose to feed your cells. As Omega alluded to... Glucose is the only food your brain eats. You'll die without it. Well first you'll go into a coma but that's besides the point. Your body will take the protein you eat and turn it into glucose if you don't eat carbs. Yes it will pull fat out as well but why would you want to have your body converting your protein into carbs? Just use Glucorell and eat the carbs.
Star I'd listen to all the avdice here as it's all on the money. You look like you have a good amount of size on you, if you were to train say back or legs on 40 grams of carbs, by your 3rd set you'd feel like you'd rather be dead. Carb cycling is something to try, but if you thrive on structure, just limit your carbs to 150-200 grams when cutting, while monitoring your overall caloric intake and keeping it 500 below maintenance. You want your protein high (obviously), but at the end of the day it's still cals burned versus cals ingested (and BMR too). As Ulter said, these extreme atkins type diets are simply not suited for weight training. Just eat moderate amounts of clean carbs and if you want a little edge, no carbs after 4-5 pm.
Just to give you an idea, many guys I've competed against and who I know from here and there actually use insulin all throughout their pre-contest cycles up to a few days out from the show (I personally do not). So this obviously means they're eating a good amount of carbs as well. Biochemically, excess insulin is the exact opposite of what you want for fat loss, but obiously (in addition to other compounds) it is not the enemy if your diet is on and most importantly, you know your body. Another personal example I can share (I know you probably could care less but i'll tell it anyway lol), is that a while ago I started drinking a carb drink during my most intense workouts (for me that's back day and leg day). It's 440 cals of just pure carbs, 110 g if I'm not mistaken. For years I never touched these things as I thought they were just total crap and would make you fat because of all teh carbs. However, this mix only has 30 grams of simple sugars, which for me at this stage and size is pretty much nothing. The remaining 80 grams are more complex. Long story short, my 20+ set back and leg workouts are much more manageable now, and I haven't gained an ounce of fat. Basically the harder you can train, the more you will turn your body into a fat burning furnace for hours and hours post-workout.
Sooooo, the moral of the story is that carbs are not the enemy, even in a cut. Just don't go all Jay Cutler on us and "diet" on 600 grams of carbs..
Just to give you an idea, many guys I've competed against and who I know from here and there actually use insulin all throughout their pre-contest cycles up to a few days out from the show (I personally do not). So this obviously means they're eating a good amount of carbs as well. Biochemically, excess insulin is the exact opposite of what you want for fat loss, but obiously (in addition to other compounds) it is not the enemy if your diet is on and most importantly, you know your body. Another personal example I can share (I know you probably could care less but i'll tell it anyway lol), is that a while ago I started drinking a carb drink during my most intense workouts (for me that's back day and leg day). It's 440 cals of just pure carbs, 110 g if I'm not mistaken. For years I never touched these things as I thought they were just total crap and would make you fat because of all teh carbs. However, this mix only has 30 grams of simple sugars, which for me at this stage and size is pretty much nothing. The remaining 80 grams are more complex. Long story short, my 20+ set back and leg workouts are much more manageable now, and I haven't gained an ounce of fat. Basically the harder you can train, the more you will turn your body into a fat burning furnace for hours and hours post-workout.
Sooooo, the moral of the story is that carbs are not the enemy, even in a cut. Just don't go all Jay Cutler on us and "diet" on 600 grams of carbs..
starskulker
Active member
Well looks like you have all pretty muc made up my mind for me. I will nix the Low/No carb diet and just do a clean no frills diet. I need my strength and energy levels for my workouts and was just looking at a quick way to drop down another 10 pounds to be below 200. Starting weight was 290.
You will definitely notice an increase in muscularity, but it isn't new muscle growth. It has been there the whole time, with the dehydration and lower body fat, everything is more visible. Dump 600g's of protein in you a day to create a more favorable environment for muscle growth.
Great question.
I have good muscle mass but allot of fat to shed. Iam 5'4" weighing 190 and iam targeting 180lbs by losing 25lbs of fat and gaining 10-15lbs of muscle throughout my cycle. So Iam actually starting my cycle with eq and test and doing a verly low carb diet for the next 2 weeks Iam talking under 10g per day. For week three I will start introducing carbs (vegetable type carbs no rice, pasta, white bread whole grain is good) to my diet on a pyrimid scale from 30 bumping it upto 200g by the end of the week. So by the time that the test starts kicking in (week 3-4) I would have lost about 16-20lbs mostly fat but I am sure some muscle. But I will gain the muscle all back and more in weeks 4-16.
I know this will work for me cause I know my body. I have lost upto 20lbs in two weeks using the atkins no carb diets. By the end of the 2 weeks I feel like shit all day long and in the gym I got to take it light cause I even get light headed. So no cardio just lift and decent rest between reps.
Good luck
IMHO the fastest way to lose fat and get shredded is a two week carb starvation diet.
I have good muscle mass but allot of fat to shed. Iam 5'4" weighing 190 and iam targeting 180lbs by losing 25lbs of fat and gaining 10-15lbs of muscle throughout my cycle. So Iam actually starting my cycle with eq and test and doing a verly low carb diet for the next 2 weeks Iam talking under 10g per day. For week three I will start introducing carbs (vegetable type carbs no rice, pasta, white bread whole grain is good) to my diet on a pyrimid scale from 30 bumping it upto 200g by the end of the week. So by the time that the test starts kicking in (week 3-4) I would have lost about 16-20lbs mostly fat but I am sure some muscle. But I will gain the muscle all back and more in weeks 4-16.
I know this will work for me cause I know my body. I have lost upto 20lbs in two weeks using the atkins no carb diets. By the end of the 2 weeks I feel like shit all day long and in the gym I got to take it light cause I even get light headed. So no cardio just lift and decent rest between reps.
Good luck
IMHO the fastest way to lose fat and get shredded is a two week carb starvation diet.
PuraVida said:
Only caveat to that, as many Atkins diet failures will attest to, is that when you drop your carbs so drastically and then suddenly re-introduce them with fats (i.e. go off that particular ketogenic diet) your adipose cells are like magnets for fatty acids and you can an will put on a disgusting amouny of weight in a short time (much of which will be water at first). When I deplete for a show, it's only the last 2-3 weeks, and that's usually no lower than 150 g carbs for 4 days, then the 5th day is 600-800. The last week I may eat close to zero carbs for 4 days then carb up 2-3 days before the show, but that's very risky. Any crash dieting like that usually leads to disaster on stage. I suppose if you need to go to a function and you hve a tux that you dont fit into, a 2 weeks atkins diet will drop some excess water and a little fat off of you. But as Ulter and many others have stated, you CAN NOT train on such low carbs, at least not effectively. Victor Martinez goes down to about 60 g carbs during the last few weeks before a show, and if you watch him train on that carb amount, he is week, flat, and looks like he wants to die. It works for him though apparently, although he hasnt been placing up to par as of late. As most competitors are finding out, carb cycling is good, but the severity of depletion is what makes or breaks you, and it's extremely hard to figure out what works best for your body. Only time and experience will fix this.
20ss02
New member
Hey bro....I think you and are in a very similar situation, and I wanted to chime in with some recent experience. I've been a lifter for many years, but professional obligations took me away for awhile. I continued to eat as though I was lifting, and I got fat. A year ago I was 286. By August I was down to 263, and I started restricting carbs in a similar fashion to what you're talking about. I also started Test Prop, EQ and Anavar. By the end of November I was down to 235, but my muscles were flat and I sacrificed some LBM. I came off the gear and increased my carbs, and my weight hovered for 3 weeks. On 12/16 I started some Test E and increased my carb intake, but added Glucorrel before all carb meals. I sit here today at a considerably leaner 224. Everything is better with carbs - my workouts, my progress and my overall physique.
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