I can see why bodybuilders do this!

[girlbug2]

I've been lowering the carbs in my diet for a couple months, to @ 20 grams a day, practically nothing compared to my usual. I feel great and I've lost weight. However last Friday I had a "cheat day" with a few cookies, chocolate, and ice cream. The next morning at 9 am was my class; let me tell you I was suddenly full of energy, I was practically bouncing off the walls! It was like a kind of mild high that I have never experienced before or since.

Was that carb cycling that I've heard bodybuilders do? If so I'd like some tips on how to do it properly from now on. Not that I plan for it to be a daily experience, but it would be nice to engineer that kind of energy now and then for training.

 

[terryl965]

Naw your budy just reacted to the sugar intake, just like a child does.

 

[exile]

Bodybuilders don't cycle carbs, gb. The pros—at least the Weider-contract group—cycle steroids—synthetic anabolic hormones, along with HGH, and a dose of diuretics just before contest time; that's where these 315 lb/6% bodyfat bodies with scary vascularization come from. It was started in Eastern Europe during the bad old days of the Cold War and was brought over to the US by an American doctor named John Ziegler; if you want to read the revolting story, it's here. That's what's being cycled. I've known a fair number of local competitive bodybuilders and I've never heard of any of them cycling carbs. The trick is to eliminate carbs almost completely for a week or so pre-contest; and it has nothing to do with weight loss—with what these guys are taking, their metabolisms would probably burn up pure lard in seconds. They eliminate carbs to cut down on water retention, to give that quasi-transparent appearance you get at shows, where the muscles almost seem visible through the skin.

BTW, you can get very, very sick doing what they do; you can even die from it, and some of them have done.

 

[Kacey]

You can lose weight restricting carbs severely - but when you're done you'll have real problems going back to a "normal" diet. You would be better off, IMHO, to find a diet that allows you reasonable amounts of all nutrients, as that's what human beings evolved for. I tried a low-carb, high protein diet, and it was sort of effective... then I tried a balanced diet, with reasonable amounts of all nutrients, and kick-started my weight loss. I'd suggest looking around before you decide you want to live low-carb the rest of your life - and you might talk to your doctor, too; mine was much happier with my recent decision to eat as many unprocessed foods as possible than she was with previous low-carb diets.

 

[Sukerkin]

Sensible advice, KC. Diet is a fundamental thing that literally determines who you are in physical terms and it is wise to consider it carefully.

Of course, in my case, changes in my life have affected my diet somewhat beyond my control which has resulted in a waistline somewhat beyond my control .

How to correct that, without insulting my missus by denying her right to cook for me (and for her to expect me to eat all that she cooked), is something that is on my mind right now.

 

[punisher73]

Bodybuilders don't cycle carbs, gb. .

Yes, to both. BB's DO cycle their carbs. You are talking about Pro BBer's that do what they do for a living and do extreme things to make money at it. Do not confuse this with other BBer's who chose this as a lifestyle and watch their health.

The human body is set up to burn FAT as it's primary source of fuel, glucose/ATP etc is meant as a quick burning short duration energy form. By cutting back on your carbs (the brain needs glucose to function properly) and getting your carbs mainly from vegetables, not processed breads/pastas etc. The trick is when cycling you want to burn down your glucose stores so your body has to rely on it's fat stores for energy, which in turn makes you leaner. When you know you are going to have a high impact day then you have a high carb day so your body has the quick energy stores (glucose) to use, but you also empty it back out from the exercise at the end so your body goes back to burning fat.

The problem with the way most people eat is that they are eating so many carbs that their body just relies on them for the energy and the excess is stored "for later use" and don't have to dip into their fat stores so they keep stockpiling up.

 

[exile]

Yes, to both. BB's DO cycle their carbs. You are talking about Pro BBer's that do what they do for a living and do extreme things to make money at it. Do not confuse this with other BBer's who chose this as a lifestyle and watch their health.

Right—those are the guys I've known, or more accurately, people who are trying to be those guys. It's not just people competing in the pro tournaments, but a very much larger group who are trying to get their pro cards, as well as guys who don't really have professional ambitions but want the pro look. If it were just the relatively few people who compete professionally, it would be one thing; but it's much more widespread than that.

The human body is set up to burn FAT as it's primary source of fuel, glucose/ATP etc is meant as a quick burning short duration energy form. By cutting back on your carbs (the brain needs glucose to function properly) and getting your carbs mainly from vegetables, not processed breads/pastas etc. The trick is when cycling you want to burn down your glucose stores so your body has to rely on it's fat stores for energy, which in turn makes you leaner. When you know you are going to have a high impact day then you have a high carb day so your body has the quick energy stores (glucose) to use, but you also empty it back out from the exercise at the end so your body goes back to burning fat.

I know about people doing what I think you're talking about, but I've never thought of it as cycling. When I do cardio intervals, for example, I try to do it before I've eaten anything, just so the primary fuel burned is fat. But to me, 'cycling' involves long-term fixed cycles carefully set up to so that different anabolic substances with different properties were kicking in optimally—test and D-bol cycles and so on running partially concurrently over complex six and eight week cycles and the like. Keeping your carbs low when you want to make a big dent in stored fat reserves isn't what I usually think of as cycling; it's more or less just common sense depending on the kind of exercise you're planning to do.

The problem with the way most people eat is that they are eating so many carbs that their body just relies on them for the energy and the excess is stored "for later use" and don't have to dip into their fat stores so they keep stockpiling up.

The problem is that people eat way more than they need, period, I think. Even when they exercise, a lot of folks rely on low-intensity exercise, which takes much longer than high-intensity to crack open fat reserves effectively. They also eat quick-processed carbs, which quickly leave them feeling hungry again soon, so they wind up eating more than they would if they ate complex carbs that take longer to break down.

Like a lot of other things, it's not carbs themselves that are the problem—a calorie is a calorie, I firmly believe—but the way people abuse them because they can't be bothered to eat sensibly....

 

[Dusty]

What this is called is a ketogenic diet, or, in the case of bodybuilders, ketogenic phasing. a lot of pro body builders do this. it is one of the most effective ways to lower your body fat percentage without losing muscle mass. The reason i know about this is i am 8 weeks into a 10 week ketogenic phase. as it sits now, i have lost 17 lbs of fat, with no muscle loss.
I need to state that with any diet, especially this kind, YOU NEED TO CONSULT A DOCTOR!!!
What happens is this:
Your brain is fed by glycogen. your muscles store them when it isnt using them. when you have lots, it is stored as fat. our society is huge in excess carbs.
When you take in less than 30 grams of carbs in a day, your body goes into ketosis. ( as long as you are not diabetic, this is fine)
What happens when your body goes into ketosis is kind of a neat thing. Since there is no glycogen to feed your brain, your body is forced to substitute. so it produces ketones, which are created from the adipose tissue in your body. Fat!! When there are no carbs, your body is forced to literally eat itself (fat only) to exist. One of the problems with this kind of eating is that to be able to keep your calorie count up, you need to eat a lot of fat. almost 2 to 1 for protein. This keeps your metabolism from shutting down. if that happens, you will burn no fat. so therefore to be able to lose the fat, you must eat a higher amount of fat!! neat eh?
Just stay away from the bad fats.
i know a lot of body builders use this diet (as with any type of diet, moderation is the key) to get there body fat percentage down when competing. i am not a bodybuilder, just someone who likes to work out and was getting a little round in the belly.
for more info, check out a book by Lyle Macdonald called 'the ketogenic diet" lots of good info there. and once again, check with your Dr. i do not want anything i have written to be the cause of any health problems. this was my own personal choice. i have two weeks left on this (i do a 36 hour carb up once every 4 weeks) and i have dropped from a 24% body fat to 15%. i plan to try it again for another 6 weeks in about 6 months. the biggest downfall i have found is food variety. oh, and dont forget a good multivitamin.
Dusty