Maintaining Size And Energy Levels On A Low Carb Diet

By Xavier Fox

Sooner, or later, every bodybuilder is going to have to go through a low-carb phase. When preparing for competitions, a bodybuilder needs to get shredded and have paper-thin skin if he wants to walk away with the winner’s trophy. It isn’t as simple as just eliminating a portion of the carbohydrates from the diet. The body is very complex, and if you blindly reduce calories by cutting carbohydrates to a low level, it is true that you will lose some body fat, however, you will likely lose a lot of hard-earned muscle in the process. In addition, your energy levels will drop and training with the intensity you need to win bodybuilding contests will become very difficult. If you are going to cut your carbohydrate intake during your contest preparation phase, it is critical that you do it correctly, or else you will turn yourself into the incredible shrinking man who does not have enough energy to make it through a workout.
You must always keep in mind that your body is comprised of thousands of systems that work together to keep you healthy. It is not as if your body has a stand-alone carbohydrate system that only has one purpose of turning the carbohydrates you eat into workout energy. They are involved in thousands of systems in the body that work in conjunction with thousands of others, and a lack of quality carbohydrates will not only cause you to lose energy and muscle, many vital functions in your body will not occur and your overall health and well-being will suffer. Do not cut carbohydrates unless you have a plan that will allow you to get shredded while keeping your muscle and health intact.

For a bodybuilder, the biggest problem that drastically reducing carbohydrates creates is that when enough carbohydrates are not present for replenishing glycogen stores, the body breaks down existing muscle tissue and consumed protein to manufacture glycogen. Obviously, this means that the muscle you already have is wasted away, the muscle you broke down during your intense training will not be able to rebuild itself, and the protein you ate to do both those things will not be available to perform its intended purpose. It’s not too difficult to understand just how detrimental a lack of carbohydrates can become.
So, how can you reduce your carbohydrates to rip fat off your body but still keep your muscle? The answer is actually quite simple… increase your protein intake. The increase in protein should be done with high quality protein sources that do not contain a lot of extra calories in the form of fats. The best choice will be protein powders. Either whey or casein will serve your purposes, but whey is slightly better when it comes to speed of digestion and total percentage absorbed. However, the fact that casein digests a little slower will help it control your appetite which will help you stay comfortable during your low-carb phase. The protein powders will provide an easily digestible source of amino acids that will not only build muscle, they can be used by the body to provide nutrients for the thousands of physiological processes the carbohydrates would have supported. Your muscle will be spared and your energy levels will not drastically suffer.
Protein powders offer a couple advantages when you are trying to keep the body fat off. As mentioned above, they are much lower in fat than normal whole food sources of protein. Most protein powders are also fortified with many essential vitamins and minerals as well as other supplements to help make sure you get all the nutrition necessary to win those shows. One of the best things about protein powders is that they are quick and easy to prepare, they do not spoil if not refrigerated, and they do not take up much space or require a cooler to keep you during the day. All you need is a shaker bottle and the ability to find a litre of water. Being massive requires massive amounts of protein, and the convenience that protein powders offer is a big deal when you are dieting for a show. You will be busy and stressed enough without having to worry about weighing food, cooking it, carrying it around in a cooler, keeping it with you everywhere you go, and having time to warm it up and eat it.
When you are dropping a lot of your carbohydrates from your menu, you are doing it to get rid of body fat. Therefore, you need to remember that when you add more protein to compensate for the reduced carbs that you do not go over your caloric limits. Consuming excessive calories will defeat the purpose of reducing carbohydrates. You may also want to find a protein powder that has creatine added to it. As you reduce carbohydrates, you will not have as much glycogen in the muscle to hold water in the muscle bellies and keep them looking full and large. The creatine will make up for that, and it will also replace the lost energy so the muscles can do their work.
Creatine is a good supplement when carbohydrates are limited, but glutamine will also keep your muscles looking their best. It just may be the best way to ensure that you keep your muscle while you are strictly limiting the amount of carbohydrates that you eat. Glutamine performs several functions in your body that will keep your energy levels as big as your muscles. It is a well-rounded supplement that is beneficial during any phase of your training, but it becomes even more important when you are putting your body through a lot of stress and limiting your nutrient intake.
Glutamine is an amino acid that is created from broken down proteins, so it is normally not a supplement that is added to the shopping list when going out to get energy enhancers. Believe it, or not, a lot of studies have proven that glutamine is a valuable ingredient in glycogen storage. The studies show that glutamine supplementation, without being added to a glucose-polymer, promoted glycogen storage similar to that of the glucose-polymer drink. This shows glutamine promotes glycogen synthesis. In addition, your kidneys use glutamine to maintain acid balance in the body, the liver uses glutamine to help synthesize glycogen, and the small intestine uses glutamine to stay healthy and function properly.
If you are going to be limiting the amount of carbohydrates you are eating and training at advanced levels of intensity, then keeping your intestinal health intact becomes crucial. The function of your intestines as part of your digestive system is always very important to your health, but when you are reducing the amount of carbohydrates that you are eating, then you need to be sure that your body is using the largest percentage of what you do eat as possible. You will keep your energy levels at their highest as well as sparing as much protein as you can when your intestines and digestive system are performing their best.
Sparing protein is going to help you, but imagine if you could also increase the rate at which your body turns the protein you eat into muscle. Glutamine plays an important role in protein synthesis. It not only increases protein synthesis, glutamine transports nitrogen through the body and is critical to your body keeping nitrogen balance. The ability to increase the amount of proteins that your body can manufacture will have a huge affect on your ability to add muscle. That ability is even more critical if you are going to be cutting your carbohydrates, because you want as much of the protein that you eat as possible to still be used to produce more muscle.
Cutting carbohydrates will not only cause your ability to use your protein to become more significant, it will also add to the amount of stress that your body is experiencing. When you undergo stress, your body releases cortisol as a response. Cortisol is a hormone that deteriorates your muscle and puts it into a catabolic state. Glutamine has been proven to dramatically reduce the amount of cortisol released. This equates to less muscle being lost. In addition to sparing muscle by blocking cortisol, glutamine has also shown to increase growth hormone levels by up to 400%! Considering that growth hormone works synergistically with other hormones such as testosterone to put quality muscle on your frame, it makes sense to add glutamine to your supplement list, especially when restricting nutrients. Oh yeah… growth hormone levels are also related to your ability to burn fat, so if you are reducing carbohydrates to lose fat, then you should also use glutamine to keep other systems in your body functionally sound and burn too.
If you are cutting carbohydrates in order to reduce body fat, then it makes sense to do what you can to encourage your body to utilize the stored fat on your body as energy. Now, you will be doing some sort of cardiovascular training, but you will also need to keep the amount and intensity of that cardio at reasonable levels, because you are also going to need to spare as much muscle as possible during this period of super-intense training and calorie restriction. You can help your body turn fat into energy by eating the correct types of fats. Make sure that you are getting plenty of the essential fats in your diet. Essential fats are the omega-3 fatty acids that are found in many types of fish such as salmon, halibut, sardines and tuna. Ample amounts of omega-3 fatty acids are also found in flaxseeds, walnuts and soybeans. Omega-3 fatty acids promote the use of dietary and stored fats as energy. By choosing the correct protein sources, you will not only ensure that you get the proteins you need, you will also consume valuable omega-3 fatty acids to help you get rid of fat.
Adding a carnitine supplement will also help you burn excess fat. However, it serves another purpose. Carnitine transports fats into the energy powerplant of the cell known as the mitochondria. The fat carnitine pushes into the mitochondria will be burned off as energy. The fact that you will be getting rid of more fat is good news, but by enhancing the ability to utilize fat to be burned as energy, you will spare some of the carbohydrates that would have used instead. Better yet, you may have stopped some proteins from being broken down for energy when carbohydrates were not available. When you are keeping your carbohydrate intake very low, your ability to use fats for energy without creating any negative effects on your body becomes even more significant.
When you are cutting carbohydrates out of your diet and keeping the intensity of your workouts high, even if you can burn a little more fat as energy you are still going to experience the effects of drastically reduced carbohydrate consumption… fatigue. Ask any serious bodybuilder who is a month away from the contest date and is on the carb restricting phase of his diet how he feels, and you most likely only get a grunt back, because he does not have the energy to talk. Carb restriction zaps your energy, even when you take precautions to counteract the effect. For this reason, energy enhancing supplements become a more critical investment.
Not all energy supplements have to be expensive or exotic. Good old-fashioned coffee has been around since the beginning of time, and it is relatively cheap and easy to make. Coffee has plenty of caffeine in it, and other than water, it is probably the lowest calorie drink out there. Throw a pot of coffee on while you are getting ready for work, and then just take a mug along with you. I cannot remember having ever gone to an office building that does not have coffee machines in a few different locations, so you can even have coffee available to you as you leave work and head for the gym. The caffeine you will get will not only provide you with more energy, it will also enhance central nervous system activity and the rate that your body metabolizes fat. Caffeine also increases epinephrine and norepinephrine secretion, which will enhance metabolic processes that hinder fatigue and boost athletic performance. Try not to consume more than 400 milligrams of caffeine each day (a standard 250ml cup of coffee normally has about 100 milligrams), and the entire 400 milligrams should be consumed in at least two different sessions.
The last thing that you need to be aware of is that if you are going to be reducing the amount of carbohydrates that you are eating, then you really need to make the ones you are eating be as effective as possible. Choosing the best sources of carbohydrates becomes vital in the way that your body is going to perform in the gym and grow while you are outside of it. Every carbohydrate calorie that you consume must have a purpose, and it must be the best choice that you have for what your body requires. You have to be efficient.
Carbohydrates that are low on the glycemic index will be your best bet for most of the day. You want carbohydrates that are going to take longer to burn so that they provide you with fuel for your muscles for longer periods of time. You also do not want carbohydrates that are going to hit your bloodstream real fast and cause a spike in blood sugar, because then you will have cravings for food and it will be much harder to stay on your diet. Low glycemic carbohydrates will take longer to digest and thus provide fuel for the muscles for longer durations than higher glycemic carbohydrates. The only time that you would need high glycemic carbohydrates that are going to get into your system quickly is directly after working out when it is very critical that you get carbohydrates into your system to avoid muscle and protein wasting.
Carbohydrates such as brown rice, sweet potato, whole grains, oats, bran, and many vegetables are considered low on the glycemic index. White rice, white potato, pasta, and almost everything made with processed flour are generally high glycemic. Once again… if you are going to be limiting your intake of carbohydrates you better get more use out of what you do eat.
If you are going to be getting ripped, it is almost inevitable that you will be going through some sort of carbohydrate reducing phase in your diet. The key is to keep as much muscle as you can, and you also need to maintain energy levels for your intense workouts. Replace the carbohydrates with some protein, and choose whey and casein powders that limit calories as well as the burden of eating so many meals. Select low glycemic carbohydrates to help maintain a slower and steady release of energy throughout the day. Whenever you are expecting to get maximum performance out of your body while giving it less to operate with, you will need the correct supplements to keep you performing and healthy. Creatine, glutamine, carnitine, and caffeine will help you utilize your proteins better, burn more fat, and they will provide you with energy that will keep you training hard.
Getting shredded means that you are making changes in your diet so that the muscles can be seen better. It does not mean that you are going to have to become smaller. Be smart about the way you cut your carbohydrates, and you will still feel as good as you look. Do not sacrifice muscle while you lose fat. What good will it do if you become very lean but had to give up a lot of muscle to do it? You want to look leaner on stage… not smaller.