If you do bodybuilding or fitness, chances are that you have heard these two words before: "carb cycling". The problem is that most people have no idea what it means, how to do it, and what it would be good for. In this article you can read an explanation of carb cycling in simple language.
Some people remove carbohydrates completely from their diet, which is very unwise. You teach your body, as it were, that carbohydrates are bad, which makes your body extra sensitive to carbohydrates.What I am going to describe in this article is something I have been doing for almost a year and which has given me absolutely great results. This does not mean that it will be so great for everyone. I advise everyone to test the method to find out if it will work just as well for you. And, you don't have to remove carbohydrates from your diet if this works. Carbohydrates are important and we need them to function properly.
What is carb cycling?
Here is a brief explanation: A cyclic ketogenic diet (or carb cycling) is a low-carbohydrate diet with intervening periods of high or moderate carbohydrate consumption. This is a diet that is generally used by bodybuilders and fitness athletes to maximize fat loss while continuing to train at a high intensity level.
How does it work?
High carbohydrate days, when you eat more carbohydrates, help to promote muscle growth and low carbohydrate days, when you eat less carbohydrates, help to minimize fat increase and even promote fat loss. The focus is on carbohydrates instead of proteins or fats because their effect seems to have more influence on the composition of our body (muscle / fat ratio) and what it looks like.
High carbohydrate days
- Stimulate an insulin response that transports nutrients into your muscle cells, causing them to grow
- Replenish glycogen stores that fuel your muscles
- Ensure that you feel good and energetic
Low carbohydrate days
- Promote fat loss by allowing your body to burn fat for energy (instead of the carbohydrate sugar it would normally get)
- Ensure that your body remains more sensitive to insulin, and improve the muscle-building response of your body
Good carbohydrates
- Sweet (red) potato (sweet potato)
- Oatmeal
- Quinoa
- Fruit (especially berries)
- Reform brown rice (long-boiling)
- Wheat germ / Essener / Ezekiel bread
Comments
-> You can try to just do a low carbohydrate day and then a high carbohydrate day and so on
-> If you eat less carbohydrates, you can increase the amount of protein and slightly increase the fat intake. If fat loss is your goal, don't forget to monitor your calories because you don't want to exceed your recommended daily calorie intake.
-> Don't forget to take your amino's (BCAAs, glutamine, etc), especially on low carbohydrate days.Amino acids help to maintain muscle mass.
-> Count all carbohydrates, even from yogurt ... that means, learn how to read nutritional information on labels.
-> Choose carbohydrates with a low GI ( glycemic index ) such as oatmeal, sweet potatoes and long-boiled brown rice.
Characteristics of carb cycling
- Carb cycling is different because it does not limit any macro nutrient (carbohydrates, proteins, fats).
- You should not expect that you will lose more weight due to carb cycling. However, carb cycling gives you a greater chance of maintaining your muscles while losing your body fat.
- The advantage of carb cycling over other diets is that it has both physiological and psychological benefits. It not only keeps fat reduction moving, but it satisfies the mind - probably the most important part of any diet.
Examples of carb cycling:
- low, low, moderate, low, high - repeat
- low, moderate, low, high - repeat
- low, high, low, high, low - repeat
- My carb cycling routine: 51g / 126g / 51g / 184g
I hope this article helped clarify the explanation of carb-cycling!
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