That's very helpful info, thanks.

 

Im no no expert by any means but I'd say its body fat not extra water I'm carrying.

 

You say temporarily reduce the carbs to reach my goals etc, is that just for a cutting phase or is it a problem to be on a re-feed day type of meal plan for a long period of time also?

Well dried oats would be your complex carbs prior to a workout but they would not 100% suffice as a post workout nor would a banana. Ideally, you should have a protein shake post workout to elicit an insulin response and further trigger protein synthesis. Your post workout meal should consist of a simple carb such as white rice to then normalise blood sugar levels which will be depleted from your workout. If staying lean is your goal then your first meal should be pure protein and fat as this dictates how your body will utilise carbs throughout the day. If meal 1 is your pre-workout meal then still it should have no carbs.

 

There are numerous ways in which re-feed days can be utilised. My favourite way is to double your daily carb intake on leg day then the next day have zero carb (not including fibrous carbs eg green vegetables). Please note however, that I would only implement re-feeds for males inbetween 10 - 12% BF.

If you're already relatively low carb (which you are) it'd be just for a few days to a week to peak for a performance or show or w/e. It's a dicey thing to go low carb because you'll also start to deplete your muscle glycogen stores to the point where you'll lose muscular fullness (not necessarily actually losing muscle, they will just temporarily reduce in size due to lack of glycogen).

I'm not too much of a fan of carb cycling, but I will also have full disclosure and say that I'm fairly ignorant to the practices of true carb cycling. My background information and research that I've looked at keeps me on the path that people are really hypersensative (pyschologically, not physiologically) to carbs and are severly overthinking things a lot of the time.

So to answer, my carb philosophy / recommendations would be outside of true carb cycling practices, IE: Choose one or the other

Totally agree with what you are saying. I do construct my meal plans the way you said. Egg whites and almonds for breakfast. I have 1-scoop of protein in my shake with .5 banana and .3 c dry oats with 8oz of milk before and after workout. I do bump up the protein post workout to 1.5 scoops and plain greek yogurt.

 

Don't you think a banana is good enough for for simple carb?

 

You helped me with my last workout and I was hoping you good help me again. I posted a thread and my gains thus far after 3-months on my board. Thanks for your help.

I agree. Everyone's metabolism and insulin sensitivity differs. For myself, I have found keeping carbs moderate (150g - 170g) and evenly distributed throughout the day with one re-feed day a week where I bump carbs up to about 250g works best. I get very flat and lack sufficient energy when doing low/no carbs. Carb cycling makes sense but my personal feeling is that you should train the body to use a reduced, consistent level of carbs and supplement energy needs with fats on a daily basis. It will definitely take much longer to lose body fat but I think it is more muscle sparing. For show preparation, more drastic carb depletion and cardio protocols should be used.

 

John

If you have a carb re-feed day and typically double your carb intake do you have to lower your other macros such as fat/protein in order to keep the daily kcals at there normal daily level, in my case 2500 kcals or am I supposed to increase the carbs so that it raises the kcals in order to keep the protein and fats the same for that day? Can somebody please confirm.

 

Finally what are the best foods to eat on the re-feed day to bump up the carbs? Sweet potatoes, white rice? Again if someone could please confirm.

 

Thanks guys.

 

Binny

Daniel, Im setting up a food plan based on your idea of a re-feed day and no carbs the following day. If I have no carbs the day after how do I work my other macros? Which area gets what?

 

Thanks

Hi guys

 

A question for the nutritionists amount us.

 

How important are carbs for building muscle mass?

 

Ive been following a strict meal plan for a few month now and I'm getting good results, but I've also noticed I'm putting on excess fat I don't obviously want. I've spent a very long time researching foods etc and getting my macros spot on to achieve my ideal goal mainly with the help of Scott's BMI calculator and meal plan video etc. For me I just so happen to very similar to Scott and his age/body type/size etc and like him I'm trying to clean bulk. My macros are 2500 kcals, 250g protein, 150g carbs, 100g fat.

 

My question is I'm lucky in the sense that I can consume little or a lot of carbs and still feel equally as energetic so as a result of not struggling on a low carb diet and with the excess fat I'm slowing putting on would it be a good idea to slightly lower my carb and fat intake further to say 120g/80g respectively, and as a result raise my protein intake to make up the kcal numbers?

 

My goal is mass, but also to stay lean all year round. I know to achieve both is kind of contradictory and a very hard and slow progress but time is on my side and both are equally importantly as each other. Although size is getting there the lean part is slowly fading away.

 

Thoughts guys?

 

Thanks

 

Binny

Well dried oats would be your complex carbs prior to a workout but they would not 100% suffice as a post workout nor would a banana. Ideally, you should have a protein shake post workout to elicit an insulin response and further trigger protein synthesis. Your post workout meal should consist of a simple carb such as white rice to then normalise blood sugar levels which will be depleted from your workout. If staying lean is your goal then your first meal should be pure protein and fat as this dictates how your body will utilise carbs throughout the day. If meal 1 is your pre-workout meal then still it should have no carbs.

 

There are numerous ways in which re-feed days can be utilised. My favourite way is to double your daily carb intake on leg day then the next day have zero carb (not including fibrous carbs eg green vegetables). Please note however, that I would only implement re-feeds for males inbetween 10 - 12% BF.

Guys please please please don't take this the wrong way but it seems I'm getting many different approaches to the problem/questions I have, and the answers differ so much I don't know what's what! Is there really various way of achieving what Im looking for?

 

I really am SUPER greatful for every little bit of info that people give me. I am completely uneducated when it comes to this sort of thing and for people to take time out of their day to help others like me, for free, I really am very greatful. The problem is one person says i should do this, the next says I should do that and the answers I get are so 'final' its hard to know which ones to try to understand and follow. Are there really various ways of getting the desired results? I'm more confused now than I was before I asked the question!!

 

More fats, less fats. Carb cycling, re-feed days. Zero carbs on non training days etc... AAARRRHHH!!!

 

Please forgive me if I've offended anyone, I really didn't set out to do that, I'm just trying to get to the bottom of a really complicated subject!!!

Hi Binny,

 

straight on your question: carbs are not must have for building mass. BUT, they are very important for your vital functions, for your energy for workouts and they are most "cheap" energy source to build up muscles. Of course, muscles are built from proteins, but "workers" needs energy also and this is most reasonable from carbs.

Consume complex carbs: brown rice, potato, pasta,...

 

Regarding on your macros and problem of putting excess fat. I would lower your fats by 20-25g on 75-80g per day and add 50g carbs. Your fats are too high for specified daily calories and your needs.

 

@Daniel: fructose is simple carbohydrate and therefore able to be released in blood without any metabolism and used as direct fuel right after consumption. Livers, like muscles, stores only glycogen, what is complex form of carbs. When there is energy need, glycogen is released from storehouse, broken down in glucose and used as fuel.

 

BR, Gregor

I'm really confused as to why people think carbohydrates aren't important for building strength and size. There's a tremendous amount of misinformation and bodybuilding dogma / paranoia flying around on this subject and it needs to be cleared up.