Muscle growth and performance - Glycogenolysis vs. Lipolysis

[AleksFast]

Hello!

A little preface to the question.

I've tried many different diets through the years and found out I feel the best with a moderate-to-high protein (25-30%), high fat (55-60%) and low carb (10-15%), of course somewhat varying.

The high fat is very important to me. I've found that I don't feel the need to snack at all, I don't feel cravings for sugary junk and overall I feel full and satisfied on high fat diet, compared to both high protein and/or high carb diet.

That said, I would like to get back to strength training again, after a 3 year period of almost no weight lifting and mostly light cardio.

What I am curious about is this:

1. Is there a solid, science-based equation to calculate minimum to optimal amount of carbs for muscle recovery and growth ?

2. Since on this diet I run out of glycogen quickly, how much worse (I am just assuming it is worse, because of the length of the conversion) is relying on lipolysis, instead of glycogenolysis during a training session, when it comes to strength and endurance ?

Thank you!

[SuffolkPunch]

Unfortunately not - because there is too much variance in how people respond to carbs. For those with insulin resistance, it can cause a performance drop - but in other studies, there has been an improvement shown. Then there are those that enter ketosis who report better feelings of energy but IMO this is similar to taking stimulants because of the raised catecholomine levels (stress hormones). I don't think this is a good long term strategy because all evidence we have points to chronic stress being bad for your health.

Generally speaking, I would say that if you don't have adverse reactions to carbs and you general eat a wholefood mixed diet, you should have some carbs. It's hard to avoid them anyway without eating a heavily restricted diet - so in practical terms this makes the most sense.

If you feel you are running low on glycogen during training, you could probably improve performance and therefore results if you ate more carbs.

[jthomasofficial]

This is probably the best question I have seen on here, and few nutritionists with PhD's can completely answer the pros and cons of breaking down fat instead of carbs as fuel sources during exercise.
1. There might be an exact equation that someone hasn't created yet, but there are too many input variables to make such an equation practical for your purposes (your weight, height, daily caloric needs, energy output during exercise, etc). Like always, it's best to be inside a certain consistent range. And of course, trust your body and mental state

2. There are very limited studies on the pros and cons of these two ways of deriving chemical energy. The studies would also be hard to conduct. More research is required. Anecdotally, I sometimes do find a loss in strength and endurance while training in a ketogenic state. However, the loss is minimal as long as my fats and proteins are high enough. The worse part of training in a state of ketosis would be the headaches.