Average people do average things and the average person does the same old dance when they are trying to lose fat. They eat dramatically less and exercise dramatically more.
Sounds good on the surface right?The problem with this tremendously flawed game plan is that you essentially end up sacrificing your total physique just to see the scale move down.
I have seen many a bodybuilder drop down for a contest only to sacrifice precious muscle and size. When they show up on stage they look depleted and flat.
While there is nothing wrong with losing excess weight to get cut up, it all comes down to how you do it.
Consuming a low-calorie diet and exercising excessively leads to a smaller, weaker, and less muscular version of yourself.
Yes, you will have lost weight but now you look like Francisco Flaccid and it just doesn’t have to be that way.
With everything in life, there is a solution. Whether you are an athlete, a bodybuilder, or an office worker the best way to lose fat, protect your performance, and retain your hard-earned muscle is to cycle your carbohydrate amounts based on your activity for the day.
How does Carb Cycling work ?
Carbohydrate cycling is the practice of lowering carbohydrates for a period of time, (three days is often used) and then bringing your carbs back up for a day. This is done as opposed to just keeping your carbohydrate ratios the same day in, day out.
For the sake of simplicity we’ll assume that we need 3000 calories a day for maintenance at a weight of 200 lbs. If we want to lose fat, we obviously should create a calorie deficit. A deficit of 500 to 800 calories a day would be a good start.
For maintaining muscle mass it’s recommended to keep our protein intake high or 1.3 to 2 grams of protein per pound. This means that we should consume 260 to 400 grams of protein a day.
We will place our high and moderate carb days on workout days, “no carb” days on rest and cardio days.
– Using an upper/lower split the carb cyclyng method would look like this:
1.Monday – Upper body (moderate carb day)
2.Tuesday – rest/cardio (“no carb” day)
3.Wednesday – Lower body (moderate carb day)
4.Thursday – rest/cardio (“no carb” day)
5.Friday – Upper body (high carb day – refeed)
6.Saturday – rest/cardio (moderate carb day)
7.Sunday – rest (“no carb” day)
Low carb day:
Protein 270 g (1080 calories)
Carbs 50 g (200 calories)
Fat 80 g (630 calories)
total: 2000 calories
Moderate carb day
Protein 270 g (1080 calories)
Carbs 200 g (800 calories)
Fat 70 g (630 calories)
total: 2510 calories
High carb day – refeed day
Protein 270 g (1080 calories)
Carbs 450 g (1800 calories)
Fat 70 g (630 calories)
total: 3510 calories