Hey BA!

Let’s talk about carb cycling. It’s frequently talked about in the fitness community and the good news is that it’s incredibly simple. All it means is intentionally planning your peak carbohydrate consumption around your workouts.

Carbohydrates are sugars. This is where it can get a bit confusing, as when we think sugar we instantly think about the demonized refined sugars. This is not necessarily the case though. While carbs do include those sweets, they also include vegetables, fruits, and grains. Not all carbs are created equal! Some are beneficial and some… not so much. We can break that down even further into simple and complex carbs (fast and slow-releasing sugars).

Back to carb cycling… What exactly does it do? It’s a useful tool to support exercise performance, recovery, and overall weight management.

Exercise Performance

Your body uses sugar for energy. Particularly with the workouts we do in here, your body quickly taps into your glycogen stores for fuel. Increasing carbohydrate consumption prior to a workout provides additional sugar your body can use immediately to boost energy and performance. This means you can push yourself harder and actually feel good while doing it.

What does this look like practically?

Adding a slice of toast with your eggs or eating oatmeal prior to a morning workout. Looking for fast sugars but don’t have time for a meal? Dates and other fruits are perfect for an instant boost.

Recovery

The speed of your recovery depends on how quickly your muscles repair. Consuming carbohydrates in the 30-60min following a workout is crucial for initiating this process. During this window your muscles are more insulin sensitive, which in the context of exercise means that your muscles are readily able to absorb glucose in order to restore glycogen stores and support muscle repair.

What does this look like practically?

Your post workout shake! Personally I love coconut water and Ascent whey protein. This could also mean going back to childhood soccer days and grab those orange slices.

Weight Management

Timing peak carb consumption around workouts allows you to most efficiently utilize those sugars. In that post workout window, carbs shuttle amino acids into the muscles and away from fat cells, reducing fat stores. Replenishing your glycogen stores within that window also helps prevent your body from going into starvation mode, which as we’ve discussed before actually causes your body to create more fat stores as it will hold on to all nutrients in preparation for famine. If you want your metabolism to keep burning post workout, you gotta eat!

What does this look like practically?

Higher carb meals/snacks around workouts. Low carb, high fat, moderate protein meals/snacks outside of that exercise window.

Carb cycling is simple, but requires a little more planning up front. Try it out and see what you think!

Carb Cycling