carb depleting and loading

[southern24]

Would someone explain to me why and how competitive bodybuilders carb deplete and load before a competition.

 

[MANOWAR]

Also interested in knowing.

TTT

 

[DirkMoneyshot]

What don't you understand and maybe we can go from there?? You won't get a good answer out of anyone that really knows what they are doing because this seperates good trainers from excellent ones.

 

[huskyguy]

Take for instance a low carb diet--high in protein but very low in carbs, many bodybuilders will use this to get very lean and then slightly carb up to look fuller before a contest. People on Atkins types of diets usually gain weight back very quickly once they go back to carbohydrates. That is why so many bodybuilders put on weight so quickly after a show, they were depleted and the carbs were a trigger to their system to store glycogen, water and other necessary nutrients in their muscles. Sorry not too scientific but that is generally what happens.

 

[southern24]

dirkmoneyshot....like how many carbs(generally) would a bodybuilder consume 1 week out from a show 4 days out from a show,3 days...2 days etc. and also i know eating sweets right before a compitition brings out ones vascularity but what causes this. thanks in advance.

 

[DirkMoneyshot]

Take for instance a low carb diet--high in protein but very low in carbs, many bodybuilders will use this to get very lean and then slightly carb up to look fuller before a contest. People on Atkins types of diets usually gain weight back very quickly once they go back to carbohydrates. That is why so many bodybuilders put on weight so quickly after a show, they were depleted and the carbs were a trigger to their system to store glycogen, water and other necessary nutrients in their muscles. Sorry not too scientific but that is generally what happens.

This is why guys that diet on low carb diets need to carb up different from those on mod - high carb diets. Also the amount of carbs needed for the desired response is different.

 

[DirkMoneyshot]

dirkmoneyshot....like how many carbs(generally) would a bodybuilder consume 1 week out from a show 4 days out from a show,3 days...2 days etc. and also i know eating sweets right before a compitition brings out ones vascularity but what causes this. thanks in advance.

That is a very general question. That depends on how much the weigh how depleted they are, Ect.

And no sweets don't bring about vascularity----The sodium, water, simple carbs are what do that. You can get that from a lot of different foods. Just need to know which ones.

 

[carolinacrackah]

I used to do 20 carbs for 3 to 4 days and then following depletion carb up on 300 to 400 carbs the day before and the following morning. I have also read or head about 10 different variations on the technique

 

[DirkMoneyshot]

I used to do 20 carbs for 3 to 4 days and then following depletion carb up on 300 to 400 carbs the day before and the following morning. I have also read or head about 10 different variations on the technique

See the idea that you need to go down to no carbs for that long to get the response is wrong. It also causes huge problems for large competitors trying to carb back up.

Deplete a 250 lb guy down and then try and recarb him in 2 - 3 days and it won't happen.

You can with high carb diets get away with typically cutting the carbs in half.

With low carb diets they are already depleted enough, but their response will be different and typically shouldn't be carbed longer then about 1/2 - 1 day before.

Food for thought.