Carb cycling???

[WeaponX]

Can someone explain this to me I don't understand what it is all about or how it works.

[Bluenose]

I think it is covered in the 13 weeks fat burning diet.

Jeff.

[Gibbster]

Diets such as the Fat Burning Diet by Jay Robb advocate Carb Cycling.

You eat low to medium carbs for 3 days and carb up for one meal on the 3rd night. It's supposed to work very well and I may try it one day.

I'm not sure if you would classify the Anabolic Diet as a Carb Cycling diet.

[Fireproof]

Basically in the absence of carbs, our bodies will turn towards fat for fuel. This promotes utilization of stored fat and helps in fat loss. However, if we go too long in this state (extremely low carbs), our bodies will also utilize stored proteins (which make up our muscle) as well. This is bad! That's why Atkins and such are terrible for an athlete.

BUT - bodybuilders have been able to take advantage of the fat-utilization that occurs with low carbs, without the disadvantage of losing lean mass, by cycling carbs. What this entails is cycle low, medium, high carb days into your diet. The higher carb days being their to replenish glycogen, boost metabolism, etc.

I've seen various carb cycling plans used. One is frequently utilized by Beverly International and involves eating very low carbs every day, but having two high-carb days each week. These are typically on Monday and Thursday, and Beverly suggests they be done with a single "carb-up" meal. However, the single meal is probably not the best approach.

Others have successfully used cycles of low and high days (like low, low, high, low, low, high). And still others like the ramping cycles (low, medium, high, low, medium, high) etc.

[WeaponX]

Fireproof: Have you ever given it a shot to lean up for competition? Which approach do you think works best?

[Venom]

/forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Great pic.

And yes, carb cycling is a great technique. Getting ready to do one myself. /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Fireproof]

[ QUOTE ]
/forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Great pic.

And yes, carb cycling is a great technique. Getting ready to do one myself. /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks Venom!! Hey - can you post the rough overview of your particular cycle? I may tweak mine to match. Are youd doing low, med, high days? How many, what order, etc?

Thanks in advance!

[Venom]

I have not started it yet, but I am either going to do 3 or 4 low carb days. I am also still having a large (although that term is relative) amount of carbs on my low carb days still (about 200) but that is a lot less than what I was having on average previously. I have tested several different carb cycles, so this is just another experiment, to see which one works best for me. But I am thinking of going:

Low
Low
High
Low
High
Low
Medium

[Fireproof]

Wow - that's a lot of carbs for a low carb day. What is the delta between your low day and high day, out of curiosity?

Your cycle looks good. I'm bringing my carbs lower on low carb days so I'm not planning on having more than 3 low carb days in a week. But, as you said, it's another personal experiment. I'll see how I look and feel after a couple cycles through it and adjust from there.

Averaged out over the week, my P/C/F ratio is about 47/25/28 since I'm cutting.

[BigJim]

How beneficial is carb cycling on a bulk?

[WeaponX]

Fireproof or Venom: I have decided I want to get really lean which is going to require the loss of probably 10 to 15 pounds.

Is there a place where I can get some layouts for meals on low carb days and high carb days? I imagine you still want to avoid simple sugars even on high carb days, right?

[Venom]

[ QUOTE ]
How beneficial is carb cycling on a bulk?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would save it for cuts.

[ QUOTE ]
Wow - that's a lot of carbs for a low carb day. What is the delta between your low day and high day, out of curiosity?



[/ QUOTE ]

Probably 350-400 on high days.

[ QUOTE ]
Your cycle looks good. I'm bringing my carbs lower on low carb days so I'm not planning on having more than 3 low carb days in a week. But, as you said, it's another personal experiment. I'll see how I look and feel after a couple cycles through it and adjust from there.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds good; I will also be decreasing my carbs in coming weeks.

[ QUOTE ]
Is there a place where I can get some layouts for meals on low carb days and high carb days? I imagine you still want to avoid simple sugars even on high carb days, right?


[/ QUOTE ]

Check out FP'S journal; you will see several samples within.

But treat it like any other diet; the cleaner you stay the better. But on high carb days--if you need some variety to enhance hunger--it is fine to add some bread among other moderatly low GI carbs. However, as you get deep into your cut, it would help to cut that out and stick with a bit slower burning carbs such as sweet potatoes, oatmeal, beans, etc. You will also want to go low fat on your high carb days, and visa versa on your low carb days.

[WeaponX]

Thanks Venom, I am going to do some serious reading on FP's journal this weekend.

[LegendaryWatcher]

I'm beginning the low, low, high approach to carb cycling today. Have all my diets worked out and in order and I am ready for this.

[i3ighead]

I have never tried carb cyling, but is it bad to all of a sudden jump into it and change my diet? If so, then how should a beginner go about it. I am at the end of week 1 of my cut by the way.

[President Wilson]

[ QUOTE ]
I have never tried carb cyling, but is it bad to all of a sudden jump into it and change my diet? If so, then how should a beginner go about it. I am at the end of week 1 of my cut by the way.

[/ QUOTE ]

Venoms protocol is excellent and will keep Leptin levels from plomiting

[X-Factor]

This is SO cool....I can't even make sure I get my macros right, i'm cuttin and just eatin about 300g of protein, about 1.5 cups of oats, a high fibre tortilla, (whole wheat bread if it at work, as it is hard otherwise). 2 TBSP of flax, 1.5 TBSP of natty peanut butter. I do cardio like 4 times a week, so far it's wokred, and I've gained strength /forum/images/graemlins/confused.gif (even trainin twice a day) and leaned out a bit. I'm wondering when I'll have to take this more serious though....Probably after I get back from N.Ireland....

[Body-Of-The-Gods]

I have done it in the past but I have done it a little different then you all have but this worked for me and it took a while of trial and error but that what grad school is for.

Mon- low
tues-low
wed- low
thur-low
fri- med
sat-high
sun-high until 8:00pm after just what I get from my shakes and fibrous carbs

On low days only fibrous carbs green beans, leafy green, broccoli, asparagus, green peppers, celery, cucumbers

On medium day- Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, Sweet Potatoes

On High day I just up my intake of the medium days

My protein intake on low day stays the same 40-50grams of a mix Casein and Whey Protein then the the flaxseed oil/safflower oil mix doubles 2 tblsp since my carbs are low i use this combo to keep my energy levels up until my medium and high days. It worked at the last show that I did worked so well the judge ask me what I did different this time around and I told them they were all impressed with the study and background that I used to get to about 4.0%bf for the show.

I will post the articles and my thesis paper if you like. Let me know and I will scan them and post it.




Sean /forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[X-Factor]

What are you takin bro?

[i3ighead]

[ QUOTE ]
I have done it in the past but I have done it a little different then you all have but this worked for me and it took a while of trial and error but that what grad school is for.

Mon- low
tues-low
wed- low
thur-low
fri- med
sat-high
sun-high until 8:00pm after just what I get from my shakes and fibrous carbs

On low days only fibrous carbs green beans, leafy green, broccoli, asparagus, green peppers, celery, cucumbers

On medium day- Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, Sweet Potatoes

On High day I just up my intake of the medium days

My protein intake on low day stays the same 40-50grams of a mix Casein and Whey Protein then the the flaxseed oil/safflower oil mix doubles 2 tblsp since my carbs are low i use this combo to keep my energy levels up until my medium and high days. It worked at the last show that I did worked so well the judge ask me what I did different this time around and I told them they were all impressed with the study and background that I used to get to about 4.0%bf for the show.

I will post the articles and my thesis paper if you like. Let me know and I will scan them and post it.




Sean /forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I would love to see a sample of your high, low, and med meals.

[i3ighead]

[ QUOTE ]
I have done it in the past but I have done it a little different then you all have but this worked for me and it took a while of trial and error but that what grad school is for.

Mon- low
tues-low
wed- low
thur-low
fri- med
sat-high
sun-high until 8:00pm after just what I get from my shakes and fibrous carbs

On low days only fibrous carbs green beans, leafy green, broccoli, asparagus, green peppers, celery, cucumbers

On medium day- Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, Sweet Potatoes

On High day I just up my intake of the medium days

My protein intake on low day stays the same 40-50grams of a mix Casein and Whey Protein then the the flaxseed oil/safflower oil mix doubles 2 tblsp since my carbs are low i use this combo to keep my energy levels up until my medium and high days. It worked at the last show that I did worked so well the judge ask me what I did different this time around and I told them they were all impressed with the study and background that I used to get to about 4.0%bf for the show.

I will post the articles and my thesis paper if you like. Let me know and I will scan them and post it.




Sean /forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

If you double your fat intake on low carb days, do you drop it on high carb days? I assume you keep the fat intake the same on med days.

[Dmitri]

I am guessing so.