Training on low carbs

[bulkybud]

Been training while on low carbs, trying to lose some of the flab by Halloween, and then I'll start a clean bulking program. Got to reduce the love handles and gut.

The good- people in the gym today commented on they are seeing definition that I didn't have before now that I'm at my lowest bodyweight in a decade (240 lbs). I'm going to try for 230 and then assess what I want to do from there- more cuts or move to clean bulking.

The bad- I'm dragging (no energy). Getting through workouts is much harder and I feel weaker. I still love training, but I miss that "beastly" feeling you get on a high carb diet.

Any suggestions?

Bulkybud

[inm]

Yes: eat 75% or more of your daily carbs before your workout. maybe even try increasing it slowly.
do you have a weekly cheat meal?

[bulkybud]

Originally Posted by inm

Yes: eat 75% or more of your daily carbs before your workout. maybe even try increasing it slowly.
do you have a weekly cheat meal?

Good idea on eating the carbs before the workout.

The weekly cheat meal is certainly in my plan.

I have an bizarre digestive/nutritional situation- I have to gorge on carbs to maintain my body weight when I'm training- anything else results in a loss. I find gaining weight during training periods VERY difficult.

Most of the fat I'm trying to get rid of is a holdover from my pre-training days.

Bulkybud

[THE BODYBUILDING GIANT]

right mate heres my two pence or cent worth

why have carbs before training u will just burn the carbs that you have taken before training and i thought u wanted to burn fat

so ive doenea no carb diet and depleted for 20 weeks now mate
wanna know how i did it

1) no easy way u goota keep pushing motivation depends on how badly u wanna look defined and good
2) energy drinks or black coffer so diet redbull or l-carnatine drinks will get u through a workout fatburners raise ur body temperature so u feel awake and so ur alert and helps burn fat
3)always have carbs after training to fill ur muscle up and help deliver the protein to your muscles mate otherwise ur will just not grow whilst dieting or maintian a muscled body
4) no easy way out u will get moody angry stressed hungry fed up sick of life tempted selfish wanna give up if u have a patner they wil hate u for a while u sulk get irritated and lots more
due to having low or no carbs so welcome to the bodybuilding world

but like i said how serious do u wanna lose weight and look good

my life saviour is cheat meal i cant do cheat day cause i feel sick and bring it all back up but a pizza and chip with coke yum yum

dont waana put u off but telling the truth if u speak to any real dieter or bber they will say the same

[inm]

N-man, carbs before training is for having energy to train. Fat burned during training is insignificant. Its about the overall calorie deficit.
carbs post training are half as efficient, since insulin activity is blocked at that time. there is research that shows that absolutely, protein and carbs are best taken before training, not after.
take care of your peri-workout nutrition, and then take care of cutting calories to burn fat.

[bulkybud]

Originally Posted by inm

N-man, carbs before training is for having energy to train. Fat burned during training is insignificant. Its about the overall calorie deficit.
carbs post training are half as efficient, since insulin activity is blocked at that time. there is research that shows that absolutely, protein and carbs are best taken before training, not after.
take care of your peri-workout nutrition, and then take care of cutting calories to burn fat.

In Alan Aragon's "Girth Control" book, he agrees with you. Studies that he quotes say that carbs used for lean muscle growth are best consumed before, during, and immediately after training. Carbs consumed at other times during the day stand a better chance to be stored as fat.

Once nutrition around training time is done, he also says it is the overall calorie deficit that controls fat burning. He takes it as far as not looking at a daily total, but a weekly total, cheat days included.

My problem is as a first-thing-in-the-morning trainer I tend to feel nauseous when I have had a protein/carb drink before I workout. I will look at other options to get that pre-training nutrition in, such as protein and fruit rather than a carb/protein shake, or getting up earlier to give it more time to digest, or some other option. Aragon also strongly feels that working out in a fasted state is a mistake, so I'm sure I can work something out.

Thanks!

Bulkybud

[bulkybud]

Originally Posted by nathan

right mate heres my two pence or cent worth

Nathan,

Thanks for the feedback. Many of your ideas are supported by what I have read.

Your post-workout protein/carbs intake is STRONGLY upheld by bb literature.

I think that the secret could be my pre-workout nutrition and I'm going to do some experimenting to that end.

I'm going to keep at the overall low-carb approach for a while, but I'm going to do my best not to a snarling, nasty person in the gym while on it despite what the bodybuilding community may be willing to excuse. A mean person is a mean person, no matter what their calorie intake.

Thanks for all the ideas!

Bulkybud

[THE BODYBUILDING GIANT]

Originally Posted by inm

N-man, carbs before training is for having energy to train. Fat burned during training is insignificant. Its about the overall calorie deficit.
carbs post training are half as efficient, since insulin activity is blocked at that time. there is research that shows that absolutely, protein and carbs are best taken before training, not after.
take care of your peri-workout nutrition, and then take care of cutting calories to burn fat.

interesting thought thats why ilike this forum everyone has diferent views and u can learn many things my thought on it has always been carbs for energy yeah

so why do bbers do cardio on an empty stomach in the morning. its because the energy used taps stright in to the fat storage and has to use that as energy tahst what i always thought..

i take all my supplements and proteins and carbs etc because i feel afetr a workout ive used verything up and so i replenish what ive used thats what ive always thought anyway


can u explain to me why take it before training just dont understand thanks??

[THE BODYBUILDING GIANT]

Originally Posted by bulkybud

Nathan,

Thanks for the feedback. Many of your ideas are supported by what I have read.

Your post-workout protein/carbs intake is STRONGLY upheld by bb literature.

I think that the secret could be my pre-workout nutrition and I'm going to do some experimenting to that end.

I'm going to keep at the overall low-carb approach for a while, but I'm going to do my best not to a snarling, nasty person in the gym while on it despite what the bodybuilding community may be willing to excuse. A mean person is a mean person, no matter what their calorie intake.

Thanks for all the ideas!

Bulkybud

i like the positive attitude mate keep on going and do what u feel the best what works for me may not work for u and others im really interested in this pre work out nutrution so let me know how it goes mate

as for snarlying and being nasty its jsu an excuse i have become very withdrawn and tired and ignored evryone lol best way for me to cope with it

[inm]

Good point, Nathan! however, cardio is different than weight lifting, and most trainers nowadays would have you ingest some BCAA or whey to prevent catabolic signals.
Also, the situation of pro BBuilders, with steroids, GH and T3 supplements, practically makes the question moot. They can build muscle while dieting down, since they bypass the body's natural hormonal responses.
When you're a natural BBer, you need to take the body's natural hormonal responses into account, and be more careful, especially in your situation of Very low bodyfat. bulkybud and me, do not need such careful manipulations, nor is our need for a cheat meal so severe.

[inm]

p.s. I have done NO carb diets. I've learned a lot from the experience:
1. my body can perform very well without carbs. I dont get nasty , in fact my mood stabilizes by that state..
2. I lose fat faster and better on low carbs than on no carbs, especially if I eat low-GI carbs, 2-3 hours before training.

bulkybud, as for training in the morning, I'd suggest you try eating gluten-free and milk-free carbs (no wheat/oats products), since they can induce bloat. rice, (rice cakes) works best for this, in my experience.

[THE BODYBUILDING GIANT]

Originally Posted by inm

Good point, Nathan! however, cardio is different than weight lifting, and most trainers nowadays would have you ingest some BCAA or whey to prevent catabolic signals.
Also, the situation of pro BBuilders, with steroids, GH and T3 supplements, practically makes the question moot. They can build muscle while dieting down, since they bypass the body's natural hormonal responses.
When you're a natural BBer, you need to take the body's natural hormonal responses into account, and be more careful, especially in your situation of Very low bodyfat. bulkybud and me, do not need such careful manipulations, nor is our need for a cheat meal so severe.

good repsonse mate and i see where your coming from totally agree with the bbers supplements playing a big part with weight loss yet prevention of keeping muscle you have givin me a new way to look at things which is great about forums you can learn different things

i will look into this approach mate so thanks for highlighting it to me
sorry

[THE BODYBUILDING GIANT]

Originally Posted by inm

p.s. I have done NO carb diets. I've learned a lot from the experience:
1. my body can perform very well without carbs. I dont get nasty , in fact my mood stabilizes by that state..
2. I lose fat faster and better on low carbs than on no carbs, especially if I eat low-GI carbs, 2-3 hours before training.

bulkybud, as for training in the morning, I'd suggest you try eating gluten-free and milk-free carbs (no wheat/oats products), since they can induce bloat. rice, (rice cakes) works best for this, in my experience.

gonna try this mate do u think u can burn fat whilst weigth training mate ??

[inm]

Originally Posted by nathan

gonna try this mate do u think u can burn fat whilst weigth training mate ??

if the work volume is high enough, or if doing complexes/circuits, then I guess you can. but, calories burned during workout are not high anyway. its more about creating a training effect, while letting the body know it must retain the muscles (since in starvatino mode, which is where you are at low %bf, the body wants to burn muscle. high intensity training (high weights/lowish reps) gives the correct signal.
I learned a lot about this by following tnation.com. if you watch their for the previous week (training spills), the trainer gives a lot of information on this. (dont try to read all the text,, its way too much.)