Carb cycling

Limiting or completely eliminating carbohydrates from your diet is one of the most popular ways to lose weight. Many well-known diets consider carbohydrates to be the enemy of a slim figure. The human body needs all macronutrients to function properly. Therefore, it should not be assumed that some of them are inherently bad. It is all a matter of moderation and proper balancing. Carb-cycling - also known as carbohydrate rotation or manipulation - is one way to find the golden mean in terms of carbohydrate intake.

What is carb cycling?

A diet based on carbohydrate rotation was created with athletes and active people in mind, especially those who pursue strength and endurance disciplines. However, it quickly turned out that carb-cycling also works for people who practice sports recreationally, whose main goal is to get rid of fat tissue.

What is rotation? Simply put, it is about matching caloric demand to the intensity of our activity during the day. During training days, carbohydrate intake increases, and on other days the amount of carbohydrates in the diet should be low or moderate. Implementing carb-cycling assumptions into your daily diet allows you to achieve various goals - rotation will work well both in a reducing diet, as well as one that is focused on muscle tissue growth.

This is a very universal nutrition system, but the greatest benefits from its use will be seen by endomorphs who struggle with a slower metabolism.

How to calculate your carbohydrate needs?

If we want to try a carbohydrate rotation diet, the basic thing to start with is calculating your calorie needs. For this purpose, the classic formula for calculating BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is used, which looks like this:

•   For women: 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.7 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age)
•   For men: 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) – (6.8 x age)

The second step is to multiply the obtained BMR result by the daily physical activity factor:

•   1.0 – sedentary lifestyle, lack of professional activity
•   1.2 – sedentary/office work, no physical activity
•   1.4 – sedentary/office work, additional low-intensity activity (e.g. walking, walking the dog)
•   1.6 – non-physical work, moderate intensity activity
•   1.8 – physical work and training or non-physical work and intensive training
•   2.0 – hard physical work and hard daily training

The result obtained constitutes our individual calorie requirement, which allows us to maintain our current body weight.

The next step is to determine your daily carbohydrate intake for each day of the week based on your body type and metabolism. We will take into account the goal of reducing body fat. Ectomorphs should assume a calorie deficit of 10-15%, while endomorphs need to increase it to around 20-30%.

According to the assumptions of carb-cycling, the amount of protein and fat in the diet remains at the same level, only carbohydrates are subject to rotation. It is assumed that each week there are three types of days with different carbohydrate limits. The so-called "moderate day" is a basic day, on which we consume a previously adopted basic amount of carbohydrates. "Low carb" days are those with a reduced amount of carbohydrates, on average by about 75% in relation to the basic day. "High carb" days assume high carbohydrate consumption, on average about 125% of the value of the basic day.

The distribution of individual types of days in the week should be adapted to the individual training plan and goals.

The benefits of carb cycling

The carb-cycling diet is gaining its supporters year by year. It is used by athletes, enthusiasts of intensive training, as well as people who exercise recreationally and want to lose weight. The nutrition system based on carbohydrate rotation increases the sensitivity of muscle cells to glucose, ensures an adequate supply of energy during training, reduces water retention in the body, and above all: allows you to achieve various goals - from reduction to mass increase.

However, this is not a diet for everyone, as it requires a lot of planning and discipline.

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