I just got an amazing response from Christian Thibaudeau regarding how to minimize the effect of holding subcutaneous water that I knew I had to share with you all.
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
I would switch to a 1 day carb load and do the following:
During the week (low carb days) double your fluid intake… drink like crazy. You won’t retain water because you are no ingesting any carbs. The day before your carb up should be the one with the highest water intake.
During your carb-up day drastically cut down your water intake to the bare minimum.
This is kinda like what bodybuilders do to peak for a show.
The increase in water intake during the week will downregulate aldosterone, which will turn your body into a water excreting machine instead of a storing one. As you abruptly cut down your water during your carb-up day you will still be in “flushing” mode but not drinking much… as a result you should actually dry out.
The carbs require water to be stored in the muscles. 2.7g of water to store 1g of carbs to be exact. If you are overconsuming carbs and underconsuming water your body will have to take subcutaneous (beneath the skin) water to store carbs in the muscle. As a result you will both look fuller and dryer.
For good measure you can also soak for 30 minutes in a super hot Epsom salt bath at the end of your carb-up day, before going to bed. Epsom salt baths will make you sweat out water like crazy without affecting intramuscular stores. It is also very relaxing and will help you sleep well.
Epsom salts can normally be bought for very cheap at most drug stores.
BTW, during the week (low-carb days) I would actually increase sodium intake (for the same reason as you also jack up water intake) but cut it WAYYYYYY down on your carb-up day.
Vitamin C is also a mild diuretic, so ingesting 2-3x 1000mg during the carb-up day will help you flush some more water.
ovalpline wrote:
Christian,
I have an interesting question for you:
I’ve been using the AD now for a long time and genuinely love it. I’ve gotten bigger, stronger, and leaner… and continue to do so. The only issue I have is holding subcutaneous water for 2 days after my carb-loads. It’s simply not the best of looks, you know?
Since I’ve been in the US and going to school, I’ve decided that’s it’s no big deal. However, I leave tomorrow to study abroad in Chile… and I want to look good (read: avoid holding much subcutaneous water) at near all times… after all, I’ll be meeting many exotic, beautiful ladies and it will be summer time since Chile is in the Southern Hemisphere.
So basically, I want to get your opinion on a diet strategy that is geared basically toward maintenance and allows me to avoid holding much subcutaneous water… preferably still utilizing the basic tenets of the AD (fat adaptation with carb-loads).
I was considering doing a one day carb-load every 5th day instead of my usual 5 days low-carb, 2 days carb-up. My hunch is that this should keep me from reaching the point of holding subcutaneous water by way of shortcircuiting the glycogen supercompensation.
I think this method should work, especially considering that I will probably be exercising 3 (maybe 4) days/week instead of the 4 (sometimes 5) days/week I do in the U.S.
For the record, I am 5’6", 167 pounds (glycogen depleted) at <6% BF… and I have always noticed that I tend to hold water rather easily, whether it be from carb-ups or when I was on a higher carb diet (similar to Berardi’s PN) despite drinking lots of water and generally avoiding sodium.
What are your thoughts?
