Should Bodybuilders Avoid Carbs?

When it comes to getting massive and shredded, carbs are often portrayed as the enemy. As a result, many bodybuilders eliminate carbohydrates during their cutting phase to get as ripped as possible. But are they sacrificing muscle mass in the process? In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into carbs and bodybuilding to discover the truth.

Carbohydrates are not an essential macronutrient. That’s because some amino acids are glucogenic, being able to be converted into glucose in the liver through a process known as gluconeogenesis. But that doesn’t mean that carbs aren’t important for training. The main fuel for weight training is muscle glycogen, which is the storage form of carbs in the body.

When you work out with weights, you quickly deplete your muscle glycogen stores. For example, just 3 sets of bicep curls will use up around 30 percent of the glycogen stored in the biceps. Consuming carbs in the 24 hours before your workout will ensure that your glycogen stores both in the muscle and in the liver, where a reserve is held, are fully topped up.

To power your weight training sessions, you could consume 55-65 percent of your total caloric intake in the form of carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates are especially important for bodybuilders after the workout. An intense training session will deplete your glycogen levels. You need to consume carbs to replenish them. Carbs post-workout will also boost your insulin levels to help with muscle protein synthesis and decrease post-workout muscle breakdown.

It’s quite common to see guys sipping from a sports drink or carb-infused water bottle during their workout. This is designed to refuel glycogen levels mid-stream, so to speak. So, is this an effective strategy?

If your workout lasts for an hour or less, you won’t benefit from an intra-workout carb drink. That’s because the carbs you’ve taken in the 24 hours before your workout are sufficient to fuel your training. It is only when your workout exceeds an hour that extra carbs become a good idea.

The only exception to this is if you are on a Ketogenic Diet where you go into the gym with depleted glycogen levels. In that case, you should take 30-50 grams of carbs for every hour of training. Those carbs will go directly to the working muscle and will not interfere with your keto-based fat loss efforts.

You should take 30 grams of carbs for every hour after the first hour of your training. That equates to 3-4 gulps of a carb drink every 20 minutes or so. Your body can normally uptake about one gram of carbs per minute while you’re training. However, if you mix a rapidly absorbing carb like glucose with a slow uptake carb like fructose, you can increase the amount of carbs the body absorbs. Taking a glucose/fructose drink in a 2:1 ratio (twice as much glucose as fructose) will allow you to absorb more carbs faster while training.

Most bodybuilders are more concerned with taking in protein than carbohydrates after their workout. That priority should be reversed. While protein synthesis takes place over an extended period, glycogen refueling is needed post-workout. The enzymes that power muscle glycogen are primed after training. As a result, you will get faster glycogen synthesis if you consume your carbs within two hours of your workout.

Having a plentiful glycogen supply in your muscles is necessary for certain anabolic processes to take place within the muscle after your workout. This includes the production of IGF-1, which is needed for muscle recovery and growth.

If you’re training twice per day, be sure to have a carbohydrate meal between sessions to replace the glycogen that was burned up during the first workout.

The vast majority of studies related to the issue of carb intake for athletes are based on endurance athletes. As a result, their recommendations are too high for bodybuilders. If you are training for no more than an hour per day, you should consume around 4-5 grams of carbs per kilogram of bodyweight. For a 90 (198 lb) kg guy, that equates to 360-450 grams of carbs per day.

When it comes to portion sizes, you should plan, men should consume 8 cupped handfuls of carbs daily, with women taking in 6 cupped handfuls daily.

Bodybuilders should focus on unprocessed carbs. These carbs will contain dietary fiber. Any carb that has the fiber removed is a processed carbohydrate. It will overstimulate the production of insulin, causing a cascade that leads to fat storage and overeating.

Unprocessed carbohydrates are complex carbs. Because they take longer to digest, they will provide a slow release of energy over a long time period, ensuring more stable blood sugar levels.

Here are 10 carbs that are ideal for bodybuilders:

• Sweet Potato
• Vegetables
• Nuts
• Legumes
• Oats
• Quinoa
• Rice
• Whole Wheat Pasta
• Whole Wheat Bread
• Fruit

Carbohydrates, while not necessary to our survival, are an important factor in the muscle-building process. People who severely limit their carb intake for an ongoing period of time will impair their muscle growth potential. So, while low-carb diets can kickstart the fat loss process, bodybuilders should not continue them for an extended period of time.

You need to be consuming carbs to maintain your body’s glycogen stores during the workout and to restore them afterward. Focus on consuming unprocessed complex carbs at a rate of around 4 grams per kg of bodyweight. And, if you’re training for more than an hour, take an intra-workout with 30 grams of carbs in a 2:1 glucose/fructose balance.