Carb Up Once A Week On Cuttin Routine?

[satchboogie]

6 days into cutting cycle and energy levels are suffering.
workouts arent intense and the weight is hurtin!
pumps are weak, and muscles are flat.

carbs at around 100g a day.
workout once a day followed by a 15-20 min cardio routine.
another cardio routine at night.

whats your thought on a carb up day on the 7th day?
i'm thinkin about 300-400g carbs to restore glycogen levels./.

 

[concordsize]

i like 3 low 1 high.

 

[muscleup]

yep...Watch dropping carbs to low satch. You would be suprised how much muscle you can lose if the proper amount of carbs is not used at the proper times....regardless of how much gear one might be taking.

i like 3 low 1 high.

 

[satchboogie]

yep...Watch dropping carbs to low satch. You would be suprised how much muscle you can lose if the proper amount of carbs is not used at the proper times....regardless of how much gear one might be taking.

when you say 'proper times' i assume you mean post and pre workout?

 

[Vicious cycle]

i like 3 low 1 high.

If you are going to do carb depletion, that is the way I would do it as well. Satch, try asking on the diet board, bunch of good bro's there who would love to help you out.

 

[flex2win]

What kinds of carbs are you taking in right now?

 

[mr.cuts]

6 days into cutting cycle and energy levels are suffering.
workouts arent intense and the weight is hurtin!
pumps are weak, and muscles are flat.

carbs at around 100g a day.
workout once a day followed by a 15-20 min cardio routine.
another cardio routine at night.

whats your thought on a carb up day on the 7th day?
i'm thinkin about 300-400g carbs to restore glycogen levels./.

What works for me is I have 6 days of very strict clean eating. On the seventh day I will allow myself to eat whatever and however much I want for two hours. For example, I will normally have a whole large pizza, ice cream, cookies, burgers,etc. I try stick to high sugar carbs. This allows me to keep my metabolism jacked up and my workouts intense! Howeverm the key is that you can only do this for two hours per week, you have to have the willpower to get right back on your diet after the cheat.

 

[artrius]

When you start depleting carbs, you'r muscles will tend to look flat (hence all the BBer's that come in "flat" at competitions... they've been cutting carbs...) I have personally tried low carb diets and they just don't work for heavy weight lifting. You NEED glycogen to fuel your workouts. That's not to say to eat TONS of carbs every day, but at least keep a minimum based on your macronutrient ratios. If you do decide to go low carb anyways, depending how low you go on carbohydrates, 3 low 1 high will work well.

On your carb up day, try starting with 2x bodyweight in carbs. Works for me

 

[mr.cuts]

Also, I think your carbs are way to low, especially considering that you are training twice per day. I also train 2X per day. So, what I do when I cut bodyfat is zigzag the carbs. For example, I use a 3 2 1 approach in regards to the amount of carbs. Bodyweight X (3 2 1). For example, on day 1 I will consume 660grams of carbs(220lbsX3), day 2 will be 440grams of carbs(220lbsX2), and day 3 will be 220grams of carbs(220lbs X 1). This pattern will be repeated, so on the fourth day I will go back to 660grams of carbs,etc. I keep the protein at 2X bodyweight on all days. So I am taking in around 440 grams of protein per day. Fats are kept low, I mainly rely on EFA's, Olive oil,flax,etc.

Carbs sources are always Yams, Oatmeal,and Broccoli. Except during the 2 hour cheat when I eat whatever I want. I am able to shed around 1.5-2lbs of fat per week with this approach. Energy levels are always high, metabolism is kept high and LBM loss is minimal to none.

 

[gimp]

all good advice..I personally consider "low carb" as 1 gram of carbs/ bodyweight. I am 230 lbs...so, when cutting I don't go below 200 grams of carbs/day. If I stick to brown rice, oats and sweet potatoes, I never have trouble dropping fat. I do carb up once/week....usually like someone mentioned above, by having a couple of cheats on saturday. Then when I am 4 weeks away from the end of my diet...I rarely cheat, I carb up on saturdays, but, with sweet potatoes.

 

[Makavelli]

Satch, absolutely carb up once a week. I'm not sure about how much lbm you have, but I have a high carb day once every six days for the first 8 weeks of a precontest diet. I have low carb days, which are training days, very low carb, which are non training days. Just cardio. Then on my high carb days I'll use slin twice a day and consume about 800-900 g of carbs. Obviously all very clean carbs. Once you go along in your diet you'll have to spread out the carb load to once every 12-14 days. This works great for all the BB's that I've helped.

 

[gimp]

interesting....why the insulin and so much carbs (900grams)?

 

[TheAssholeFomerlyKnownAsDBBT]

6 days into cutting cycle and energy levels are suffering.
workouts arent intense and the weight is hurtin!
pumps are weak, and muscles are flat.

carbs at around 100g a day.
workout once a day followed by a 15-20 min cardio routine.
another cardio routine at night.

whats your thought on a carb up day on the 7th day?
i'm thinkin about 300-400g carbs to restore glycogen levels./.

100g a day is pretty low for week 1 of a cutter, youre not going to have much energy to even drive to the gym especially if youre doing cardio twice a day already. Gradual everything is what I do. Drop the cals a little not by 75 % week 1. Cardio, start with one a day. I hope youre not doing this natty as that will also just lead to your body being in a severe catabolic state all day long Cardio first thing in am is the only way to go for me. I'd never do it post w/o for the reason that you're already in a catabolic state post w/o, why add to it? Carb up one day or one meal a week is what I do. But I dont drop my carbs as fast as youre doing though so that prolly doesnt help you.

 

[flex2win]

Satch-
Sounds kind of like what happened to me last year for my show. I went from eating whatever, to cutting carbs the next day. Took me two weeks to adjust to it. I agree with DBBer, work yourself down by a percentage week by week until you find that point you're most comfortable at. In the mornings I stuck to oatmeal, and then 90 minutes prior to workout, I ate a can of yams, then nothing else except greens, from 2pm on. Fibrous carbs will pass thru quite nicely. Let us know how else we can help..

 

[Makavelli]

interesting....why the insulin and so much carbs (900grams)?

The insulin helps to fill out. You only have about 16-18 hours to fill out and I've found that using slin helps immensely. Why 900 g's? That's what I need to fill out. I have a fast metabolism and started my precontest diet at 243 lbs. I'm 2 weeks out now and haven't carbed up in 2 weeks. I won't carb up until the wed before the show.

 

[Smokescreen]

I'm currently eating only 200grams of low glycemic carbs per day. I stop with the carbs 5 hours before going to bed. Monday - Friday of course!

But on the weekends...I eat what I want, when I want, how I want. So far so good! I went from 13%BF to 12%BF in a little under 2 weeks. Haven't started the damn fat burners yet. Or the dreaded cardio...which I fucking hate!!! And probably do not have time for.

 

[Makavelli]

I'm currently eating only 200grams of low glycemic carbs per day. I stop with the carbs 5 hours before going to bed. Monday - Friday of course!

But on the weekends...I eat what I want, when I want, how I want. So far so good! I went from 13%BF to 12%BF in a little under 2 weeks. Haven't started the damn fat burners yet. Or the dreaded cardio...which I fucking hate!!! And probably do not have time for.

That will work until you get to about 10%. After that you'll have to tighten up to continue dropping BF.

 

[Smokescreen]

That will work until you get to about 10%. After that you'll have to tighten up to continue dropping BF.

Hmmm. Don't know bro. I did this last year and I was able to go down to 7.5% BF. But I guess I'll do what you say to do. But maybe 4-5 weeks prior to July 17.

 

[Indy]

6 days into cutting cycle and energy levels are suffering.
workouts arent intense and the weight is hurtin!
pumps are weak, and muscles are flat.

carbs at around 100g a day.
workout once a day followed by a 15-20 min cardio routine.
another cardio routine at night.

whats your thought on a carb up day on the 7th day?
i'm thinkin about 300-400g carbs to restore glycogen levels./.

Hey bro, I had same issues, couldn't make it to 10 days to "carb up" did so on the 7th after I couldn't take it any longer.

 

[ass_face]

Satch... not sure when you are taking your carbs in during the low carb days, but they should be right after your work-out regardless if it is a night work out.

Also... a free for all day is a must every 7-10 days to get leptin levels back to normal. Otherwise your metabolic clock goes into starvation mode.

 

[Makavelli]

Hey bro, I had same issues, couldn't make it to 10 days to "carb up" did so on the 7th after I couldn't take it any longer.

Everyone is different and flattens out at a different rate. Some are able to go 12 days, while others with faster metabolisms need once a week. Experimentation is key...