It’s a strategy for bulking up while keeping your body fat down. “Most men who are trying to build muscle tend to gain some fat too,” says Mike Roussell PhD, a nutritional consultant in State College, Pennsylvania. That’s like taking one step forward and one step back. Carb cycling, by contrast, “is like taking two steps forward and one step back.” See, when you eat more carbohydrates than you need for fuelling your metabolism, your body turns the carbs into glucose and shuttles it off to your fat and muscle cells. This causes your belly to grow along with your biceps. That’s where carb cycling kicks in: You boost your carb intake on days you exercise and cut back on days you don’t. With this strategy, your body must draw on its stored energy reserves for power, which means you’ll be burning fat. To give carb cycling a spin, use this menu: On workout days, eat a balanced carb-fat-protein diet, emphasising high-fi bre carbs like beans, wholegrains and fruit. On rest days, go with leafy greens and fi brous vegetables, and keep your carb intake under 100g.
What is carb cycling?
It’s a strategy for bulking up while keeping your body fat down. “Most men who are trying to build muscle tend to gain some fat too,” says Mike Roussell PhD, a nutritional consultant in State College, Pennsylvania. That’s like taking one step forward and one step back. Carb cycling, by contrast, “is like taking two steps forward and one step back.” See, when you eat more carbohydrates than you need for fuelling your metabolism, your body turns the carbs into glucose and shuttles it off to your fat and muscle cells. This causes your belly to grow along with your biceps. That’s where carb cycling kicks in: You boost your carb intake on days you exercise and cut back on days you don’t. With this strategy, your body must draw on its stored energy reserves for power, which means you’ll be burning fat. To give carb cycling a spin, use this menu: On workout days, eat a balanced carb-fat-protein diet, emphasising high-fi bre carbs like beans, wholegrains and fruit. On rest days, go with leafy greens and fi brous vegetables, and keep your carb intake under 100g.
