Carb Cycling

Wondering if anyone has any input on how to properly cycle carbohydrates in the days leading up to a competition. Last time I just ate consistantly all the way through. I was as lean as possible, but I think I probably sacrificed some fullness by not carb loading at all. Any knowledgable input would be greatly appreciated.

D

Hey Dj, Twin Peaks wrote a couple of articles on carbohydrate cycling. He knows his stuff and the articles are good to use as is or for starting your own plan. Good Luck

Twin Peaks Carbohydrate Cycling Articles

Cant get that link to open. Does it cover competition prep are normal cycling?

D

I got it to open.. could have been a connection problem.

Different methods of cycling.. bulk, cutting, life style. With a very nice list of fibrous carbs at the end.

Marc C. David
Support DB! Buy your supplements at Supplements101.com

For some reason I can't get anything from Avant to open. But I don't think that's what I'm talking about anyway, can you cut and paste an email to me, Marc? I'm talking about the exact procedures to carb depletion and loading in the 3 or so days leading up to a competition which leads to a "fullness" of the muscles.

D

Thanks for the e-mail Marc. Great diet... but that's not what I'm talking about, this is competition specific 3 or 4 days out carb depletion and then simple carb loading, can anyone provide some specifics?

Thanks,
D

What about

My Precontest Principles by Tim Wescott

Marc C. David
Support DB! Buy your supplements at Supplements101.com

SWING... and a miss. No, I'm not looking for a precontest diet to lose fat. What I'm talking about is only used for the last couple of days in preparation. I've got the whole diet to lose fat thing down. I'm alright with shedding the water. I'm good with getting the right color under the lights. I just want the carb cycling secrets to give the muscles that full look.

As you diet down your muscles get flat. Just before you go onstage you intake simple sugars which "fills" them out. I'm looking for info on how to do this. If you intake too much your looking for trouble because you'll get puffy.

D

Carb-Up

The point of carbing up before a contest is to replenish your muscles glycogen levels. This will make your muscles look full and hard. It is important to do it right though. For my competition, I carbed up the day of the contest only because I had a 7 PM show. I believe I needed to start the day before with about 200 carbs, then eat 300 carbs on the day of the contest like I did. It is very important to note that the amount of time needed to carb-up correctly varies from person to person. Some people need one day, some two, some three, and so on. You also do not want to consume too many carbs because you will appear flat and smooth. In order to know how much carbs to consume, you have to know your body.

This is what I'm talking about... the search continues.

D

Total Depletion and Replenishment of Glycogen Stores.



This is the very first step bodybuilders commonly use during the pre-contest period. Glycogen (as you already know from previous articles) is the glucose polymer stored either in the skeletal muscles or liver. It serves as fuel for energy, but its release from the skeletal muscles occurs under different stimulus compared to its release from the liver depots.

Liver glycogenolysis (the glycogen breakdown process) occurs in order to maintain an adequate blood level of glucose to satisfy brain requirements; instead muscle glycogenolysis occurs only during emotional and/or physical efforts in order to satisfy the need for energy.

Glucose is a molecule that consists of Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen... in fact its chemical structure is: C6 H12 O6. It contains water!

Let's see why that is so important!

In normal conditions the skeletal muscle glycogen concentration ranges from 1.5 grams to 2 grams per 100 grams of skeletal muscle tissue. A Swedish researcher BERGSTROM (1969) has shown that after a low carbohydrate diet that lasts for a period of 3 days accompanied with prolonged physical exercises/efforts one's skeletal muscle glycogen depots fall to a concentration of about 0.6 grams! After this limited 3 day period of carbohydrate depletion, a carbohydrate-rich diet was followed causing a new higher level of muscle glycogen content.



As you may see from figure number 1 above, marathon contestants also use the method of downloading and reloading the glycogen through diet manipulation before the marathon. As shown in the figure, exercise is gradually reduced during the week and the carbohydrate intake of the diet is increased for the last three days. (From Sherman, W.M., et al.: Effect of exercise-diet manipulation on muscle glycogen and its subsequent utilization during performance. Int. J. Sports Med., 2:114, 1981).

The consequences of this study have been of great utility for those endurance athletes whose performance is high and who need larger amounts of ready-to-use energy stored as glycogen. Furthermore, these results apply very well to bodybuilders too. You may be wondering why an increase in glycogen depots should be an aid for a bodybuilder during the show.

Here's the reason:

If the "depleting glycogen phase" has been done correctly, inducing a dramatic lowering of glycogen depots, it creates a "hunger state" for your muscles so that during the next "super compensation" phase they will store more glycogen than in normal conditions. In other words, they could store from 3.5 grams of glycogen to even 4 grams per 100 grams of skeletal muscle tissue. Don't forget that 1 gram of glycogen is linked with 2.7 grams of water. This means that if a bodybuilder has 45 kg (99 pounds) of Lean Muscular Tissue, (don't confuse Lean Muscular Tissue with Fat Free Mass; Lean muscular tissue is in other words "MUSCLE", instead Fat Free Mass consists of Lean Muscular Tissue + Bones + Water) he can increase his bodyweight about 4.86 kg (10.69 pounds) with glycogen and water during the carbohydrate loading phase.

The calculation goes like this:

1) Kg 45 x 10 = 450 hg

(Kg of skeletal muscle converted into hg; 1 kg equal 1000grams, 1 hg equal 100grams)

2) hg 450 x 4 = 1800 grams (total muscular glycogen content)

(the number 4 stands for the maximum glycogen content per 100 grams of muscle tissue)

3) 1800 grams x 2.7 = 4860 grams (final bodyweight achieved)

(2.7 is the grams of water linked to 1 gram of glycogen)

All this weight gained comes from glycogen and water. It's not water retention! Water retention means that water is being kept between the cells (in this case between the muscle cells) giving the muscles that smooth look that won't give you that ripped look that is so hard to reach after all the sacrifices that you made while preparing for competition. The water gained is all carried into the muscle cells because glycogen depots are located only inside and not outside the muscle and liver cells. That's why this loading phase makes the muscles appear bigger and fuller!

To cause this "supercompensation" it is very important to reload the right amount of carbs. The consumption of fewer carbohydrates than those needed won't lead to the desired effect and you may even notice that your muscles feel empty and become smaller. This is what usually happens to competitive bodybuilders! If this does happen, it would have been better NOT to have done the "depleting carb phase" at all.

If the consumption of carbs exceeds the amount needed to refill all your glycogen depots completely, that surplus will be converted into subcutaneous bodyfat. NOT GOOD.

Now you probably want to know how many carbs you should be eating in order to refill all your glycogen depots while avoiding the risk of reducing your muscle size or gaining bodyfat.

The recommended carbs consumption has been estimated at 400 to 600 grams per day for a period of 3 days after the depleting phase. There are also other very reliable experts on bodybuilding that instead of suggesting the 3 day depleting formula, they opt for 2 days for depleting and 2 days for reloading. My opinion on this is that the difference between the number of days for depleting and reloading is strictly personal and not applicable to everybody; and this is for many different reasons. Even the good results obtained with different schedules on different individuals cannot be simply applied directly to everyone else.

The factors that contribute to the different responses that people get are mainly due to either genetics and/or their personal training schedule during the depleting phase.

And more but nothing on how to do it.

D

I know exactly what you mean, lol. You need to start more than 4 days out though.

This is an article based on information from a friend of mine. I have never seen anything like this, but he knows his **** bigtime. I do think in order for this to work though, you need to be super lean already (this may seem like an obvious point for someone competing, but oddly, it's not always obvious, lol). If this doesn't appeal to you, or you haven't quite hit the level of leaness that you should be at and still want to compete, I can give you what I do via email.

BTW...how many times have you competed?

www.leahwynne.com

My savior, competed just once -- looking to do two competitions this year.

Thanks Leah, appreciate the help.

D

That dude is awesome... and funny. Thank Tim for me would ya. I'm sure I'll be consulting you around contest time.

D

I don't actually know Tim personally...he just wrote the article based on Erik's info.

www.leahwynne.com