Carb Cycling
naxeea
Posts: 138 Member
Hi everyone
Is Carb cycling any good?I do strength training thrice a week.Has anyone tried it?
Thanks
Is Carb cycling any good?I do strength training thrice a week.Has anyone tried it?
Thanks
0
Replies
-
Yeah, I did it. Worked but everything happens a lot more slowly plus it's more hassle to manage so went back to just eating appropriately for my overall goal.0
-
I'm the opposite, I do low carb under 50 daily. It works. Increase protein and healthy fats and there are your macro.0
-
Is it good for what specifically? What are you wanting to do?
I do a form of it myself, and it benefits me for what I do.....0 -
Good is relative.
To lose, you need a calorie deficit. You don't need to cycle your carbs to lose weight. You can, but it isn't necessary.
I used to do it, but when I started lifting heavier and running more, I was fatigued on lower carb days. I wasn't performing well, so I nixed the carb cycling idea.0 -
@MityMax96 lose fat and gain lean muscle.0
-
@MityMax96 lose fat and gain lean muscle.
To lose fat: eat a calorie deficit
To gain muscle: eat a calorie surplus and lift heavy things.
You have conflicting goals.0 -
Lol I'll stick to that first one
0 -
Ok. You don't need to carb cycle to lose fat. You can eat the same (or close to the same) number of carbs everyday and be successful.
What matters most is keeping a calorie deficit.
For best results, you should be eating an adequate amount of protein (recommended 1 gram per pound of lean body mass), healthy fats (about 0.4 grams per pound of body weight), and the rest can be carbs. Proteins and fats are considered minimum goals. The extra carbs will allow you to workout more/harder.0 -
Yup, xcaly said it.
You don't need to do fancy gimmicks with your diet.
You just have to eat less than you need to lose weight.
As far as muscle goes.
Eat adequate protein (about 0.8 gr / lb of body weight, minimum) and lift weights...heavy.0 -
@MityMax96 lose fat and gain lean muscle.
To lose fat: eat a calorie deficit
To gain muscle: eat a calorie surplus and lift heavy things.
You have conflicting goals.
Yes and no.... Meaning, I have gained muscle and lost body fat while doing carb cycling. It is a slow process but totally possible.
@naxeea the idea of carb cycling is to basically 1- gain muscle and avoid gaining too much body fat while doing so or 2- lose body fat while retaining muscle mass. At least that's what I've read before and what I've used it for. The first time I did it, was during a 3 months program. By the end of it I was still at the same body weight than when I started but my body measurements had changed dramatically. Of course, is not like you will be eating the same amounts all the time. As with any other form of eating, you need to adjust your calories as weeks go by and your body composition starts changing.
0 -
The_WoIverine wrote: »@MityMax96 lose fat and gain lean muscle.
To lose fat: eat a calorie deficit
To gain muscle: eat a calorie surplus and lift heavy things.
You have conflicting goals.
Yes and no.... Meaning, I have gained muscle and lost body fat while doing carb cycling. It is a slow process but totally possible.
VERY SLOW......that is a body recomp.0 -
The_WoIverine wrote: »@MityMax96 lose fat and gain lean muscle.
To lose fat: eat a calorie deficit
To gain muscle: eat a calorie surplus and lift heavy things.
You have conflicting goals.
Yes and no.... Meaning, I have gained muscle and lost body fat while doing carb cycling. It is a slow process but totally possible.
VERY SLOW......that is a body recomp.
And it was more because you were eating at or close to maintenance calories and lifting. (Like MityMax said: recomping.) Not because you were carb cycling.0 -
Not because I was carb cycling? I have to disagree with you 100% on that.0
-
I'd be willing to bet that if you compared a cyclical approach to a non cyclical approach the difference in results wouldn't be substantial.
Could carb cycling make a difference? I think it could. You could possibly make an argument for improved nutrient partitioning and you could certainly shuttle extra nutrients around training for performance purposes as well.
But for the most part you are probably talking about getting an additional ~5-10% progress with the bulk of the progress coming from your total calorie intake and a successful training program.
Nutrient timing does have the potential to contribute but it's not a big contributor.
0 -
The_WoIverine wrote: »Not because I was carb cycling? I have to disagree with you 100% on that.
Well that's strong evidence. I'm convinced.0 -
Yet, recently it has been discussed how nutrient timing has no effect on the body. I'd like to think that's not the case, but apparently some fitness people are saying so.
To be honest, I only talk based on my own experience. I have been training for years, learning from my own mistakes as I have tried different plans and eating styles. Higher protein, lower protein, higher carbs, lower carbs, close to maintenance, surplus, deficit, etc. I've gotten different results each time. The only time I've been able to maintain weight and affect my body composition is when I do carb cycling (and I still care about nutrient timing). So, is it a placebo effect? Is it just my body that reacts better to Carb Cycling than any other way of eating? Is it Carb Cycling more effective than it is said? Whatever it is, I know it works for me.0 -
ceoverturf wrote: »The_WoIverine wrote: »Not because I was carb cycling? I have to disagree with you 100% on that.
Well that's strong evidence. I'm convinced.
If you're trying to be a smartass you need to read better. It seems you're convinced about what she is saying about my own experience, yet you already assume I'm wrong because you know much better about my own results and how I've achieve them. Bravo!0 -
The_WoIverine wrote: »Yet, recently it has been discussed how nutrient timing has no effect on the body. I'd like to think that's not the case, but apparently some fitness people are saying so.
Fitness people saying that nutrient timing has NO EFFECT are blatantly wrong and they're very likely taking a contextual, grey area situation and turning into a black and white thing. That being said, it doesn't appear that nutrient timing has a MAJOR effect on body composition.To be honest, I only talk based on my own experience. I have been training for years, learning from my own mistakes as I have tried different plans and eating styles. Higher protein, lower protein, higher carbs, lower carbs, close to maintenance, surplus, deficit, etc. I've gotten different results each time. The only time I've been able to maintain weight and affect my body composition is when I do carb cycling (and I still care about nutrient timing). So, is it a placebo effect? Is it just my body that reacts better to Carb Cycling than any other way of eating? Is it Carb Cycling more effective than it is said? Whatever it is, I know it works for me.
Nothing wrong with doing what works but it is still important to acknowledge significant limitations with determining what works when you're not examining things in a RCT type of environment where individual variables are isolated.
If I go to the gym on Saturday and happen to set PR's every time I wear my blue shorts it would be easy for me to attribute my PR to the blue shorts rather than the 800 extra calories of carbohydrate I ate that morning. That sort of thing.
This isn't me saying you shouldn't carb cycle, it's that you MIGHT not be able to say with certainty that it's the cyclical intake of carbs that's driving your progress, because it's quite likely that you aren't able to isolate variables with any degree of accuracy.
0 -
The_WoIverine wrote: »Yet, recently it has been discussed how nutrient timing has no effect on the body. I'd like to think that's not the case, but apparently some fitness people are saying so.
Fitness people saying that nutrient timing has NO EFFECT are blatantly wrong and they're very likely taking a contextual, grey area situation and turning into a black and white thing. That being said, it doesn't appear that nutrient timing has a MAJOR effect on body composition.To be honest, I only talk based on my own experience. I have been training for years, learning from my own mistakes as I have tried different plans and eating styles. Higher protein, lower protein, higher carbs, lower carbs, close to maintenance, surplus, deficit, etc. I've gotten different results each time. The only time I've been able to maintain weight and affect my body composition is when I do carb cycling (and I still care about nutrient timing). So, is it a placebo effect? Is it just my body that reacts better to Carb Cycling than any other way of eating? Is it Carb Cycling more effective than it is said? Whatever it is, I know it works for me.
Nothing wrong with doing what works but it is still important to acknowledge significant limitations with determining what works when you're not examining things in a RCT type of environment where individual variables are isolated.
If I go to the gym on Saturday and happen to set PR's every time I wear my blue shorts it would be easy for me to attribute my PR to the blue shorts rather than the 800 extra calories of carbohydrate I ate that morning. That sort of thing.
This isn't me saying you shouldn't carb cycle, it's that you MIGHT not be able to say with certainty that it's the cyclical intake of carbs that's driving your progress, because it's quite likely that you aren't able to isolate variables with any degree of accuracy.
Perhaps a more real-world scenario for you would be this -- it's possible that carb cycling meets your dietary preferences better and gives you greater adherence. It's possible that during cyclical intakes you experience better gym performance because some of those additional carbs are consumed pre-training and it beats out what you were previously doing. So could you say that carb cycling works for you in this context? Sure you could, but it would be due to adherence/performance, and someone else may experience those effects from a non cyclical method.
This is different from a cyclical approach being superior for timing-specific reasons (nutrient partitioning benefits).0 -
The_WoIverine wrote: »Yet, recently it has been discussed how nutrient timing has no effect on the body. I'd like to think that's not the case, but apparently some fitness people are saying so.
Fitness people saying that nutrient timing has NO EFFECT are blatantly wrong and they're very likely taking a contextual, grey area situation and turning into a black and white thing. That being said, it doesn't appear that nutrient timing has a MAJOR effect on body composition.To be honest, I only talk based on my own experience. I have been training for years, learning from my own mistakes as I have tried different plans and eating styles. Higher protein, lower protein, higher carbs, lower carbs, close to maintenance, surplus, deficit, etc. I've gotten different results each time. The only time I've been able to maintain weight and affect my body composition is when I do carb cycling (and I still care about nutrient timing). So, is it a placebo effect? Is it just my body that reacts better to Carb Cycling than any other way of eating? Is it Carb Cycling more effective than it is said? Whatever it is, I know it works for me.
Nothing wrong with doing what works but it is still important to acknowledge significant limitations with determining what works when you're not examining things in a RCT type of environment where individual variables are isolated.
If I go to the gym on Saturday and happen to set PR's every time I wear my blue shorts it would be easy for me to attribute my PR to the blue shorts rather than the 800 extra calories of carbohydrate I ate that morning. That sort of thing.
This isn't me saying you shouldn't carb cycle, it's that you MIGHT not be able to say with certainty that it's the cyclical intake of carbs that's driving your progress, because it's quite likely that you aren't able to isolate variables with any degree of accuracy.
Actually I achieve new PRs with red shorts lol. JK. This example has nothing to do with what I was saying to be honest. Nutrition discussion in MFP is like talking about religion and politics if you ask me. Everybody is wrong except you (and when I say you I mean each person that posts trying to argue how wrong everybody else is). The endless discussion about my source of information is better than yours is ridiculous.
I didn't agree or disagree with you. I said in my very specific experience, not anyone else's but my own, carb cycling works the best. I mentioned I have tried different approaches when it comes to dieting or meal plans. So, to use your blue shorts example, just because I've gotten the best results while carb cycling doesn't mean I'm just assuming carb cycling made the difference when changing my body composition. The reason why I'm not assuming but speaking with certainty about my own experience, is because I have tried different plans just for the sake of reviewing them, testing programs, or/and finding out what has the biggest impact in my body, and at the end of each try out, nothing has given me results like carbs cycling has.
About nutrient timing, this is another major discussion that never ends, from professionals to professionals wanna be. Some known bodybuilders and fitness gurus claim timing doesn't matter as long as you eat your macronutrients goals for the day. Others go by timing. And let's not even talk about the studies out there. I'm sure you're aware what today is good for you, tomorrow a new study says it is bad for you, and in some cases in the future they go back to saying it is actually good for you again. I have created a habit of distributing my macros throughout the day accordingly to my needs, higher carbs meals pre and post workout, because I like it better that way, because of what I've read on articles, because of programs I've done. Is it right? Is it wrong? I really don't care. For some is the right thing, for others is not.
This is my opinion about Carb Cycling, again, based on my own experience.0 -
You should always consume carbs when cycling, especially over long distances.0
-
The_WoIverine wrote: »The_WoIverine wrote: »Yet, recently it has been discussed how nutrient timing has no effect on the body. I'd like to think that's not the case, but apparently some fitness people are saying so.
Fitness people saying that nutrient timing has NO EFFECT are blatantly wrong and they're very likely taking a contextual, grey area situation and turning into a black and white thing. That being said, it doesn't appear that nutrient timing has a MAJOR effect on body composition.To be honest, I only talk based on my own experience. I have been training for years, learning from my own mistakes as I have tried different plans and eating styles. Higher protein, lower protein, higher carbs, lower carbs, close to maintenance, surplus, deficit, etc. I've gotten different results each time. The only time I've been able to maintain weight and affect my body composition is when I do carb cycling (and I still care about nutrient timing). So, is it a placebo effect? Is it just my body that reacts better to Carb Cycling than any other way of eating? Is it Carb Cycling more effective than it is said? Whatever it is, I know it works for me.
Nothing wrong with doing what works but it is still important to acknowledge significant limitations with determining what works when you're not examining things in a RCT type of environment where individual variables are isolated.
If I go to the gym on Saturday and happen to set PR's every time I wear my blue shorts it would be easy for me to attribute my PR to the blue shorts rather than the 800 extra calories of carbohydrate I ate that morning. That sort of thing.
This isn't me saying you shouldn't carb cycle, it's that you MIGHT not be able to say with certainty that it's the cyclical intake of carbs that's driving your progress, because it's quite likely that you aren't able to isolate variables with any degree of accuracy.
Actually I achieve new PRs with red shorts lol. JK. This example has nothing to do with what I was saying to be honest. Nutrition discussion in MFP is like talking about religion and politics if you ask me. Everybody is wrong except you (and when I say you I mean each person that posts trying to argue how wrong everybody else is). The endless discussion about my source of information is better than yours is ridiculous.
I didn't agree or disagree with you. I said in my very specific experience, not anyone else's but my own, carb cycling works the best. I mentioned I have tried different approaches when it comes to dieting or meal plans. So, to use your blue shorts example, just because I've gotten the best results while carb cycling doesn't mean I'm just assuming carb cycling made the difference when changing my body composition. The reason why I'm not assuming but speaking with certainty about my own experience, is because I have tried different plans just for the sake of reviewing them, testing programs, or/and finding out what has the biggest impact in my body, and at the end of each try out, nothing has given me results like carbs cycling has.
About nutrient timing, this is another major discussion that never ends, from professionals to professionals wanna be. Some known bodybuilders and fitness gurus claim timing doesn't matter as long as you eat your macronutrients goals for the day. Others go by timing. And let's not even talk about the studies out there. I'm sure you're aware what today is good for you, tomorrow a new study says it is bad for you, and in some cases in the future they go back to saying it is actually good for you again. I have created a habit of distributing my macros throughout the day accordingly to my needs, higher carbs meals pre and post workout, because I like it better that way, because of what I've read on articles, because of programs I've done. Is it right? Is it wrong? I really don't care. For some is the right thing, for others is not.
This is my opinion about Carb Cycling, again, based on my own experience.
Regarding my view of timing....
It is very low on the order of needs.
I have done 5 - 6 meals through the day
And now for the past two years, I have consumed all my calories in an eight hour window (or less)
And based on my goals, bulking or cutting, I have been able to do it by just eating to my numbers.
So regarding nutrient timing.....that is (as others tend to say) "Majoring in the minors"
You will get more benefit overall just making sure your nutrition is on point, vs. when you eat.0 -
I must confess... eating 6 times a day actually helps me to not feel too hungry during the day and end up at night wanting to empty out my fridge. I guess is a matter of adapting, but I'm always glad I have something to eat at night that has already been preplanned0
-
The_WoIverine wrote: »I must confess... eating 6 times a day actually helps me to not feel too hungry during the day and end up at night wanting to empty out my fridge. I guess is a matter of adapting, but I'm always glad I have something to eat at night that has already been preplanned
Exactly
Everyone is different
I do great eating between ~1pm - 8pm and then stopping.
Then I eat really big during that window. I have "adapted" / "trained" myself to eat during that time, and it works great for me.
So diet adherence is the big thing when it comes to eating strategies.
What allows you to stick to your plan/goals for the long haul0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions