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Crib Sheet on Carbohydrate Cycling

Posted November 27, 2007 at 12:00 PM by Shannon Clark

Section: Her Fitness, Training Programs, Her Health, Her Nutrition

Carbohydrate cycling is used by athletes with specific training goals and advising from experts. Use this info to inform yourself - but see a medical practitioner before you make any major lifestyle changes.

One of the more popular diet methods out there for athletes looking to improve performance is carbohydrate cycling. Not only does it help to ensure that your leptin levels (a hormone that regulates body fat and calorie intake) do not change drastically, but it helps keep energy levels up as well.

The body prefers to work off carbohydrates during exercise. While it can run effectively on fat if you work at a lower intensity, as soon as you try and perform high intensity work you will find yourself becoming fatigued, because your body needs glucose to rev up its engine for harder workouts. 

As such, if you are on a very low carbohydrate diet and are trying to perform a good level of intense exercise, you will run into problems.

Furthermore, many tend to notice that unless they take their carbohydrates down to ketogenic levels (<20 grams per day), they experience rampant hunger. Including days of higher carbohydrate intake will help resolve this issue.

When structuring a carbohydrate cycling lifestyle, you want to take into consideration your athletic training as well.

Try to place your higher carbohydrate intake on days when you have harder workouts, or the day before - so that you have more stored muscle glycogen for the next day’s workout.

Most people will do well with two to three lower carbohydrate days, two to three medium carbohydrate days and one to two higher carbohydrate days.

Your high carbohydrate days would occur on the days when you do a lower body workout. Then, medium carbohydrate days would be on days of high intensity interval cardio training or an upper body workout. Finally, low carbohydrate days are going to be best left for rest days or days of steady state cardio (since you can effectively do this while only eating fat and protein).

As for the amounts to take in, this will depend on your current calorie levels and your overall goals. Some individuals will aim for two grams of carbs per pound of body weight on high days, one gram per pound on medium days and then try and keep low days around 20-50 grams.

As you go about your diet you can see how your body is responding and then make adjustments as you see fit. The important thing to remember is to pay attention to your workouts and energy levels, and make adjustments accordingly to maintain good performance.

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Tags: athlete nutrition, bodybuilding nutrition, carbohydrate cycling, fat loss, fitness health, low carb diets, training nutrition, training routines

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