Carb cycling for powerlifting/strength training?

nuttynutskin

nuttynutskin

Bluelighter
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May 15, 2011
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Does anyone have any thoughts on this on this or recommendations? I'll be the first right now to say I know very little as far as the scientifics of lifting and eating beyond eat a lot of good food and lift heavy. Right now I'm more or less slow bulking, but I eat at the same frequency pretty much every day including non-lifting days. I'm wondering if having some lower carb days would help me stay a bit leaner than I have in the past when I just ate everything in sight. Thoughts?
 
It might do, although overall caloric intake will factor - just eliminating or reducing carbs is no guarantee you'll lose bodyfat.

What's you diet like, on a weekly basis?
 
Along with manipulating carbohydrate intake you'd what to incorporate some aspect to accelerate your body utilizing excess fat storage for metabolic needs.

This is usually successful with cardiovascular exercises on your low carb days. I've always used low intensity cardio, but for prolonged periods of time.

Here is a good study that talks about the utilization of adipose tissue in comparison to low/moderate intensity and high intensity exercise. http://www.kines.umich.edu/sites/we...sprod/files/resource_files/HorowitzTEMrev.pdf

Basically High intensity exercises relies on intramuscular fuel storage ie your glycogen reserves while low/moderate intensity exercises can help promote fatty acid mobilization for endurance.

IMO, I've always thought the reasoning behind these mechanics was that lipolysis is considered an oxidation of fatty acids. In order for oxidation to occur oxygen must be present for the required equation. High intensity exercises are oxygen demanding and the body wouldn't be able to allocate the required catalyst (O2) for other processes. I could be completely wrong, but that is how I've always interpreted why the body spares certain energy sources for certain activities. Even though they are considered anaerobic...your breathing heavily and that breathing is increasing oxygen intake. I'm sure someone will chime in to correct my illogical thought process.
 
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CFC said:
What's you diet like, on a weekly basis?
Click to expand...

Meal 1

Oatmeal made with 1/3 dry cup
Protein shake
Apple

Meal 2

Homemade hamburger with cheese or a turkey sandwich with cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil

Meal 3

Fish, chicken breast, or steak
1 cup of rice or mashed potato
Spinach salad with cherry tomatoes

Meal 4

About 1 dry cup of granola with milk
1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese

Meal 5

2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter
Protein shake
Banana

For my protein shake mix I use 2 cups of milk, 8 whole eggs, and 3 scoops of whey protein powder. I usually have that over 1 1/2 days but I'll have an extra protein shake on the days that I work out.
 
Oh, and thanks Grym for the response, but your stuff is usually way over my head unfortunately.
 
I wouldn't look at your your reduced calorie days as "low carb" days as that is somewhat misleading. Instead, you are simply cutting back overall calories by reducing your carbs and fat and keeping your protein levels up high. Also for optimal results for powerlifting, I'd recommend not just a "lift heavy" approach. Research this more to see what some of the powerlifting programs look like and you'll see they aren't all about lifting your max all of the time.

I'm not nearly as strict on my diet as you guys are. I always keep my protein high and when I feel soft in the belly, I cut back on the carbs/fat by eating smaller meals at night or in the AM. I know AM is considered the most important but it's also the hardest time for me to eat because I'm just not super hungry first thing in the AM. That's why I can cut overall calories by cutting back a little there.

Your meals 4 and 5 are the easiest places to reduce your daily caloric intake. Reduce milk/cottage cheese. Too easy IMO.
 
I like your diet nutty, you could change things here and there but I think it's pretty decent as it is. You could just reduce carb portions a little rather than totally eliminating them, but keep the protein the same, or you could add a few sessions of cardio per week. I'd personally prefer the latter since you're doing a power routine and that's not really compatible with cutting food back too much.
 
I assumed you wanted to lose some weight and based on your diet, that was the easiest way to cut some calories. Read the sentence before the one you questioned.
 
nuttynutskin said:
Oh, and thanks Grym for the response, but your stuff is usually way over my head unfortunately.
Click to expand...

Ahh I'm just really retarded at conveying my message.

I forgot to add this, but it came to my mind. IMO and from what I've seen work with some of my friends is that its best to increase cardio intake first to see if it satisfies you before you begin caloric restrictions. Even if you are cutting back by 250 calories you still increase the possibility of losing the precious LBM that is being developed due to the body recognizing the caloric surplus. I have just always been able to get away with bizarre caloric restrictions and manipulations that wouldn't suit the general population.

Cardiovascular training also triggers anabolic responses and helps build other components that can greater facilitate muscle growth.
 
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