Carb Cycling, IF & AM Lifting

Diet and Nutrition
1

Discuss:

FRAT version: I’m currently experimenting with IF (16/8 Mon-Fri & 20/4 Sat/Sun) and carb cycling. Goal is to drop some BF & maintain strength, Im 28, 5ft 7, 165lbs & 9.7% BF (skin folds, accredited practitioner) I currently lift 4 days a week at 6am, an upper/lower split being 2 Max Effort days & 2 speed days p/wk. I consume 10g BCAA + 5g creatine mono, 10g BCAA immediately after & keep consuming 10g BCAA every 2 hours until i break my “fast” usually at 1pm, 5pm weekends.

Interested in your thoughts on pre-loading the carb cycle so I take the high days, the days before max efforts, as opposed to focusing on them post-workout.

Training/eating schedule could look like:

Mon: Max effort lower / low carbs
Tues: moderate carbs
Wed: Upper speed day / low carbs
Thurs: moderate carbs
Fri: Lower body speed day / high carbs
Sat:Max effort upper / low carbs
Sun: high carbs

Thoughts?

2

Switch Sunday and Monday so that both high carb days fall on a leg workout. That will put those carbs to good use.

3

[quote]Souperman761 wrote:
Switch Sunday and Monday so that both high carb days fall on a leg workout. That will put those carbs to good use.[/quote]

In what way?

4

He means your high carb days should be on the day you lift the hardest. I havent carb cycled yet but thats the general principal. High carbs on hard days & low carbs on EZ days. Look up carb cycling for beginers good article on here…

5

For what purpose though? Most diet protocols assume a PM training session, so the the high carbs pre-workout make sense and then post-workout to replenish glycogen stores. By taking the high carb day before a max effort day should mean glycogen stores are maximised and the 6am workout is adequately fueled. Fat burning also appears to be blunted in the presence of insulin, so there should also be a fat burning effect post-workout until the “fast” is broken

6

It’s showing your off day is Sunday, your off days should be low carb. I would definitely change Sundays and Mondays.

7

If I did that, would I not be in a depleted state (glycogen) for a Max Effort session 6am?

8

you’re essentially mixing carb backloading and carb cycling. I guess you could probably just call it carb cycling…

But yeah, the way you’re doing it is fine. Carbing up the night before your big lifting sessions is fine

9

Yea, looks good.

Alot of people can be pretty dogmatic about “hard workout = high carb.” Your logic is on point though. Definitely good for cutting fat to throw in low days on “big” days.

10

[quote]thehebrewhero wrote:
He means your high carb days should be on the day you lift the hardest.
[/quote]

Why?

[quote]

I havent carb cycled yet but thats the general principal.[/quote]

Exactly.

11

This will work fine for your goals, provided your macros (mainly cals) are in order. But I think the premise underlying your structure is flawed. Specifically, I disagree with the notion that your AM ‘max effort’ workouts would suffer if you were to eat a low-carb diet on the preceding day. Significant depletion of glycogen stores takes far more than a single low-carb day to achieve. For example, the glycogen-depletion phase of one of Lyle McDonald’s diets calls for two consecutive days of very-low carbs coupled with a brutal full-body workout on both days. Absent similar efforts on your part, your AM glycogen levels would be more than adequate after a low-carb day.

12

Thanks gents, we’re finally getting some good discussion and justification of thoughts/posts

13

Another good reason for back loading or cycling the way you are and lifting heavy in the a.m. is you don’t have to go to the gym loaded and bloated.