How many para-workout carbs have you found to be the most successful for you you, specifically while looking to gain muscle? How do you break them up pre/during/post?
Recently I’ve been taking in about 100 carbs total (25g pre / 20g during / 60g post).
Thinking it might be a good idea to up that number (especially pre-workout), while I’m trying to put on weight.
Just trying to get a feel for what some of the bigger guys on here do.
It will come down to what your total daily #s are. Some guys feel the added benefit of targeting their carbs around their workout, while others prefer (whether for lack of noticing improved performance, or simply enjoying eating carbs at other meals) to space things out.
What are your stats and current macros for training days?
I personally noticed a big difference having the majority of my carbs before training, with some during. In recent years, unless I train in the morning (on weekends), I usually don’t even bother with carbs post.
S
Thanks for weighing in Stu!
I’m 6’3" and about 180 lbs. I workout out 6 times a week doing P/P/L 2x/week. After reading a lot of great articles by the big guys on here, I starting upping my calories to over 4000 and that’s helped me go up about 10 lbs in just the last two months.
I’ve also read that a lot of the bigger guys consume as much as 200 carbs peri-workout and I’m looking for any way to keep gaining weight. I’m definitely the ecto-type and handle carbs well, so I’m definitely looking for any tips to keep gaining weight.
I’ve essentially been taking a 30g hydro whey / 60g dextrose/malto shake PWO and I’m thinking adding another identical shake pre-WO would help me bulk although I’m wondering if it’d be overkill
Well, I’ll tell ya that over the years I’ve been able to work my carbs up considerably. I like to think it’s been a combination of not being scared of getting fat, and staying leaner year round allowing my body to better handle serious numbers. During my last prep, I was having anywhere up to 450g of carbs on some days, and even on my ‘low’ days, I was still having a big ol’ bowl of oatmeal in the morning, and 2-3 Finibars (80-120g of carbs) before training each afternoon.
Let me ask you outright, what’s your current breakdown? By that I mean do you have carbs at every meal, or has it only been the ~100g before/during your training? With 4000 calories a day, and if only 100g total, I would think that you could probably benefit from not only adding more carbs each day, but even spreading some out a bit (I’d still keep pre-workout heavy though, it’s just been my personal preference).
Without even knowing, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you’re probably eating waaaaay more protein than you truly need. We’ve all done it. At some point though, I think most intermediate trainers realize that if they back off a bit on the unnecessary protein, they can not only add more carbs into the mix, but their body will magically handle them just fine (within reason of course. We can’t all house poptarts like there’s no tomorrow!)
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Well, I’ll tell ya that over the years I’ve been able to work my carbs up considerably. I like to think it’s been a combination of not being scared of getting fat, and staying leaner year round allowing my body to better handle serious numbers. During my last prep, I was having anywhere up to 450g of carbs on some days, and even on my ‘low’ days, I was still having a big ol’ bowl of oatmeal in the morning, and 2-3 Finibars (80-120g of carbs) before training each afternoon.
Let me ask you outright, what’s your current breakdown? By that I mean do you have carbs at every meal, or has it only been the ~100g before/during your training? With 4000 calories a day, and if only 100g total, I would think that you could probably benefit from not only adding more carbs each day, but even spreading some out a bit (I’d still keep pre-workout heavy though, it’s just been my personal preference).
Without even knowing, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you’re probably eating waaaaay more protein than you truly need. We’ve all done it. At some point though, I think most intermediate trainers realize that if they back off a bit on the unnecessary protein, they can not only add more carbs into the mix, but their body will magically handle them just fine (within reason of course. We can’t all house poptarts like there’s no tomorrow!)
S
[/quote]
Very enlightening Stu! Thanks again for responding. I’ve been pretty good at recording my meals and a typical day goes this:
Meal 1: 60g carbs (oatmeal, berries, whole milk)
Para-workout carbs (dextrose/malto)
Meal 2: 50g carbs (pasta or rice)
Meal 3: 50g carbs (oatmeal, berries, whole milk)
Meal 4: carbs from veggies
Meal 5: carbs from veggies
So overall about 260 - 280 carbs, I generally follow Berardi’s principles (even though it’s since been proven P+C/P+F is wrong it, helps me get cals in by staying hungry as its easier to get to 4000 consuming healthy fats. I should note that all of my carb meals i include fats too though, whole eggs, ground beef, flax oil/PB w/ my gainer shake,etc.
I’ve never been shy with carbs, I was 155lbs at 6’3" when I started lifting. My main interest with throwing more carbs in pre/during my workout is due to some articles I’ve read by Berardi/Layne Norton advocating more extreme carbs around this time for ecto/hardgainer type.
In your opinion would a Pre-WO shake of 30g whey hydrolysate 60g dextro/malto (30 mins before training) and another identical shake post workout be pretty good? Not sure I can justify the expense of fini-bars for some slower pre-wo carbs.
Essentially I’m just curious as to what carb numbers seem to be the norm with some of the more successful guys on this board when they’re bulking.
Ivan, I address this fairly well in an article I wrote recently.
Check it out if you get a chance:
[quote]TC wrote:
Ivan, I address this fairly well in an article I wrote recently.
Check it out if you get a chance:
[/quote]
Incredible read TC, thanks for the lead!
[quote]Ivan Fyodorovich wrote:
[quote]TC wrote:
Ivan, I address this fairly well in an article I wrote recently.
Check it out if you get a chance:
[/quote]
Incredible read TC, thanks for the lead![/quote]
Sure Ivan, much appreciated!
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
We can’t all house poptarts like there’s no tomorrow!
[/quote]
WHAA??