why eat less than a surplus on "rest days"
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whoa, i thought this forum was for people who wanted to gain weight, not 'stay lean' and 'minimize fat gain'.0
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MCTeasley1 wrote: »This is for fat loss, considering you don't lift weights 6 days/week. It's all about carb cycling, protein stays the same. Why would you want to eat so many carbs on non-workout days? Doesn't make sense as this will lead to added body fat. If you are meeting protein macros on rest days then you are still giving your body the nutrients to repair. Protein builds muscle, carbs don't.
Wrong. Calories build muscle, carbs included.0 -
I would say this section includes those of us looking to slowly build muscle while staying lean and minimizing fat gain.biorobotics wrote: »whoa, i thought this forum was for people who wanted to gain weight, not 'stay lean' and 'minimize fat gain'.
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All that I can say is that when you're 15-20 weeks into a bulk, pushing hard in the gym, sore as hell, eating your face off, and the scale still isn't consistently going up, you're not looking to push away from the table on your non-workout days.0
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joeggarcia wrote: »I eat the same amount of calories daily while bulking because my calorie intake is specifically designed for everyday eating. I believe some ppl do it to minimize fat gain, but in my mind i think that the body needs energy/calories to repair as the muscle repair takes approx 36 - 48 hours i believe, so i always want to be at surplus, although it might not be necassary.
Ditto to this.0 -
All that I can say is that when you're 15-20 weeks into a bulk, pushing hard in the gym, sore as hell, eating your face off, and the scale still isn't consistently going up, you're not looking to push away from the table on your non-workout days.
True that!
I just like eating...why restrict myself on rest (aka muscle repair) days?0 -
Because after testing over a years time each style, I was able to bulk leaner with calorie cycling than static calories over the course of a week. Try things, log, take measurements, there is no easy answer that works for all people.0
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jcranston13 wrote: »Because after testing over a years time each style, I was able to bulk leaner with calorie cycling than static calories over the course of a week. Try things, log, take measurements, there is no easy answer that works for all people.
Because of a smaller surplus0 -
LolBroScience wrote: »jcranston13 wrote: »Because after testing over a years time each style, I was able to bulk leaner with calorie cycling than static calories over the course of a week. Try things, log, take measurements, there is no easy answer that works for all people.
Because of a smaller surplus
BOOM! Mind = Blown.0 -
i keep reading about people calorie cycling, or eating at maint or below on a rest day - during a bulk cycle. Why is this? I'm most hungry on my rest days , i figured my body was starving for nutrition to repair the muscles i just crushed the day before? Why would i not want to eat to nourish the repair. On my lift days , i would probably be fine lifting on a maintainence number, since the actual lifting isn't draining my body of all its life force like the repair is. Well it kinda is, but its just a quick burst of energy needed rather than an all day drawn out repair job, and i can lift weights on a handful of crackers. I am eating at a surplus every day cause my body is screaming feed me.
so i'm wondering why is it some of you eat at maint or even below on rest days? is this somethign i should be doing to help my bulk? or is it just a fat control thing, to keep from gaining too much fat during the bulk?
Over the course of a week, is your net calories still end up in the correct surplus amounts?0 -
I prefer to maintain the same amount 7 days a week. If I was to eat less on my non lifting days, the low energy levels will continue onto training day and the session wouldn't probably suck.0
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Huh? No reason to eat less on rest days. I eat the same (2700 cals/day--okay, more on weekends, whatever) every day of the week.0
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This is an old thread but I like this topic.
There's a theoretical framework around eating less on rest days and more on training days but I'm not claiming it to be true and I'm not aware of any research that may have examined it.
The belief is that you may be able to take advantage of nutrient partitioning by shuttling additional calories around the training bout to promote growth and slightly less around rest days to mitigate potential fat gain.
This is an appeal to authority in it's entirety, but I spoke to James Krieger about this a few months ago and he thinks there's merit to taking this approach, at least in an energy surplus. Now that doesn't mean this is correct (although he's freakin' brilliant IMO), and one would still have to look at things like personal preference and recovery/performance when taking an approach like this. So for example if the reduced intake on the rest day impairs recovery or performance on the following day then you'd probably face problems that would outweigh any theoretical (if any) benefit to taking this approach.
Finally, he's competing soon so this could also be a case where we're talking about maximizing a theoretical benefit under competitive conditions --- something general population may not even care about.
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So for example if the reduced intake on the rest day impairs recovery or performance on the following day then you'd probably face problems that would outweigh and theoretical (if any) benefit to taking this approach.
This is how I feel. If, supposedly, muscle repairs and, therefor grows on rest days, to me it makes sense to maintain my surplus on those days to aid in the process.0 -
So for example if the reduced intake on the rest day impairs recovery or performance on the following day then you'd probably face problems that would outweigh and theoretical (if any) benefit to taking this approach.
This is how I feel. If, supposedly, muscle repairs and, therefor grows on rest days, to me it makes sense to maintain my surplus on those days to aid in the process.
Sure, and it probably does aid in the process. But you'd also have to wonder, if you're resting you're likely expending less energy on your rest day than your training day. If you're eating the same calories daily, are you then creating a larger surplus on the rest day vs the training day and is this sub optimal for partitioning?
Protein synthesis is still elevated on the rest day so I'm not claiming it would all go to fat but it does raise the question as to whether or not it makes sense to pull intake down a bit to account for that.
For what it's worth, I tend to eat similarly on training and rest days so despite my posting here I'm not suggesting that either way is optimal, I just find the discussion interesting and I'm presenting what I understand to be a potential basis for cycling intake.0 -
So for example if the reduced intake on the rest day impairs recovery or performance on the following day then you'd probably face problems that would outweigh and theoretical (if any) benefit to taking this approach.
This is how I feel. If, supposedly, muscle repairs and, therefor grows on rest days, to me it makes sense to maintain my surplus on those days to aid in the process.
Sure, and it probably does aid in the process. But you'd also have to wonder, if you're resting you're likely expending less energy on your rest day than your training day. If you're eating the same calories daily, are you then creating a larger surplus on the rest day vs the training day and is this sub optimal for partitioning?
Protein synthesis is still elevated on the rest day so I'm not claiming it would all go to fat but it does raise the question as to whether or not it makes sense to pull intake down a bit to account for that.
For what it's worth, I tend to eat similarly on training and rest days so despite my posting here I'm not suggesting that either way is optimal, I just find the discussion interesting and I'm presenting what I understand to be a potential basis for cycling intake.
Good point!0
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