New Guy Here - Hello!

PScarb

I have done most diets in the 18yrs i have been competing and by far the best approach is a carb cycling method over a 7 day period with 2 medium/1 high/3 low and 1 refeed day this has also worked for the guys and girls i coach....high fat diets do work but in my opinion is not a long term solution to weight loss....

Tall

Sorry to totally hijack your welcome thread muscle hacker.

One interesting thing I found out the other day which I wasn't aware of was this:

Low carbing and high fat places your body into ketosis where you burn fat.

Yet the metabolic pathways for converting carbs to fat are virtually non existant, the body needs fat in order to store fat.

I quite like 'keto' diets - althought to be honest I can stick to any diet fairly well - as I tend to feel fresh on a morning.

But its looking more and more as though carb cycling as Paul described, and as I have done previously (although I've had zero carb days as part of the cycle) is the best long term method for dieting IMHO.

Just need RazG to continue explaining exactly what happens now so I fully understand whats going on.

MuscleHacker

Nice to see some people recognizing the power of carb cycling.

Everyone is unique so the key is to test. Your weekly cycle obviously works great for you PSCarb whereas I can't handle that many carbs without laying down fat. I actually just recently cut my weekly carb-up from 36 hours to 30 hours. Anyway, keep promoting the good word, you look great.

No worries Tall, Ketosis usually occurs below 30 grams of carbs per day for most people. There's no need to be in ketosis for bulking so that's why I recommend 30 grams as the starting point during a bulking phase.

As far as the metabolic pathways of carbs to fat. The mechanism works like this

Carbs - Increased Blood Sugar - Insulin increased - Triglycerides - Adipose Tissue (body fat)


There is an excellent, ground-breaking book on the matter by Gary Taubes called The Diet Delusion. You might want to look into it and see what others are saying. It was called 'Good Calories Bad Calories' in the US if you want to google it.

As far as needing dietary fat to gain body fat, that was the belief 10 - 15 years ago. The dogma was, you need fat to gain fat. My belief is that the body needs carbohydrates to gain fat. Anyway, it's a big issue. Do what you feel works best for you.

PS, there's a good podcast on the matter here. If you get some time, have a listen mate.

Cheers,

Mark

Bodyworks

it's a commonly held belief that high carb diets are bad. surprise surprise i disagree. if you wanna gain muscle, i think high high carbs are the way to go. The human body adapts amazingly well to the fuel it's given, so almost polar opposites in diet strategies can both elicit the desired effect. the least commonly challenged diet regimen is a high protein content for bodybuilders. i'd argue that this is not a necessity.

Tall

Since we had that chat Shane, I've dropped my protein levels to < 300g per day, I average about 240g per day I think (1g / 1lb bw).

Managing my diet has certainly been easier - less shakes, more real food. Interestingly enough - less stomach bloat and less 'air croutons'

PScarb

i would say that as long as the intensity is high and you do sufficient cardio you do not need to do very low to zero carb days as a BB....

in 2005 when i first hooked up with my coach Harrold marillier my high day was 120g and my low day was 0g in my last show my high day was 450g and my low day was 180g and believe me when i say that i used to be very carb sensative so what i am trying to say that carb cycling is the way forward but if you are willing to do the hard work on the cardio side....

Tall

How much cardio do you do per week Paul?

PScarb

off season i do between 90-135 min whilst in pre-contest mode i do 450min per week.

Tall

7.5 hours heck - is that just walking Paul?

TinyTom

I dont think its really carbs that are the problem with fat more the effect of insulin and how sensitive you are to it.

A highly sensitive person such as a bber who competes can handle much more carbs than a normal trainer.

I read an interesting article on insulin in MD this month talking about the feedback mechanisms of Insulin and its effect on PKA and mTor.

Also interestingly I didnt know that obese people secrete an enzyme that actually inhibits fat burning which is why its so hard for them to shift weight initially and why so many of them fail to lose weight on conventioanl diets.

All interesting stuff.

Muscle Hack I hope there are some links to this site from your site seeing as how you have linked in your sig.