Have your carbs and get lean too – here’s how to do it right now

Carb cycling consists of eating a high, medium and low carb consumption during the week.

The levels are dependent on how much weight you would like to lose and how much muscle to build.

Here I will give you the basics of the carb cycling principle and how I have used it throughout my training life.

Carb cycling allows us to consume carbs during our training weeks to replenish lost glycogen stores.

That means we can still train hard, eliminate cravings and keep moving forward with our muscle building and fat loss goals.

It’s a very effective strategy for keeping your physique in check.

You can have the option of going ultimately ‘Keto’ on your low carb days, as you will be consuming more fat than carbohydrates.

The choice is yours, and I recommend regularly experimenting to check energy levels and what your body looks like when tweaking your nutrition.

I’m basing this carb cycling strategy on someone that trains hard regularly.

If you do not train, you could still use this principle, although I would ensure you monitor what’s happening with your body throughout the process.

I have sourced a great calculator that will help you determine your carb levels during each phase.

High carb days are allocated for super-intensive training.

High carb for one day only is would recommend those trying to lose body fat and two days for those focused on muscle building.

One day high carb per week encourages you to consume carbs with every meal, during that day (based on your body weight, of course).

Unfortunately, there is no magic number, so you will have to use personal observation and accountability during the phases. It may help to get a body scan if you want to closely monitor progression.

These days are your moderate training days.

They are still relatively intense, but the carb levels are manageable and will replenish glycogen.

For those increasing muscle, you will have a lot more moderate days than low carb days. To lose weight, you will focus on a couple of average days per week.

If you are losing weight, you will need to focus on having more low carb days.

Try to schedule them in when you are completing your HIIT cardio or on rest days.

For weight loss, I would suggest about three days or more of low carbs.

For building muscle, 1–2 should be sufficient without depleting your energy levels. You will get your carb sources only from vegetables (not including potatoes!)

This is a ballpark figure, as we all tolerate carbs in different ways., After my training sessions, I find that eating carbs is more effective than cutting carbs entirely on any given day. It’s something I have experimented with and now use as a strategy.