Carb Manipulation – Which Way To Go?

My bodybuilding past taught me so much about training, mindset and nutrition and all of these aspects have helped both my clients and myself over the last decade. As you know, I love to help those who are eager to learn and today we are covering the topic of carb manipulation, which could quite possibly become one of the most useful tools at your disposal.

As the name suggests, the main methods for carb manipulation are deficit based since we are trying to take advantage of this macronutrient. Carb backloading, carb cycling and lean bulking allow the individual to lose bodyfat and shape their body based on their goals. Re-feeds, carb loading and dirty bulking are well known methods for boosting training performance but come with the risk of weight gain if not done properly.

What is the role of carbs anyway?

Carbohydrates are the body’s first source of energy, which means this macronutrient is the easiest to break down and use for fuel. However, this does not mean that carbs are essential for survival and, as you may know, there are some medical diets such as keto, which are very effective at improving a person’s health profile through removing carbohydrates from one’s diet almost entirely. This, however, is a topic for another time.

Despite carbohydrates being easy to break down, not all of the energy consumed will be immediately available. When ingesting carbohydrates, these simple sugars can be used for three things: 1) released into the blood stream for immediate energy, 2) saved as muscle glycogen for later use (training sessions over upcoming days), 3) stored as bodyfat.

Side note: There are absolutely other uses for carbohydrates in our bodies, however today we are focusing on sports performance.

And what about protein?

To add lean mass to our bodies, it is only protein that matters and carbohydrates are not needed. However, carbs do have a role in muscle protein synthesis and in building a shapely body that can also fuel your training sessions in a smart way. It is important to know that muscle protein synthesis (MPS) levels stay elevated for up to 2-6 hours post resistance training and then gradually start dropping until they reach baseline, which can take up to 72 hours.

The first port of call for muscle building is consuming protein – especially amino acids from animal protein, which are easy to use building blocks for our bodies. As you condition your body and the more muscle you build, the more carbs your muscle glycogen bellies can take up, allowing you to store more energy for future movement. Alongside every gram of carbohydrate (glycogen), our bodies store 3 grams of water. Whether this weight is going to be stored intracellularly or intramuscularly, is down to the prevalence of resistance training in your training. That is also the difference between looking ‘skinny fat’ and ‘swole’.

So what are the different carb manipulation methods?

Carb loading – This method is utilised to boost performance during endurance events or used before bodybuilding shows to improve one’s stage physique through a last minute carb-up after a week of water loading. Novice athletes tend to load up recklessly on any and all carbohydrate rich foods, resulting in the infamous ‘skinny fat’ physiques. This is due to the excess energy getting stored as bodyfat instead of muscle glycogen. Experienced athletes know how little glycogen is actually stored in muscles at any one time and will carb load in waves before a bodybuilding show or will prepare snacks for an endurance event as one absolutely needs to keep topping up their energy levels from about 60-90 minutes in. Consuming carbohydrates as and when they are needed allows for these to be utilised by the body immediately with no spillage.

Side note: As a general rule, the closer to the time of your performance, the lighter the meal and the simpler the carbs. This is to ensure quick breakdown of energy, no bloating or stress on the digestive system. Liquid nutrition is often helpful, which is why sports drinks and juicy fruits (ie satsumas, oranges) are ideal for a little boost.

Carb backloading – this is the most widely used method for bodybuilding and has you consuming your allocated carbohydrates in the post-workout part of the day. You are meant to stay low-carb all morning well into the early afternoon, getting your nutrients from protein and vegetables or protein and fats. The former guarantees optimal fat loss through very low caloric intake and ensuring there are ample amino acids in the body to keep it from breaking down existing muscle as you train. The latter can provide better performance for the training session, however it can also inhibit burning energy from storage depending on the amount of fats consumed and the intensity of the workout.

Using carb backloading allows one to burn an optimal amount of glycogen from storage during training and to remain in a fat burning state until the high carb meal time is reached post-workout. Depending on where you are on your fitness journey, you might choose to consume your day’s carbs in one sitting and go back to low carb for dinner or ration the intake to avoid digestive stress. Reliable old school methods say start with 50g in the first serving and follow up with 25g every half hour until carbs are not needed anymore.

Side note: Carbs should not be delayed past the point of no return (usually a few hours post workout): when your brain gets a bit foggy, you might start to feel jittery, shaky or even ‘hangry’. Pushing your body past this point on a regular basis can affect the insulin response from your body and can cause diabetes.

Carb cycling – This method has you alternating between deficit and maintenance calories, managing your carbohydrate intake to optimise performance while burning bodyfat. Carb cycling on its own is usually very effective for people new to trying to control their food intake. It also helps the ‘all or nothing’ mindset to be utilised in a very healthy way. To build this method into your week, you must first divide your movement and activity levels between low, medium and high intensity days. On no-training, low-activity days, we have little need for carbohydrates and these days are fantastic for a low-carb approach.

As a general rule of thumb this is either <80g or 80-120g depending on several factors such as the individual’s gender, BMR, muscle mass etc. On medium intensity days, the carbs would be taken up to 150g-170g and high intensity days, carbs can reach 250g and beyond. Your protein intake should always be the non-negotiable part of your diet, meaning the absolute minimum consumed is 1g per kg of bodyweight a day. Ideally, I would encourage everyone to aim towards 1,5-2g protein per kg of bodyweight a day to support building lean mass and to ensure a faster metabolism. Fat intake is usually inversely correlated with your carb intake but should not surpass 35% of your daily calories.

Side note: Carb cycling accompanied with carb backloading is an absolute winner of a combination and is what has allowed me to stay in the shape that I am in (lean muscular) for over a decade.

Lean bulking – Goes hand in hand with carb cycling. Making sure that carbs are present to avoid lethargy and poor performance, but controlling their intake and tracking progress and changes in one’s body on a daily basis. Lean bulking is helpful at the early stages of muscle building when the individual wishes to lose bodyfat and build muscle at the same time. This can be a time consuming process, however it ensures success long-term as the focus is on building lean mass and utilising carbohydrates as a tool for optimal performance while keeping lean physique goals in mind. These methods teach the individual a healthy, balanced approach to life and nutrition, with no significant highs or lows as tracking is constant (at least for the first 3-6 months of the process) and there is no risk of significant neglect or reckless overeating.

Side note: If you tend to have an addictive personality and know that you can get obsessive over numbers, start with carb cycling and have a slightly more relaxed approach. The goal for any of these methods is to give you control over the macronutrients, not the other way around.

Re-feed – Professional athletes are always in a slight deficit since low bodyfat and an optimal adipose tissue to lean mass ratio is needed for being fast/explosive/strong. However, even a 100-200kcal deficit builds up to something more significant over time, especially if caloric expenditure is hard to track due to varying degrees of intensity during training sessions. This is where re-feeds come in.

Be it once a week or once a month, this high calorie meal or high calorie intake day brings the athlete back to maintenance or a slight surplus, allowing for optimal storing of energy from said meal(s). This is usually done on a rest day as the increased food intake also requires quite a bit of energy from one’s body and digestion takes time. The day after a re-feed is often the day for an intense training session, which can also produce new personal bests. If you are new to any sport and have only just started dieting down, don’t go to town on carbs just yet as your muscle glycogen stores won’t have had the time to optimally adapt.

Side note: No, we don’t do cheat days. There is so much wrong with approaching any meal or part of your diet as if you have done something bad. A re-feed is an athlete’s way of approaching a healthy deficit and rewarding their body for the hard work. I invite you to think of yourself as an athlete from this day onwards to treat yourself and your body with respect.

Dirty bulking – This is the one method that I find it hard to not be biased against. For years at my first gym, I observed some individuals going back and forth between binge and restrict periods. They were gaining and losing significant amounts of bodyweight every few months without realising they were risking losing muscle every time they did a ‘cut’. They didn’t understand why I never tried it, I didn’t understand why they were so obsessed with it. A decade in to my fitness journey, I finally ‘gave it a go’ last year so I could also speak from experience and not just slate the method. If you are interested in everything the dirty bulk revealed for me, read the blog post here.

Dirty bulking isn’t really even a method, it simply means you eat carbs with every meal and don’t deny yourself anything. The excitement of getting to eat whatever you want with seemingly no repercussions (until weight gain happens) as one’s strength goes up (that indeed is guaranteed) and muscles seem to be growing (remember what I said earlier about MPS and muscles storing carbs and water) might sound like a dream to some. However, sooner or later, one ends up missing their lean physique and having more energy, so the diet is ruthlessly reversed overnight with no carbs (or even fats) in sight, allowing them to lean out over the space of a few months, then missing their strength etc. This yo-yo method continues until the athlete matures and realises this is not the way forward.

Side note: Dirty bulking is considered unknowledgeable and reckless but it seems to largely appeal to male athletes, which is understandable as they don’t have to worry about the hormonal imbalances that this approach can cause in women.

So how do you apply all this?

As you know, we are also in the middle of the Perimenopause series and the aforementioned deficit inducing methods are extremely helpful for women in the transformative years of their lives. This means, I will be covering carb cycling and carb backloading again in the next blog post to help you get the most out of your resistance training while also equipping you with knowledge on how to increase insulin sensitivity through sun, heat and cold exposure. Remember, all of these ways of eating, moving and living are for longevity and consistency because we don’t do reckless around here. We love ourselves, our bodies and we want to celebrate what they can do and ensure our healthy activities continue well into our later years.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post today. If any questions have come up during this, I’d love to answer them for you!

Rahel xx