A popular approach to carbs for those looking to build muscle and lose fat. Here’s what it’s all about.
An approach that encourages you to eat all your carbs later in the day, carb backloading is good for those who can handle carbs well or are looking to build muscle. If you’re a beginner to nutrition and fitness, we recommend starting out on the standard 7 day carb cycle, then switch to carb backloading at week 3 or 4 depending on your progress. Read everything you need to know about the 7 day carb cycle here.
If you train with a personal trainer at Absolute Body Solutions in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool or London and would like more information on these approaches to carbs, have a chat with your PT and they will be able to explain in detail how it all works.
What goal does it suit?
Muscle building and fat loss for more carb tolerant people who are starting to lose body fat from the initial nutrition plans.
What’s the diet style?
The idea behind carb backloading is simple. Eat fewer carbs and higher fats at breakfast, lunch and throughout the day, and more carbs and less fats at dinner in the evening. This way, you can help manipulate certain hormones in your body, primarily insulin, which helps you store less fat and build stronger muscles. Eating carbs in the evening can also have a positive impact on sleep due to serotonin release.
For most people, it’s easier to eat lower carbs during the day and then have your carbs in your evening meal making this a good plan to follow long term that can fit easily into your lifestyle.
The template
Day: High protein, low carbs with higher fats
Evening: High protein, high carbs with lower fats
Top tips for carb backloading
- Eat low GI carbs for optimal results e.g. sweet potato, wholegrain rice, oats.
- Get carbs into your evening meals by adding them to your dinner or make gluten free oats before bed.
- Avoid carb sources that contain gluten
- Eat your high fat protein sources (red meat, oily fish) earlier in the day and your low fat meats/fish of an evening (chicken, turkey, cod etc)
- Keep your protein constant at 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight per day
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