Carbohydrates in a bodybuilder’s diet: a lesson

Carbohydrates can make training easier, but they are not a magic wand. Through one bodybuilder’s experience, this story looks at why too much faith in carbohydrates, endless cycling and a very low fat intake can bring your physique to a standstill.

Why carbohydrates suddenly became so important

Repeat a lie often enough and it starts to sound like the truth. That’s how advertising works, how propaganda works and, frankly, how the fitness world sometimes works too.

The author stayed away from training for five years. Completely. No barbells, no diet, no cardio. Five years is a long time, and a lot changed in bodybuilding over that period. When they came back, there was a new idea in the air: carbohydrates don’t make you fat, fat is the root of all evil, and there’s no need to fear or chase protein too much either.

It sounded plausible, because earlier experience supported it. When they had once increased the amount of carbohydrates in their diet, body weight and muscle mass had started to move. It felt as if they were no longer a hardgainer. Mike Mentzer and Tom Platz were also associated with the period when carbohydrates grew in importance in bodybuilding. With names like that in the game, why doubt it?

A simple truth: one change that worked doesn’t mean the same thing works in every situation and in every amount.

How carbohydrates were supposed to work in the plan

The new bodybuilding promised a lot. Eat plenty of complex carbohydrates, keep fat low, do lots of cardio and let strength training trigger muscle growth. It sounds clean. On paper, even too clean.

The plan was specific: an estimated 15 kilos of excess fat to lose, and 10 kilos of muscle to get back. An hour of cycling in the morning, 45 minutes in the gym in the evening. The diet was about 150 g of protein, plenty of carbohydrates and so little fat that it was just enough to “keep the hair on your head”.

At first, the weight dropped. First 5 kilos, then another 5 kilos. But the reflection in the mirror didn’t get any leaner. In the past, as the weight came off, a new vein or muscle fibers would show up every couple of days. This time that didn’t happen. Strength wasn’t moving in the right direction either.

When the weight reached 75 kilos, it was clear that something was off. The body was lighter, but not better. A few bike rides were skipped, and meat came back onto the menu, along with a few slices of pizza. So what actually happened? They felt stronger, and the muscles had that tight feeling again.

A diet of slow carbohydrates won’t solve everything

A slow-carbohydrate diet can be a sensible tool if by that you mean potatoes, rice, oat flakes and other foods that give you energy for training. The problem starts when the tool is turned into a belief. As if everything were solved as long as you eat enough carbohydrates and almost no fat.

At a nutrition seminar, the claim was that the body has to change every six weeks. People were divided into three oxidative types: fast, medium and slow. Once you knew your type, the rest was supposed to be easy. If you trained hard but weren’t growing, you were eating too little. If you did enough cardio, you supposedly wouldn’t gain fat.

It sounded convenient. Especially when there were chocolate corn flakes and cookies on the table. But a convenient explanation isn’t always the right explanation.

The recommendation went even further: over 6000 kilocalories a day, most of them from simple carbohydrates. Protein was supposed to be enough at 1.8 g per one kilogram of body weight, and fat supposedly wasn’t really needed at all. The calculation left about 4500 kcal, or 1125 grams, for carbohydrates. That’s about 6 kilos of potatoes.

This is where every lifter should pause for a moment. If a plan demands a huge amount of food and constant cardio while promising that you won’t gain fat, it’s worth asking: whose body does this actually work for?

What carbohydrates actually give a lifter

Carbohydrates fill your glycogen stores and help you train harder. That’s their big plus. If you eat too little, a strength workout quickly turns dull, recovery drags on and the body skimps at every step.

But the limit matters just as much. If the entire menu revolves around nothing but white bread, pasta, oat flakes, potatoes and rice, protein and fat can end up too low. For a bodybuilder, that’s a bad trade. Muscle doesn’t grow on energy alone. The body also needs building material, and enough fat for hormones.

While preparing for competitions, Phil Hill ate bread, pasta, oat flakes, potatoes and rice, and did an hour of cardio a day. Gary Strydom and the Gold’s Gym pros were also held up as role models. Mike Ashley’s example went like this: eating over 3000 kcal led to fat gain, but with 45 minutes on the bike after every workout, 4000 kcal a day and the result was 5 kilos of muscle. Stories like these sound convincing, but a method that works for one pro won’t necessarily suit the average recreational lifter.

Arnold, Zane and Gaspari didn’t become great because of one macronutrient. They trained for years, learned to understand their bodies and made changes when needed. It’s a less glamorous answer, but a far more useful one.

In practice: how to use carbohydrates

Start with what the mirror, your strength numbers and your energy levels tell you. If your body weight is dropping but you’re losing muscle and your strength is falling, the diet isn’t good just because it’s “clean.” If your body weight is rising and your shape is going soft, eating complex carbohydrates won’t save you either.

• Place your carbohydrates mainly around training: energy before the workout, recovery after it.
• Don’t cut fat to zero. A very low fat intake can wreck how you feel and how you look.
• Keep protein dialed in. The original plan used about 150 g of protein, which was an important number in the context of this story.
• Don’t use cardio as a punishment. An hour of cycling in the morning and 45 min in the gym in the evening is already a big training load.
• Judge change over weeks, not on the basis of a single day.

If a system promises that you can’t gain fat no matter how much more you eat and how much more cardio you do, be wary. The body is not a calculator, but calories, training load and recovery still count.

FAQ: carbohydrates and physique

Do carbohydrates make you fat?

Not in themselves. Fat gain depends on your overall energy balance, your activity, your training and how well your body recovers. Carbohydrates can be both a help and a problem.

Is a slow-carbohydrate diet suitable for muscle building?

It can be, as long as protein, fat and training are also in order. A diet of only slow carbohydrates won’t build muscle if your strength training is weak or your recovery is poor.

Does a lot of cardio always help you get leaner?

Not necessarily. Too much cardio can leave your legs drained, reduce your strength and make it harder to hold on to muscle mass. Fat burning needs balance, not just more minutes on the bike.

Author: Graig Hartglass, sent by M.M.

Source: WHO – healthy eating.

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