Who is Carb Cycling for?

Diet and Nutrition
1

I’ve read through several articles pertaining to carb cycling, and I still cant seem to find a concrete answer to which body-fat percentages carb cycling is targeted towards.

I’m at around 16% right now, 200 pounds–would carb cycling work for me if I want to get down to 10%? Or do I need to tailor it to fit my needs better (as my body handles carbs poorly)? Or should I just stick with low carbs all day and some sort of refeed?

2

Should work,… honestly, it’s an approach that can be tailored (as far as the actual numbers and amount of high/low days) to suit your needs.

S

3

Thanks Stu. Do you have any advice on what the days/schedule should look like for someone in my shape? My main concern is regarding fat intake–how high do you take it on moderate/off days exactly?

4

High carb day 2â??3g per lb/bw 1â??1.5g per lb/bw as low as possible
Low to moderate carb day 0.5â??1.5 grams per lb of bw 1.25â??1.75g per lb/bw 0.25â??0.5g per lb/bw

Hopefully this comes out readable, these are some guideline numbers that Shelby Starnes has put out for baseline carb cycle plans. http://www.elitefts.com/documents/carb_cycling_mma.htm It says MMA, but it applies across the board.

5

I think the schedule depends on your training schedule. I do carb cycling when cutting and I train 4/5 days a week when cutting.

Day 1: Chest / Back (high carb)
Day 2: HIIT (medium carb)
Day 3: Rest (low carb)
Day 4: Quads / Hams (high carb)
Day 5: Shoulders (medium carb)
Day 6: HIIT (medium carb)
Day 7: Rest (low carb)

High Carb days - high carb 200-300g, high protein 200-300g, low fat 50g
Medium Carb days - medium carb 100-200g, high protein 200-300g, medium fat 50-100g
Low Carb days - low carb <50g, high protein 300+g, high fat 100-150g

6

Thanks for the help everyone.

Ethanwest- what bodyfat percentage do you usually start at with that type of protocol and for how long do you keep it going? Do you do any sort of refeeds/carb-ups?

7

I used this method to go from 15% body fat to 7-8% body fat earlier this year. I think it would be a good approach for you at 200 lbs and 16%. That’s about where I was.