Many people want to take shortcuts in shaping his body.
They want to gain weight by building muscles but on the other side, they also want to get lean.
Usually, they want both of them to be achieved at the same time.
To be honest, it is difficult to be done and will not give maximum results.
It is better to be focused on building muscles first or get a lean body.
However, if you want to achieve them at the same time, I would suggest you carb cycling.
Does carb cycling work in building muscles and getting lean?
Let us find the answer.
If you want to boost muscle growth but still want to look slim, it would not hurt to follow some of the bodybuilders' strategies in managing their nutrients.
The strategy is to combine the task of building new muscles by increasing body fat levels significantly or commonly known as the bulking stage.
Once it is considered enough, then do diet or control the fat intake.
At this stage, you only need to build pure muscle without adding excess body fat as in the early stage.
Thus the muscles that have been obtained can stay shredded, so it looks more muscular but lean.
The strategy is ideal for those who want to compete in the bodybuilding stage, although it looks a bit wet during offseason.
What should I do then?
You actually have to learn the strategy of using short cycle (mini-cycles) growth and cutting.
That is, by implementing the carb-cycling strategy, you will cut a few carbohydrates almost every day on a weekly basis.
Then shocks it in one day that you have decided before to restore the body's glycogen deposits.
The goal is to keep getting the maximum muscle growth but you will still lean and have dry muscles.
Unlike most other diet programs (out there), this program is thoroughly designed about food and must be cooked and prepared daily.
The programs called The Cut, The Bump, and The Blitz.
The Cut to lower carb intake
The cut-carbs cycle can be done for five days a week.
There is only about 0.5 grams/weight(kg) carbohydrate can be consumed which it should not be less or excessive.
If it is less, you are definitely going to lose the energy source.
Then, if it is excessive, you are definitely hampering the process of burning body fat.
Thus, it is recommended for the consumption of carbohydrates should be in the form of vegetables and fruits, or foods that contain glucose or dextrose.
Carbohydrates should be consumed before and after exercise.
The main goal is to keep carbohydrate intake low every day but still can support muscle growth and recovery it.
Therefore, it is important to meet the needs of glucose even in cut-carbs conditions, because too little glucose in the body will interfere with the quality of exercise.
Do not forget to also consume amino acids and other essential nutrients to make sure that the progress of muscle building runs well.
Daily Carb Breakdown
For example, a bodybuilder weighing about 90 kg, at least should consume carbohydrates about 45 grams/day.
He also requires about 10 grams of glucose before exercise and 10 grams again after exercise.
Then, the remaining 25 grams come from fruits or vegetables.
For the record, the average piece of orange, apple, or peach already contains about 15-20 grams of carbohydrates.
Lean-Muscle Factors
Eat at least 1-1.5 grams/weight(kg) protein during cut-carbs day.
Then, the rest is the calories which come from fat.
The goal is to ensure that muscle growth condition is still running.
The Bump to increase carb intake
The next phase is bump-carbs, which increases the intake of more carbohydrates from the previous phase to normal (moderate).
The reason is to make the body or muscle not decrease, due to undergo the period of prolonged cut-carbs.
A low carbohydrate diet over a long period of time will decrease the level of leptin which in turn lowers the body's metabolic rate.
If it is so, then you will really begin to lose or shrink muscle mass.
Therefore, as a preventive action, you should fulfill adequate intake of carbohydrate needs, at least 2 grams/weight(kg) one day a week.
For example, suppose we specify Wednesday as bump-carbs day, then it should look like an increase in power during exercise in the gym a day later.
So when you are on Thursday, you should train the large muscle groups or train the leg muscles.
The Blitz to build muscle and get lean
Build Muscle or grow muscle is the main goal while looking lean is an addition or side goal.
That's why blitz-carbs day comes to grant from the above two goals.
This is the time for you to refill your glycogen saving in the body, revitalize your metabolism and provide the necessary muscle-building ingredients again.
When blitz-carbs day comes, you will consume far more amount of carbohydrates, which is about 4 grams/weight(kg) carbohydrate.
You may arrange that Saturday is the high-carb day, because of the most bodybuilder take the weekend as a cheat meal event.
At this phase, you can consume carbohydrates and calories in greater quantities than the previous phases.
All the carbo and calories eaten more than usual will make the body passionate and vigorous for the next exercise.
Thus, on the next exercise, either on Sunday or Monday, you will reap the benefits and the ease to focus on training the big muscle body parts like the back or leg muscles.
Daily Carb Breakdown
At the stage or at blitz-carbs day, you should consume about 360 grams of carbohydrates once a week (on that Saturday or weekend).
As the suggestion, carbohydrate consumption is as follows.
Five portions of fruits and vegetables (equivalent to about 75 grams of carbohydrates).
Then, 100 grams of other carbohydrates are in the form of sugar that should be consumed before and after each exercise.
Next, the rest of about 110 grams of carbohydrates are consumed equally while resting throughout the day.
Begin the day with a focus on slow-absorbing carbs such as brown rice, oatmeal, and yams or any other form of carbo such as pasta, bread and so on.
Also, try to constantly consume about 100-200 grams of carbohydrates before dinner.
At the last, in the case of the balance of carbohydrates; it can be consumed in any form that you like as a dinner or a night snack.
Lean-Muscle Factors
Try to consume at least 1 grams/weight (kg) protein, but do not be exaggerated to calculate whether it is one gram or not.
Make sure you get the recommended amount of carbohydrate and calories, in order to assist in regulating muscle growth for the next day.
Supplying glycogen is also very important to increase the muscle size.
To be resumed
Based on all the above explanations, the thing that should be underlined is:
Choose the best fat source from the food consumed during the cut-carbs day.
Then, always make sure that you have consumed a lot or the adequacy of protein while undergoing either The Cut, The Bump, or The Blitz program.
The program or plan above is based on the example of a 90 kg bodybuilder who wants to increase muscle mass but also want to keep lean.
Thus, you may have your own plan based on your weight.
Here are some basic rules in running this program. Good luck!
Cut Carbs Day
- Carb: 1/2 (gr) X your weight (kg)
- Calories: 16-17 (cal) X your weight (kg)
Bump Carbs Day
- Carb (gr): 2 (gr) X your weight (kg)
- Calories: 22 (cal) X your weight (kg)
Blitz Carbs Day
- Carb (gr): 4 (gr) X your weight (kg)
- Calories: 22-27 (cal) X your weight (kg)
The table below is the example of carb cycling programs for a week.
That's all about the article Does Carb Cycling Work in Building Muscles and Getting Lean?. Please share this article by using these buttons below and follow www.thedietnotes.com to get the latest article.
Real clean website, thanks for this post.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I appreciate that.
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