Carb Cycling or Timed Carb Diets

Dan,
 
I'd be interested in your view of the effectiveness of various carb cycle or timed carb diets. Specifically, I've been reading a lot of Lyle McDonald's work and his "Ultimate Diet 2.0" along with other versions.
 
Most seem to have consistent ratios of protien/fat/carbs in their diet and then have either a caloric surplus or deficit. In the case of cycling, it seems like your flip flopping from near keto diet early in the week say and then moving to carb overload later in the week during "re-feeds."
 
The promise seems to be the best of every world: You spare hard earned muscle, keep your metabolism going, and shed fat. And in the case where you are trying to build mass, these diets proclaim that you can gain this mass with minimal fat gain.
 
Seems too good to be true. That said, these diets seem tough to adhere to for common folk.
 
I'm curious what your view is in general on these diets, specificaly UD2, and if you think these are solid approaches for the non-professional bodybuilder.
 
Thanks.
 
KY

Well, there is something to timing lower carb intake and the ability to generate fat loss.  This can be in micro cycles as implied here or in macro cycles as when tapering for a bodybuilding show to maximize fat loss.

With the bodybuilding macro approach, the goal is to maximize fat loss with minimal muscle loss.  Rarely can you maintain muscle gain during this time, but sometimes it is possible.

With the macro cycle approach, you are trying to have everything and sometimes get nothing.  However, it has its pros.  You can lose or minimize fat this way if you manipulate training and diet appropriately.  Sometimes, you can maintain muscle with no appreciable loss as well.  If the carb down days are fewer, you can maintain some muscle gains. 

You can imagine, there is a balance.

How practical is it for the lay person?  It can be practical if one is willing to do a bit of planing each week.  It can be more effective if one does some body composition monitoring weekly.

Do I think it is necessary?  No.  It is a gimmick.  We fall for the, "more-complex-must-be-better" or "the pill works as well as working hard" approaches all the time in bodybuilding.

It may be helpful for people who are very carb/insulin sensitive as a result of various diet gimmicks or some hormonal flux.

It is possible to simplify the plan quite a bit.  I have seen a combination of progressive training and a similar diet strategy work well for accelerating fat loss when someone is resistant to losing fat.

As for if this is a  "solid" approach...yes...it is another tool in the toolbox of ways to coax the body to do what you want it to do.

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