Ultimate Guide For Lean Gains, Part

1: Carb Cycling
To add the evasive ten pounds of sleeve-stretching muscle it’s best to use a
time proven nutritional method - carb cycling. High performance
strength and physique athletes have used carb cycling for
decades to optimize athletic performance and body composition.

Gaining muscle requires a caloric surplus, potentially covering those

shredded abs, so it’s time to ditch the old standby of bulking with
unrestricted diets. There’s a better way. By maximizing the anabolic power
of insulin with carb cycling, it’s possible to shred fat and build muscle
simultaneously.

Once you've got your nutrition dialed, check out Part Two: The Lifting
Program.

What is Insulin?

Insulin is an extremely anabolic hormone that will make or

break your physique. Too little and you’re doomed to flat muscles, poor
recovery, and pre-shrinking your affliction t-shirts. Too much and you’ll
resemble the Michelin Man and suffer from myriad health problems.

Insulin is a hormone made in the pancreas, an organ located behind the

stomach. The pancreas contains clusters of cells called islets. Beta cells
within the islets store and release insulin into the blood. Insulin plays a
major role in metabolism. The digestive tract breaks down
carbohydrates into glucose, but its with the help of insulin that
cells are able to absorb glucose and use it for energy.5

Insulin-producing beta cells, in green, on a mouse pancreas islet. Photo

from Wikimedia Commons.
Insulin regulates nutrient entry into muscle cells. When insulin is
seldom elevated, then muscle growth related benefits won’t occur. A higher
carbohydrate intake when your body is increasingly sensitive, such as post-
workout, promotes carbohydrates to initiate tissue repair and set the stage
for muscle growth. Conversely, when the body is not sensitive to carbs and
you’re crushing the pasta buffet, excess carbohydrates will be stored,
building some brand-new layers of blubber on your waistline. Through
proper timing and fluctuations, carbohydrates will be under
your control, allowing the body to strip rolls of fat and build
slabs of muscle.1

Fuel Use During Exercise

Muscle tissue glucose uptake is stimulated by insulin, which triggers the

migration of glucose and amino acids to muscle cells, promoting protein
synthesis. Muscle contractions increase the facilitated diffusion of glucose
into muscle cells even further, promoting greater insulin sensitivity.
Simply, when glucose is present in the blood the body will utilize
it as an energy source over stored fuel - an ideal recipe for
building muscle mass.

Conversely, when carbohydrates aren’t readily available and fat or protein

is the primary source, higher levels of the hormone glucagon combined
with lower levels of blood carbohydrate can lead to a higher rate of fat
burning.2 Through manipulating your source of readily available
fuel, different energy substrates can be used as fuel for exercise.

Carb Cycling

Carb cycling uses the manipulation of insulin to burn fat and maximize
lean muscle gains. In this case two separate days of eating will be
utilized: high-carb days and low-carb days. Resistance training days
are high-carb days, providing additional fuel to maximize the anabolic
response and muscular recovery. Recovery and conditioning days are low-
carb to shred stored body fat and increase insulin sensitivity, both of which
improve nutrient utilization on high-carb days.
Caloric Needs

Body type and activity level are used to determine your caloric
need and macronutrient requirements. Yes, conquer your fear of
math. It’s time for the numbers. Being an intelligent Breaking Muscle
reader it’s safe to assume you’re at least moderately active. If you’re not,
then stop making excuses and go exercise. Using The Essentials of Sport
and Exercise Nutrition by John Berardi and Ryan Andrews, moderately
active individuals are quantified as performing three to four workouts per
week.3 These individuals should multiply their bodyweight in pounds by
eighteen to twenty to get a caloric range.

Example 1:

A 160-lb. male would be: 160x18 = 2880; 160x20 = 3200

The caloric range would be 2,880-3,200 kcals per day.

Example 2:

A 185-lb. male would be 185x20= 3,700; 185x22= 4070 kcals per day.

The caloric range would be 3,700-4,070 kcals per day.

More active? No sweat, for very active individuals (five to seven workouts
per week) ramp up the calculations and multiply bodyweight in pounds by
twenty to 22 to get the caloric range.3

The Breakdown

Calories provide the full gas tank, but the proper macronutrient
breakdown provides premium quality to hasten your mass gains. To best
determine caloric needs an analysis of your somatotype (body
type) is beneficial. Although you’re not solely one somatotype, having a
solid idea provides valuable insight to characteristics such as carbohydrate
tolerance, metabolic rate, and even physical activity preference.
Example 1:

A 160-lb. male with an ectomorph body type consumes 2,880-3,200 kcals

per day. Using 3,000 kcals per day the macronutrient breakdown would be
as follows.

Protein: 3,000 x.25 = 750 kcal % 4 kcals/gram = 188 g Protein

Carbs: 3,000 x.55 = 1650 kcal % 4 kcals/gram = 412 g Carbs

Fat: 3,000 x.20 = 600 kcal % 9 kcals/gram = 67 g Fat

Example 2:

A 185-lb. male with a mesomorphic body type consumes 3,700 -4070 kcals
per day. Using 3,900 kcals per day the macronutrient breakdown would be
as follows.

Protein: 3,900 x.3 = 1170 kcals % 4 kcals/gram = 292 g Protein

Carbs: 3,900 x.4 =1560 kcals % 4 kcals/gram = 390 g Carbs

Fat: 3,900 x .3 = 1,170 kcals % 9/kcals/gram = 130 g Fat

Low-Carb Day

On low-carb days take 75% of the suggested carbohydrate intake to

calculate needs. This number is highly variable based on carb
tolerance. If you’re over 15% body fat, make this number 50% and
calculate needs.

Example 2:
A 185-lb man would taper down carbs by 25% on low-carb days. High-
carbohydrate days use 390 grams of carbs per day. Multiply that 390 x.75
to find the low-carb amount of 293 grams of carbs per day.

Nutrient Timing

Nutrient timing is based on the ideas that certain nutrients are maximized
during various times of the day. For example, carbohydrate
tolerance is higher after exercise because muscle contractions
increase the facilitated diffusion of glucose into muscle cells,
increasing uptake. At no other time during the course of the day can
nutrition have such a profound impact on physique development and
recovery as the body is ready to shift to an anabolic state with proper
nutrition. Through fluctuating carbohydrate intake you can maximize the
post-workout hypersensitivity to insulin and add slabs of muscle, while
preventing excessive fat gain by keeping carbs low on off-days.

Considerations

“Help, I can make faces with my rapidly growing belly!”

Don’t sweat it. I’ve got a solution. Drop your carbs by another 25% on low-
carbohydrate days. Consider adding some additional HIIT or finishers
after two or three workouts per week.

“Dude, the scale isn’t budging. In fact, I’m losing weight!“

First, take bi-weekly measurements such as seven-site skinfolds and

circumference measurements to track body composition. It’s possible
you are losing weight in the form of water and fat, but still
gaining muscle. Second, add an extra 200 calories to the diet. This can
be as simple as a protein shake with a tablespoon of olive oil for healthy
fats and protein. Considering tapering conditioning work and track your
calories for a few days.

Wrap Up
“The two conditions for muscle growth are metabolic sensitivity
and nutrient optimization. The first condition is satisfied in the post
exercise interval because your muscles are ready to begin the recovery
process. For nutrient optimization you must consume the nutrients
necessary to drive recovery (4).” - John Ivy, Ph.D and Robert Portman
Ph.D.4

The wrong foods at the wrong time will sabotage your efforts in the gym
and be detrimental to your waistline. Stop wasting your hard training.
Your body is primed for massive muscle gain and fat loss with
this dietary protocol. Through intelligently programming your diet and
disciplined eating you’ll add slabs of muscle - without a side of love
handles.

Continue to Part Two: The Lifting Program

References:

1. Andrews, R. "All About Nutrient Timing." Precision Nutrition . Precision

Nutrition Inc.. Web. Accessed 11 Nov 2013

2. Berardi, J. , and Ryan Andrews. "The Essentials of Sport and Exercise

Nutrition." 2nd. Toronto : Precision Nutrition Inc., 2012. 115. Print.

3. Berardi, J. , and Ryan Andrews. "The Essentials of Sport and Exercise

Nutrition." 2nd. Toronto : Precision Nutrition Inc., 2012. 358-361. Print.

4. Ivy, Ph.D., J., & Portman, Ph.D., R. (2004). "Nutrient timing." Laguna
Beach : Basic Health Publications Inc.,2004. 48-51. Print.

5. United States Department of Health and Human Services. "Insulin

Resistance and Prediabetes." Bethesda, MD: , 2013. Web.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.