Day Before Leg Day
Srarojas
Posts: 170 Member
Need a little advice on what to do the day before leg day tomorrow. Last week I did a cardio day the day before and ran three miles. I don't usually change my diet much the day before either. I had a decent workout and was sore for a couple of days, but nowhere near the muscle failure I was hoping for.
My trainer said that I should add a carb - whole grain pasta the night before and a complex carb two hours prior to legs. My question is how much I should carb/calorie load the day prior and if that day should be a rest day. We are going to lift heavy tomorrow, so I want to make sure I am at 100% so that I can have a killer workout. My skinny legs need muscle! Btw, I am having trouble adjusting from a fat shredding diet (went from 24% to 17%) to gaining muscle. I am sure I need to eat more than the 1600 calories/day I eat for maintenance.
My trainer said that I should add a carb - whole grain pasta the night before and a complex carb two hours prior to legs. My question is how much I should carb/calorie load the day prior and if that day should be a rest day. We are going to lift heavy tomorrow, so I want to make sure I am at 100% so that I can have a killer workout. My skinny legs need muscle! Btw, I am having trouble adjusting from a fat shredding diet (went from 24% to 17%) to gaining muscle. I am sure I need to eat more than the 1600 calories/day I eat for maintenance.
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Replies
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Carbs are important for performance in the gym. I try to keep my protein and fat within a fairly small range, and fill the rest of my calories with carbs. To stay in maintenance, you'll largely eat extra carbs on days you strength train or do cardio. Some people prefer to keep their caloric intake consistent day by day, but my cardio varies so much that approach is not good for me.
I'm assuming you are a novice. I wouldn't consider eating a surplus just yet. Do that once your strength gains begin to grind, on a consistent basis. This will require several months of consistent, hard training.0 -
Thanks for the advice. I saw your advice after I ate the extra meal the day before, but thankfully, the extra meal didn't hurt me. I also ate oatmeal two hours prior to doing legs yesterday. I had a great leg day, and had more energy than last time, but I still got a little bit dizzy and nauseated, albeit 45 minutes into my hour. My trainer said that's normal because we're increasing the weight, and advised that I should rest longer between sets. I'm just happy because I left the gym with muscle failure and had trouble walking out of the gym
I guess that feeling is just part of being on a "gain" instead of a "shred". I have been weight training seriously for about 7 months (and not so seriously for a couple of years prior to that), but it was always to "tone" and lose weight. 0 -
Why didn't you ask your trainer this question?
Are you second guessing your trainer?0 -
I asked the question on how much I should carb load the day "before" my training session for legs. He had told me the week prior to make my last meal of the evening before whole grain pasta, but I forgot to ask if I should add an extra meal. I was trying to be better prepared than the last session because I almost passed out half way through and got nauseated at the end. No way would I second guess him. He is awesome. He helped me train for my last Air Force Fit to Fight (PT) test, and I got a 99.6%!
I asked him yesterday about the extra calories, and he said that for now we'll stay at 1600. We'll monitor my weight to make sure I'm not losing and take measurements in a month. Wish me luck on the muscle gain!0 -
Good Luck !! Keep up the hard work
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