I just finished a low carb cutting phase which took me from 178lb and 15% BF to 165lb and 11% BF (not much, I know). Now I’m looking to put on some LEAN body mass and since I’ve never handled carbs very well I was thinking about going slightly above maintenance calorie-wise (200-300) but keeping my carbs low (only 20-30 grams for breakfast ND 50-60 PWO) during this phase to keep fat gains at minimum. I just wanted to know what everyone else thinks about this. Am I going the right way or is it just pointless to try adding size and strength while on a low-carb diet?
you can but it won’t be as effective.
i’m doing a lean bulk right now. my total carbs everyday is around 210. You could even take it down to like 150 if you wanted.
Or you could cycle your carbs, there are some good articles on here for that.
dont be afraid of carbs from your pwo shake and starchy carbs the first meal after. also, you should be fine with increased carbs as long as you decrease either fat or protein somewhat.
In shelby starne’s podcast on MD he makes a great point that most people who say they’re carb intolerant go from maintenance calories of P+F and add in 200g carbs daily without removing anything else. Well no shit they get fat, thats 800 extra calories a day. as long as your calories arent too high above maintenance you wont gain much fat. its all thermodynamics…
what would you be eating to get enough calories to grow when you’re having almost no carbs?
Read the Anabolic Diet book, carbs are not necessary for lean gains. Your planned calorie increase is very small to really illicit much growth, but its better than nothing. Also, use a lot of BCAA and creatine. Just a few grams pre and post workout can really help especially if you don’t use much carbs.
Your hormonal profile will ultimately dictate whether you handle carbs well genetically or not. Without getting tested, you can’t know for sure.
Keeping it simply though, add 25-50-g carbs post workout ONLY, and the rest of your diet should look the same(Pro and Fats)as it was when you finished dieting. As others have said, increase kcals too fast will lead to fat gain. So, do the above and increase carbs every 2 weeks or so, until you are making nice LEAN gains. If you gain too much in the mid section during a given week from a given amount, decrease carbs. A plan could be:
Week 1-2: Add 25-50g carbs post workout
Week 3-4: Add another 25-50g post workout
Week 5-6: Add another 25-50g post workout
Week 7-8: Add 25-50g carbs to post workout meal
Week 9-10: Add 25-50g carbs to post workout meal
The above is just to give you an idea. Obviously, if you are getting fat after week 3-4, you won’t increase again week to week. Just play it smart. Also, the more work you carry out(volume), you can usually have a higher intake.
Having said all of this, you CAN make lean gains whilst simply not eating carbs(green only!), and having a cheat meal once a week, whilst fixing many diffiencies, but I won’t go into it, for the sake of fools jumping on here to argue.
Goodluck
GJ
[quote]spadesofaces wrote:
dont be afraid of carbs from your pwo shake and starchy carbs the first meal after. also, you should be fine with increased carbs as long as you decrease either fat or protein somewhat.
In shelby starne’s podcast on MD he makes a great point that most people who say they’re carb intolerant go from maintenance calories of P+F and add in 200g carbs daily without removing anything else. Well no shit they get fat, thats 800 extra calories a day. as long as your calories arent too high above maintenance you wont gain much fat. its all thermodynamics…[/quote]
I want to see a Carb roundtable with Shelby and Poliquin.
[quote]PonceDeLeon wrote:
spadesofaces wrote:
dont be afraid of carbs from your pwo shake and starchy carbs the first meal after. also, you should be fine with increased carbs as long as you decrease either fat or protein somewhat.
In shelby starne’s podcast on MD he makes a great point that most people who say they’re carb intolerant go from maintenance calories of P+F and add in 200g carbs daily without removing anything else. Well no shit they get fat, thats 800 extra calories a day. as long as your calories arent too high above maintenance you wont gain much fat. its all thermodynamics…
I want to see a Carb roundtable with Shelby and Poliquin.[/quote]
this event was foretold by nostradamus as the coming apocalypse of the world as we know it.
[quote]spadesofaces wrote:
PonceDeLeon wrote:
spadesofaces wrote:
dont be afraid of carbs from your pwo shake and starchy carbs the first meal after. also, you should be fine with increased carbs as long as you decrease either fat or protein somewhat.
In shelby starne’s podcast on MD he makes a great point that most people who say they’re carb intolerant go from maintenance calories of P+F and add in 200g carbs daily without removing anything else. Well no shit they get fat, thats 800 extra calories a day. as long as your calories arent too high above maintenance you wont gain much fat. its all thermodynamics…
I want to see a Carb roundtable with Shelby and Poliquin.
this event was foretold by nostradamus as the coming apocalypse of the world as we know it.[/quote]
X2, blood would be shed.
[quote]spadesofaces wrote:
In shelby starne’s podcast on MD he makes a great point that most people who say they’re carb intolerant go from maintenance calories of P+F and add in 200g carbs daily without removing anything else. Well no shit they get fat, thats 800 extra calories a day. as long as your calories arent too high above maintenance you wont gain much fat. its all thermodynamics…[/quote]
I totally did this. Once I cut down the fat, I got leaner. Go figure.