Below is a similar pattern by what I follow, however I have three days carb cycle with up to a 100g of carbs a day followed by the fourth day where I try to take in around 300-400g of carbs. The cycle below shows a different way of carb cycling, you just need to adapt a way of making the ketogenic cycle world for you. Have a read, let me know what you think at @beachfitproject #bfp or #beachfitproject
How to maximise gains with carb cycling
What is it?
Carb cycling is simply splitting your carb intake for the week into three different daily amounts – low, moderate and high – to best complement your training regime.
Why should I do it?
Carbs in your diet trigger the release of the hormone insulin – one of the most important anabolic hormones in the body. Insulin directly influences the amount of amino acids and glucose transported to your muscle cells. Put simply, the more of it coursing through your body, the more your muscles grow. And it also prevents the mobilisation of nutrients stored in your muscles either as intramuscular glycogen or muscle tissue. Which means alongside helping build muscle tissue, it also protects against muscle breakdown.
A continuous high level of insulin, however, will create fat storage. Carb cycling, when you get it right, gives you the best of both worlds: optimum muscle gains; zero fat storage.
How do I do it?
By loading up with carbs on the brutal training days that would ordinarily suck the life out of you, but treating your body as if it’s in a cutting phase on the days when you don’t need excess energy.
So, on the days of your toughest sessions you would choose a high carb day, for your secondary workouts or less intense sessions you would choose a moderate carb day, and for your rest days you would choose a low carb day.
High days – in which you shovel in all the carbs your body can handle – refill your glycogen stores and promote the anabolic environment required for optimal muscle gains. Medium days allow you to maintain your glycogen levels with fewer total calories – you’ll have enough carbs to fuel your workout and prevent tissue breakdown, but not enough to be highly anabolic. Low days are ideal for when you’re just doing cardio, or no training at all. Your body, with its low insulin levels, will be primed for burning away body fat. And with fewer carbs, you’ll be eating more fats, which benefits hormone production and helps keep your body sensitive to insulin on the medium and high days.
Which carbs are best?
Sweet potatoes, basmati brown rice, quinoa, porridge oats and rye bread. Aim to get 50% of your carbs in your peri-workout shakes (before, during and after your session), 25% in a meal 60-90 mins after training, and 25% at breakfast.
How much carbs should I aim for?
Low day 0.5-1.25 grams per pound of body weight
Medium day 1.5-1.75 grams per pound of body weight
High day 2-3 grams per pound of body weight
The above article is from:
http://www.menshealth.co.uk/blogs/dan-rookwood-cover-model/dan-rookwood-cover-model-training-blog-18
As mentioned above, I do my cycles differently as I find having three days of low carbs combined with a thermogenic tablet (grenade in my case) helps my body promote fat loss at a suitable and sustainable rate. On my re-feed day I take in enough carbs to replenish the stores so that the next three days can use what I’ve taken in as energy, burn them of instead of storing them as fat and then continue within the ketosis stage where my body burns fats and protein as the primary energy source.
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