Carb cycling beginner

[Brklyns_Finest]

Looking to get away from a little bit of the blandness of cutting, trying to mix it up and make me have to think a bit instead of the usual "being able to guess exactly what my calories come out to because its so monotonous" cutting. I've been doing a 1600 (give or take 50-100) daily diet with one cheat meal a week, resulting in around 2500 calories for that day just to kick up the metabolism a bit. Now I wanna try out carb cyling instead. I've seen some sources saying do a "no carb/low-carb/high-carb" cycle, others saying "low/low/low/high" and others saying "low/low/high" so I'm not really sure which is best. Also is there some sort of calculator to determine the given carb amounts on different days? Thanks guys.

[PBateman2]

It just depends on what carb cycling program you are doing. All will go into detail of what it entails and how to set it up.

There are many programs...Google: Twin Peaks, Christian Thibaudeau, Justin Harris, etc..

[Brklyns_Finest]

Thanks! I've looked at one article on bb.com and one on t-nation, as well as a few miscellaneous calculators on other sites. They're all different so I guess its just what you go with. I've seen ones saying "low carb" is 200 g a day. For me thats moderate-high. I'm gonna try doing less than 50g two days, then 150-180 for 2 days, then 300g for a day. Not sure how good this is but I guess I could try

[PBateman2]

Thanks! I've looked at one article on bb.com and one on t-nation, as well as a few miscellaneous calculators on other sites. They're all different so I guess its just what you go with. I've seen ones saying "low carb" is 200 g a day. For me thats moderate-high. I'm gonna try doing less than 50g two days, then 150-180 for 2 days, then 300g for a day. Not sure how good this is but I guess I could try

Yeah they will all be different in terms of how they define "no/low/high" CHO days.

Key is to pick the program that you see yourself following and adhering to for the long term.

Make adjustments as you go along.

GL. Train hard.

[Cape1]

Thanks! I've looked at one article on bb.com and one on t-nation, as well as a few miscellaneous calculators on other sites. They're all different so I guess its just what you go with. I've seen ones saying "low carb" is 200 g a day. For me thats moderate-high. I'm gonna try doing less than 50g two days, then 150-180 for 2 days, then 300g for a day. Not sure how good this is but I guess I could try

Low carb is different for everyone. I've read positive for ketosis on over 100g a day of carbs. Others I know have to take it almost to zero for a week. Activity has allot to do ti with too. I can eat over 300g a day and still loose fat. Some people can't touch that. For somoene who is more endomorphic, the cycle might have a high-day of 200g and low of about 50g. My high day would be more like 400g with a low day of about 150g. Other guys might need 600 and 300... We are all different.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this is a question that everyone needs to solve on their own to a large extent. Bb.com, T-nation, et. al. are good sources and perhaps illustrate a decent starting point but your own knolwedge of your own body is what will count.

The other thing is that as your body changes over time, so to does your sensativity to different foods and macro splits.

Just my two cents dude. Sorry to leave you with more questions than answers.

[vanessaromeo]

keto sticks :)

[Brklyns_Finest]

Low carb is different for everyone. I've read positive for ketosis on over 100g a day of carbs. Others I know have to take it almost to zero for a week. Activity has allot to do ti with too. I can eat over 300g a day and still loose fat. Some people can't touch that. For somoene who is more endomorphic, the cycle might have a high-day of 200g and low of about 50g. My high day would be more like 400g with a low day of about 150g. Other guys might need 600 and 300... We are all different.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this is a question that everyone needs to solve on their own to a large extent. Bb.com, T-nation, et. al. are good sources and perhaps illustrate a decent starting point but your own knolwedge of your own body is what will count.

The other thing is that as your body changes over time, so to does your sensativity to different foods and macro splits.

Just my two cents dude. Sorry to leave you with more questions than answers.

Thanks for you're input. Actually, I'm doing PSMF right now, so now carb cycling for me yet. Maybe after this month though :)

[gofitnancy]

keto sticks :)

do they really work?

[greesemuunkie]

do they really work?

The keto sticks? yep. You can find them at any drustore. I seem to get into Ketosis quickly, so I use these to make sure I'm not overdoing it.

[frank112]

I've actually been carb-cycling since i've started my cut a month ago and have seen better muscle sparing results than when I was on Keto last year (although I lost more weight on Keto).

There's a great Layne Norton faq out there in which he states that, although carb-cycling works, it isn't recommend to go too low on the "low" days as a constant metabloic and hormonal shift from going too low to very high can screw you up. I think he specifically suggested not going below 75g on the low day.

[grej]

good post by the way!!!

[Cbass001]

Carb cycling will be somewhat specific based on your current metabolism and activity level. There are also many different ways to use carb cycling depending on your current goals. If you want to gain muscle mass, you will want to have 4-6 days of eating high amounts of carbs (2-3 grams per pound of body weight) and 1-3 days of low carb intake (0-100 grams per day).

If your goal is to lose fat, you will want to swap these two scenarios and have 4-6 low carb days and 1-3 high carb days. You can also use carb cycling to simultaneously burn fat and build muscle mass. This takes some monitoring and manipulation, but it is a great way to improve your body on the fat loss and muscle gain fronts.

I highly recommend trying carb cycling to see how you like it. I had a hard time not eating carbs for days at a time, but it does work well if you can discipline yourself enough to do it.

[Cape1]

I've actually been carb-cycling since i've started my cut a month ago and have seen better muscle sparing results than when I was on Keto last year (although I lost more weight on Keto).

There's a great Layne Norton faq out there in which he states that, although carb-cycling works, it isn't recommend to go too low on the "low" days as a constant metabloic and hormonal shift from going too low to very high can screw you up. I think he specifically suggested not going below 75g on the low day.

For what it's worth, I value Layne's opinions on this stuff. The guys is a walking Encyclopedia on matters related to diet. I would recommend his FAQ's as standard reading.

[TheFonz03]

I'm currently doing 120 to 150g of carbs MTW and 79g the rest of the week. My hard days are MTW. The rest of the week is light. I'm off on thurs and sun. I do cardio wed and sat.

I am 6 weeks out of my first show and don't really know what to expect. My abs and quads are not where they need to be.

Any tips?

[Cape1]

I'm currently doing 120 to 150g of carbs MTW and 79g the rest of the week. My hard days are MTW. The rest of the week is light. I'm off on thurs and sun. I do cardio wed and sat.

I am 6 weeks out of my first show and don't really know what to expect. My abs and quads are not where they need to be.

Any tips?

Dude, 6 weeks is home stretch so if you're telling me your abs and quads just don't have those deep indents, ok; that's workable. However, if by saying that you mean you're still covered up in fat, you're in trouble at 6 weeks out. What show are you doing?

HEre's the thing: there are a million variables so we have to start somewhere. Can you tell me the following, but start by answering the questions above about current condition. Also, pics of you hitting your mandatories would help.

1) How are you doing right now? Still loosing fat at a good clip?
2) what does your cardio set up look like?
3) I now know about the carbs. How about the other macros? Where are they?

[TheFonz03]

Dude, 6 weeks is home stretch so if you're telling me your abs and quads just don't have those deep indents, ok; that's workable. However, if by saying that you mean you're still covered up in fat, you're in trouble at 6 weeks out. What show are you doing?

HEre's the thing: there are a million variables so we have to start somewhere. Can you tell me the following, but start by answering the questions above about current condition. Also, pics of you hitting your mandatories would help.

1) How are you doing right now? Still loosing fat at a good clip?
2) what does your cardio set up look like?
3) I now know about the carbs. How about the other macros? Where are they?


im guessing my abs are ok, i see them i started my own thread with pics instead of hijacking someone elses thread. haha pics are posted there also and thanks for the help

aww man i can't even link to my thread cause i dont have enough posts. hahaha its in contest preparation forum also in case you want to reply there.

yeah i was 185 when i started and down to 170. been bounce back between 170 and 171 all week. just started taking yohimbine, l-tyrosine, and cla this past tues or wed so hopefully that helps.

i do cardio 2 times a week. i do ten minutes of HIIT followed by 30 mins of cardio on the tread mill. i usually get in about 3.5 miles, burn around 440 in calories in 30 mins. this was my first week on that cardio set up. the month prior i was doing 25 minutes on the stationary bike twice a week. got in around 7.5 miles in 25 mins. my HIIT consists of mountain climbers and burpees, rest for 30 secs then another set of mountain climbers and burpees. i do that for ten minutes.


as far as my macros, each day i get in around 225g of protein

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdays i do between 1700 and 2150 calories the rest of the week my max is about 1679.

fats are usually around 40 to 50 grams a day.