Problems w/ Low Carb Diets & Exercise: Carb Cycling Explained
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- čas přidán 15. 07. 2024
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0:00 Intro
0:33 The Zero Carb camp says that carbs are not essential and do not benefit sports performance.
1:09 Energy In/Energy Out energy balance model says that carbs do not matter if you are in a calorie deficit.
2:04 Carbohydrate intake should match carbohydrate demand of training or competition.
3:19 Zero carb or fasted exercise may limit your exercise intensity or volume, limiting adaptations and hypertrophy.
5:09 Carbohydrates are the primary fuel that is oxidized during prolonged or intense exercise sessions.
5:39 Untrained athletes may get increased benefit from training in a low glycogen state.
6:34 Intra-workout carbohydrates, ingested or swished, can maximize high volume or high intensity exercise adaptations.
10:34 Energy deficit has suppressive effects on hormone production.
13:14 The more trained you are, the more fat you oxidize.
14:19 Prioritize exercise intensity over sticking to dogma.
14:49 Standard recommendations for pre-workout, intra-workout, and post-workout carb intake are high and not personalized.
17:19 Sauna therapy can enhance your exercise capacity and ability to assimilate nutrition.
19:09 Low carb athletes can replenish carbohydrates, even though they are not eating them.
19:49 The amount of muscle you have impacts how many carbs you should be consuming.
I don’t need many carbs. I’m not an athlete but I like to stay in shape and carbs make it harder. I can’t start eating sweet tasting keto snack stuff either because it gives me cravings for unhealthy things. Keeping things simple is the way for me.
Same with me. I did use to eat a banana before a workout but went back to eating nothing and I do powerlifting. I’m just not comfortable with anything in my belly while lifting heavy weights.
@@saltrock9642 you tried eating the banana 30 mins or an hour before? Or watermelon or orange?
I love an orange before, feel so hydrated and it digests super quick :)
Agree totally...never listen to a "study" if what you are doing is working and you like it
The ingredient in the snacks cause craving
if your going to crave, get a high quality protein for snack
The MOST important part of this video is in the beginning when you pointed out that even in the area of nutrition, people can become dogmatic and tribalistic, and that the important thing is not to become emotionally attached to our current understanding of nutrition, but to be open to recontextualizing our ideas, even to the point of being willing to really change our minds about things. That, in my opinion, speaks to your true impact on the nutrition/fitness community, Mike. Thank you.
It’s impossible to not dogmatic in nutrition because there are “healthy” high carb eaters, and green has been linked to nature and health and peace and positive things. It’s just human nature, by unfortunately misled all of us for several decades. Same dogmatic things are in healthcare/medicine.
No that isn't the most important.
Im a runner (Paris in March) and cyclist, I perform very bad on no carbs when it comes to cardio performance. Keto has changed my life for the better, but I eat my carbs (low carbs) before my runs it helps. I cant run in a fasted state effectively. FYI I have very low body fat.
I found the same and I couldn't work it out. I think the youtube keto community is grossly down playing how long it takes to get *really* fat adapted. It took me about 18 months. By then, I worked out to eat carbs on long runs, not fat. Been on Keto 4 1/2 years now. Love it.
Yeb same here! Much beter runs not fasted, but strength training fasted is fine. On long runs I eat more carbs then I usually do, because most of the week I don’t eat carbs because of gluten and my weight.
Yes I can see why. The only issue I have is that my gut cannot take food before exercise.
@@belgian_groenendael you can adapt very quickly to not depend on carbs. However, sports-specific adaptations isn't typically addressed by the ketogenic community as the cognitive and weight benefits are more commonly sought-after. If it took you 18 months assuming strict adherence, you're likely to have had underlying health issues.
Regarding explosive exercises, the adaptations seem to take years although the energy output should theorically be higher, although the initial performance is significantly lower.
@@pilatesyogataichifit it might sound silly, but this is where the old bodybuilding trick of eating candy as a pre-workout could be pretty beneficial. If you go for something dextrose based (regular corn syrup, not high-fructose) like gummi bears/worms, they're easily digestible and is already mostly glucose so it doesn't need to be converted, meaning you get a very quick energy boost to use for a workout right away without a full stomach. I found that 5-10 gummi bears about 30 minutes before intense jiu-jitsu sessions helped me a lot.
I can't be the only person who feels nauseous if I do an intense workout with food in my stomach. A hike or something would be fine with food, but anything else I do fasted.
that's been my experience...
I was thinking the same thing while reading all these comments. I have tried a light meal as much as 4 hours before practice. 🤢
But the sport I participate in involves a lot of core, hinging at the waist.
I am keto adapted though, and have never felt like I am depleted of energy.
My sport does not involve endless endurance, though. More like a sprint, drawing constant power for only 10-12 min at the longest.
Probably has something do with type of exercise.
i, ironically, feel the opposite!
Yeah I need at least 45 minutes of digestion before going to the gym.
“Carbs must be earned. The leaner you are, the better you are at handling carbs.”
- Charles Poliquin
It works people trust me. First get lean, then reintroduce carbs into your diet.
Yep. True. Lost 20kg. Then reintroduced higher carb count. Works like a charm!
That’s exactly how I feel and have experienced. Thank you for posting this!
Thank you!
That dowsnt work for fat skinny at all
Carbs don't need to be "earned". The problem is you are insulin resistant. If you are insulin sensitive and have proper glucose metabolism you don't have to worry about the carb quantity you are eating vs how much you are exercising. The problem these days is almost everyone is insulin resistant for a number of reasons.
As with everything, context matters. This is one of the things I love about your channel Mike. You really make a concerted effort to emphasize context when choosing a dietary intervention, and you never devolve into the dogmatism that seems to plague so many health and fitness influencers - individuals who are unwavering mouthpieces for one dietary paradigm to the exclusion of all others at all times. Regardless of how well a particular dietary modality works for you - whether it is low carb, keto, high carb, vegan, carnivore, CICO, etc. - realize that a change in context may warrant a change in diet. As with many things in life, what is optimal is situational. Being prepared to adapt and change as the circumstances demand is the only way to ensure success.
Happiness is adapting to your environment
drake..perfectly said..thank you
I like that you give room for individuals to shape their own diets and lifestyles based on nutrition information and personal factors. We are all different and have different goals.
Keto / and then carnivore tanked my hormones and screwed my adrenals and yes I ate plenty of fat and had my electrolytes! It’s not best for everyone! I stopped and started eating more carbs but still in low carb range 50-100 g a day depending on how much I’m exercising. Thank you Mike for this common sense approach !
Did you consume any stimulants like caffeine ?
How was your gut during keto? And when bringing carbs back do you have weight gain like fats and water in your legs?
I want a light easy body but can’t seem to let go of fat in my lower body , and carbs for sure just cause edema.
50-100 remains very low. So yes perhaps timing intake to prior and/or during activity which also aids to blunt the subsequent glucose spiking.
@@absolve4024 What are your salt and sugar levels?
A low carb diet stresses the adrenals as the body raises Cortisol to stabilize blood sugar which is highly volatile in the first weeks due to low fat adaption. If you drink coffee on top of that (which depletes electrolytes) while ingesting too little Sodium you're quickly wearing your adrenals out.
Great information, Mike, once again! When I trained for my marathon I found that mashed sweet potato worked best for me - never could tolerate ghu or sweet blocks- slices of clementine worked short term. Now I’m into Keto and I have plenty of energy even with a fasted workout (either running or dumbbell weight routines). My body has learned to burn the fat also. Have been diagnosed with insulin resistance and IBS but those symptoms are gone now. Eventually will learn a maintenance plan.
I'm 67, carnivore, and had been weight training fasted. Decided to have a couple hard boiled eggs about 30 minutes prior to working out. It definitely helped with energy. Going to stick with it for a while a see how it goes.
30 mins?? Most people wait 2hrs although a couple of eggs isn't much to digest
@@drip369 also not much carbs lol
Yeah, that's not exactly what he's talkinga bout.
@@ceejay6417 if you turn all your food into a liquid you can consume more.
@@ceejay6417 hope ur hair isnt falling out from all that avidin
I feel like I may have a 5-10% better performance with carbs before my workout. But recovery is always 100% better for me when on zero carb
I run 13 hours a week. It involves low heart rate training and I do it fasted followed by meat only eating twice a day. It does not require any carbs. I also do an hour of goal pace running after 3 hours of low heart rate training. Still zero carbs. I am 61 and recently qualified for the Boston Marathon 3:43 time. Before this race I ate a ribeye the night before then 6 oz low carb yogurt 2 grams carbs the morning of the race. During the race I ran 45 minutes then took 5 gels in the next 3 hours. Total cabs 125. I improved my marathon time by 28.5 minutes after only 5 months of carnivore. The key is removing the plants reduces inflammation and improved recovery so I could run longer and run more days a week. I’ll never eat carbs training again. I only used it to top off the tank during the peak race.
Im glad this works for you, Im a runner as well, NYC and London marathon this year Paris half in march. My performance is definitely worse on no carbs, even on short 10k runs. I need to have carbs before my running and on marathon runs carbs before and LOTS of carbs during. When I’m on a 0 mile day,i go no carb.
@@mynock250 go no carb for 5 months and your body will learn to make its own glucose. You are so carb dependent I’m sure you need them, but being fueled by carbs will just lead to illness sooner or later and injury beware.
Nice strategy. Did you ever feel like you were going to hit the wall? I worked out the eat carbs while running thing too as I noticed it dropped my heart rate a ton (10bpm) consistently. I'm having a bit of an issue trying to get the wife to go carnivore however. Been on Keto 4+ years now.
Wow. This is amazing!
Love the new merch! I just bought the 3 shirts I didn't have yet. Thank you for the "Germ is Nothing" tee. I am so grateful for the work you do!
This is very enlightening and something that has puzzled me for years. I've been running for about 6 years and 4 years on Keto now. When I first switched to Keto, my vo2max dropped by 6 and my lack of speed was very noticeable. I ran in a trail running club back then, and I ended up always falling to the end. I mentioned it to my doctor (One of the switched on ones who is on keto) and she didn't know why. After about 18 months on keto and being I assume very fat adapted at that stage, my vo2max gradually returned halfway up by 3 points. But it hasn't returned to the level in my high carb days.
What I noticed when doing longer runs (around 20km) on Keto and fasted my heart rate was higher than normal. If I took a gel halfway into the run, my heart rate dropped by 10 bpm in about 10-15 minutes. I was able to reproduce this a number of times. Having worked that out, I made sure I supplemented runs with carbs and not fats.
As for the drop in performance; that's ok as being an older runner I am more interested in health than performance. Now I mainly do short distance sprinting with 5km being a long run for me which doesn't really need eating at all.
Thank you for this.
Been very low carb and been very happy, but started more intense races this year and into my 2nd race i crashed and burned not even halfway through...since then increased my carbs especially before races and been feeling great!
💪 ❤ 💪
Running races?
@@Eddie-Spaghetti what? probably marathons, 10ks, ultras
@@Eddie-Spaghetti yes. Cross Country and marathons
Amen. A healthy balanced diet with good carbohydrates and fibre is very good you. Especially when training like yourself. People get caught up in these miracle diets (keto, carnivore etc) and whilst they work, they work via the calorie restriction 99.99999999% of the time. After doing them all, I found all diets work. Personally, I found 45-50% or energy from carbs my sweet spot for health markers and performance, timed around my workouts. I've even given up the lower carb on rest days and found no change.
What is always boils down to is your own personal preference, track your consumption, eat the correct amount of protein. The carb fat ratio seems to not really matter. Quite a few studies on pub med about this. Just make sure they match the calories and protein in these studies.
Thanks Mike...!! Your scholarship is recognized and appreciated.
I’ve been following Anthony Chaffee MD it would be great if you could have him on your show
Would like to get your perspective on the carnivore diet
He had Anthony Chaffee on his show about 2 months ago. Check it out
30 - 50 grams of carbs just before a workout with no other carbs throughout the day works perfectly for me. That way I can stay in ketosis for most of the day and still get the performance enhancing benefits of carbs.
Same!
Which one do you prefer?
@@playerone1431 What do you mean?
Same.
In my own experience, it's not just any "carb" as in even fruits or veggies that give me stamina when exercising or exerting. It's rather wholegrain starch that keeps me going for an extended time without a dip. As an Asian, I grew up eating steam-cooked whole grain as staple, that's 3 times a day with no added sweetener of any sort, not refined white bread. And I've noticed even rice noodles provide enough starch for endurance.
Thank you for sharing this..👍🏻
I agree
Agreed. Starchy carbohydrates are essential for high intensity exercise. If Keto was better, the billion dollar sports industry would be using it. The body cannot create enough glucose for glycogen stores when working in zone 4/5 via gluconeogenisis. What's the point in a weaker performance output. I was on keto for a while and I have to say, coming off it and eating my carbs around my training sessions has no comparison for performance, fat loss and keeping lean body mass. The latter being very important. I lost far more LBM when on keto which makes sense. Lower glycogen forces the body to use its own protein and fat for gluconeogenisis when you're training hard.
@@Alex-ry6cd There's no money in ketogenic sports drinks.... Exogenous ketones are too pricey. And unnecessary.
That's why the "billion dollar sports industry" pushes the "electrolyte" sugar drinks they do.
Eat plenty of protein (meat) and eat enough period. You don't need carbohydrates. The drop in performance is negligible once you are completely fat adapted. If you have issues, you aren't eating enough period. Usually protein.
I love my rice noodles. 😄
The advice given on this video is the most practical that I have received. Coming from a person who is in recovery phase of hypothyroid, I learnt the hard way. I cut my carbs super low & overtrained thus causing hormonal dysfunction. In the recovery process , I reintroduced carbs based on the level of activity for the day. On days I do strength training, I load up on carbs & go low carbs on recovery days. Overall, I bumped up my daily calories to recalibrate my hormones & to increase my muscle mass.
Thank you Mike for always being objective, i grew with your mindset and experiemces
Great information for long time low carb people that aren't looking to lose weight but looking to improve in muscle building or endurance goals
As someone who's been doing a low carb diet for a few years now I really appreciate the context you provided here. I'm still pretty new to weight lifting and based on the chart at the end I probably don't need to worry about adding in carbs for workout performance yet, but I may need to as I advance. Thanks again.
I mostly eat meat, and eggs but I also mix in asparagus onions broccoli and mushrooms, while lifting weights 4 days a week but twice a week I do run and I will have potatoes or rice or noodles on my second meal the day before going out for a run and just a teaspoon of honey before I head out to the trail, I only do the honey for my throat so that I don't cough or get dry in the throat while running
If you want to go low carb/zero carb then make sure you have enough fat and sodium in the diet. You need to allow your body to become fat adapted and then eventually you will get back to where you were, but in the meantime your body takes time to adapt. Most people use carbs as an energy source because it's easy and it's very prevalent in today's world. They grew up on ingesting the carbs so their bodies are adapted for them more so than fat adapted. I think if you go one way or the other you are fine, but then if you take the middle road is where it can probably be more difficult because your body isn't sure what to optimize for.
Exactly. Most people don't give it enough time to adjust. I'm OMAD and iv got great even energy all day even with a 330 work out every morning. The growing number of collegiate & Olympic athletes making the switch and seeing great results is awesome and flys in the face of the carbs for energy crowd.
100%
@@Nick-gg6tg So you're binge eating once a day?
Also aprox. how old are you cuz that context matters. Also if you're female vs male.
How does one know exactly how much salt they need to consume? Is it based on how you feel or is it like 2 teaspoons of Himalayan pink salt per day at the very minimum or is it more, what are your thoughts?
@@Nick-gg6tg Olympic athletes on OMAD? I do OMAD. I lift weights. I could easily lift more on a reg diet than on OMAD.
Protein during exercise is better than carbs for me (sardines). I'm a zero carbs carnivore athlete. Digesting fructose is difficult. Impressively sardines replenish my glucose levels in 2 minutes during intense exercise 🏀 (measured with CGM)
I might have to try this
@@cytwc you will be surprised how fast you will regain energy. Please keep me updated
Sardines are also both high fat & especially high Omega-3s. So your energy boost could also be from higher glucogenesis from dietary fats or more specifically the higher O-3s?
@@eliseville could neoglucogenesis from Omega-3 be so quick??? I couldn't play. Then with the sardines my glucose went from 60s to 88 in 5 min and I was able to play 40 min more
@@Dr_Dieta I have no idea how fast or slow it could happen, just that it could. When our bodies are starved for carbs, it might happen very fast, but again, I just don't know and don't even have a glucose, much less a ketone monitor to check anything on myself.
Whatever is or isn't happening metabolically, it sure sounds like sardines are working great for your energy, so I wouldn't change anything! I think it is easier for our metabolisms to make carbs from fats than amino acids, but then again, I really don't know. Just one more thing to search PubMed for?
I also might go back and watch more of Dr.
Ive spent 20 weeks chasing the zero carb salt and water only ond bike rides. All its done is detrain me. Thanks for sharing this info, adding back carbs makes sense, and for the first time in my life I can see doing it without losing control and going back to being a carb addict. Thanks!!
Wow Mike, just noticed you are well over 500k in subscribers! Congrats!
As for carbs myself I've tried experimenting over the last 6 months of adding carbs before workout and after workout and I find I've done my best training at the age of 51 in a fasted state.
That said I'm also slightly above 20% body fat still and I'm not training for any competition. I like to think that I'm training for my own personal health and liberty.
Thank you, consistency is the key!
Have been low carb, zero carb or keto continuously since 2018. On days when I do a lot of cardio, such as cycling 50 miles, I will do a zero carb breakfast then about 30 min in etc I will use carbs, like bananas, some bread, etc. I only do this when doing endurance exercising. Mike u r right: no exercise, no carbs needed. And I also noticed that doing my 50 miles fasted, sure it can be done but more slowly. Way better performance with some strategic carbs. I am in my 50s and in menopause. My physical performance now is way better than when I was 25.
I bought both of your electrolyte stix flavors. Love the new flavorin particular! I appreciate you making this exceptional product!!!
❤️
Opposite of my experience, 56yo male. For the last decade I often bonked after 30miles on a bike ride, and that was when I tried to strategically use carbs before and during the ride. I have always done my best to stay in shape and figured I am more speed than endurance. The pandemic allowed me to really experiment with fitness and nutrition. I started to really reduce my carbs last year which made me stop the carb loading during a ride. It seems I am biking 50 miles with no bonking. I do load up on fats and protein the evening before a ride. I cannot credit the lack of carbs though, I did change many things in my diet this past year. And perhaps there is room for some carbs in my endurance exercises. I am always fascinated to hear people have different experiences, keeps me thinking.
@@MrCiaranm have you tried fasted rides?
@@playerone1431 I will eat a large low carb dinner the night before a ride, and that is it. My long rides always start in the morning with a black coffee pre-ride, so it is a limited fast. The reason I said to Iss that I was not sure if the lack of carb loading actually improved my riding was because I also started to add electrolytes to my water bottle. I did that to alleviate legs cramps, and it did, but perhaps it helps my ride too? I do like experimenting with fitness and like to hear of other peoples experiences.
@@MrCiaranm i used to do fasted rides before menopause and it was fine. Easily biked 70 miles or so fasted. I never took in any carbs whatsoever but I did electrolytes, usually a pinch of salt in my water bottle.
For me its menopause that is the gamechanger. I literally think it's hormonally simpler being a guy. You would think menopause is like a guy in that there is no hormonal shifting anymore but no, it's equivalent to a guy who has 3% of his natural testosterone left. I don't suggest you try that.
My husband is very fit and lean. Probably 7% body fat. He also does strategic carbs when doing cardio for more than 2 hours. Even tho our strategy is the same, the reasons behind it are different. He doesn't have IR, but I know I do and that is also a gamechanger. I don't know if long-term low carb and fasting can reset a deranged metabolism permanently. There are some of us who are going to have to stay low carb permanently and use the carbs very strategically. I am pretty sure I have had IR my entire life, despite being thin most of my life. I had subtle signs of it from childhood that nobody understood. People think it's only as issue if you are overweight. But when you do get overweight, you're looking at very late stage issues, and reversing decades of IR is not easy. I am unsure if it is possible. Low carb controls the problem for me, but if it cured it, I should be able to go back to fruit etc and have normal glucose response, which I don't have. I eat it, glucose stays elevated for hours. So I don't eat it unless I am running or otherwise exercising.
I love the idea of earning carbs through exercise
Loved this video. You rightfully communicated that we are not all the same. I'm 6'6" and 250lbs (roughtly 10lbs overweight based on my body structure/muscle mass). I work out best on an empty stomach with a little bit of green tea caffeine and electrolytes before a 75min work out. I feel great and can lift fairly heavy weights (not maxing out) without feeling overly fatigued, and then 30 to 60min after the workout I'm ready to eat. I came to this video looking at carb cycling and now I interested in carb swishing. Thanks again for a great video!
Thanks Mike. I swear I'm stronger in the morning and fasted.
Thanks Mike! It helps alot
Good info Mike!! Having steel cut oats before my workouts now.
Always good information!! I love to exercise and I always have some raisins on my gym bag.
My stamina increases for way longer on carnivore
Same here.
I concur (high fat carnivore).
Yes I think this talk has pushed me from low carb to keto.
GREAT video. Thanks, as always MIke 👍
Most endurance information is intended for the tour de France /college athlete -- you make an excellent point about fueling less if your next workout is not until the next weekend. I learned this the hard way. Don't get me started on general advice..
I am actually adjusting as someone who did fair amount of exercise when I was younger I'm 72 now but having had some injuries and other factors that have reduced the amount of exercise I do, I am learning now to adjust carb intake based on my current exercise patterns versus carb intake. It's a process for sure
Much needed nuanced analysis 👍🏼
Started keto a year ago, changed my life completely..
I’ve now tried to add foul carbs(buns, cakes, ice cream) preworkout or intra workout or more like betweek each session..(1h workout, short break with eating some carbs, 1h workout and repeat..)
I do keto for several reasons, but there’s little to no difference when i do this both on my health issues and energy wise..
Before when i did eat carbs regularly i would sleep after an ice cream before a workout.. but now i can do several hours of workout with and without carbs.. (biggest issue is to remember to drink water + ELECTROLYTES!)
I am doing good by exercising after just my morning coffee! Excellent! I am quite overweight and have been working out for 6 months, but I'm not doing any really hard workouts yet. As you said, I'm "building that up." Good to know, Mike, thanks 🙂
Good on you for taking the first step
Way to go. Keep it up!
I do a little better on a little bit of carbs. I consume maybe 50 grams after resistance training. Helps energy levels and mood. Some carbs Seems to help with hormones. Unless you’re an elite athlete there is no reason to make diet overly complicated. Eat mostly meat and a few carbs if you have earned it.
Ive been on zero carb since January and for me I work harder now in the gym and basically with everything in life, so for me carbs were slowing me down. Guess it depends on each individual.
Context, personalization and training intensity. The framework to place all learning platforms when we watch/listen or read nutritional and/or training related information.😉
Great presentation Mike. Thanks to High Intensity Health.
For me personally, I like doing fasted workouts as I perform better but on occasion, I would have something like a Baybel cheese snack or Fairlife Protein drink to fuel an intense workout
Yeah I lived zero carb for a couple years and got in shape during it. After I slipped up on my diet and exercise I started with only changing my exercise, got addicted to carbs.
Anyway I could work out twice as hard, my strength was near the same but the recovery and output was much improved.
I think I'll do mostly keto with carbs 3 times a week for heavy exercise.
Great stuff, Mike!
I didn’t touch carbs for almost a year, I am pure carnivore, working out every single day. Never needed carbs, never will.
My lifts definitely suffered when I went on a low carb diet, but my fat loss accelerated dramatically. If there are people who don’t need carbs for strength then I’m happy for them but I’m not in that group. People like me have to make a choice, do you want to lose fat or gain strength? Its not a big deal. For me it’s: lose the fat and then go back to gaining strength.
Great video thanks Mike
Awesome that you have now swung back into favor of Performance and adding muscle to the body 💪👍 from a personal point of view I did pure carnavore for 6 mths had 2 issues I could not resolve 1 / Peak power Performance suffered not a lot maybe a couple of percent 2/ in recent years my sleep has not been great and no carbs made it worse ! In the end I introduced white jasmine rice and occasional veggies ! About 100 g carbs per day ! I try and keep a 5 or 5
6 hr gap between carbs and fat to minimize Randall cycle activation
Long time low then to 0 carb person here…
I lift weights and found I felt great on no carbs .
Once I begun to include carbs around my workout pre and post I found my strength and recovery went through to roof . In fact I was able to add 10 kg to some of my lifts that I had stalled on.
After the workout window i the go back to 0 carb..
Not only that I noticed my sleep and recovery has greatly improved since having carbs around the workout !
It was a revelation as I was so against carbs for years . Not only that I have found my body composition has improved from this method where i have actually put on size and dropped some body fat !
Great video Mike, even if many of these facts are uncertain. We never totally run out of energy and fall into a heap. We have approx. 60,000 + calories stored as fat, we can go for many days without eating. With exercise the question is - how fast can we replenish the approx. 2,000 calories store as glycogen in the muscle and liver. The rate of ATP production in the Krebs cycle of the mitochondria varies depending on metabolic flexibility etc. but all 3 macros can be "burned" for energy (amino usage is a distant 3rd). One gym rule has always been 1 minute minimum rest between sets. That's because it takes about 1 minute to replace 90% of muscular ATP. In the next 2 or 3 minutes your muscles are fully replenished. It is nonsense to say that carbs are required to replenish glycogen stores for high intensity exercise, and carb "loading" is useless.
Great talk, thank you.
Great information! I would only add that per Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, the white fast-twitch muscle seems to matter most for carb metabolism.
A major priority of mine is glucose/insulin spiking. So I firmly feel the best method is low carb. There is some data that indicates exercise and protein can aid in blunting spikes so timing of carb intake is essential. However I think regardless of any scenario 100 grams or less is the working ceiling.
Wondering if Mike’s mentioned “carb swishing” can give a well-timed insulin spike without any actual carbs?
I started low carb diet this year. On average I consumed less than 100g of carbs per day. I also found out I workout better in fasted state. I tried to consume meal before my workout few times but I always go back to workout in fasted state. I feel much better with low carb compare to when I was in normal average diet. I tried to eat normally several times and yet I always go back to low carb diet.
Around the 16-18 minute mark Mike confuses carb grams per kg for grams per pound. This leads him to say 1000s of carbs instead of much lower. Apart from that, great vid as always!
A hot topic Mike, I love carbs for training way way way more explosive.... sweet potatoes work for me but pretty much every other carb especially fruit is way to addictive for me!!!
Right now I'm testing zero carb for health reasons (had a A1C of 5.6 with carbs only once/day on my training days ......Say WHAAAT !?) 45 days into this experiment and my fuel tank for intensity is surprisingly good but not quite the same as with carbs, I've been able to go pretty hard for 1.5 hours Muay Thai training without gassing out.....
Find your balance friends & stay hard!
I’m on a push/pull/legs regimen right now, carnivore Sunday through Friday and carbing up on Saturdays. I can definitely tell my output is insanely higher the first few days after carb loading. By Thursday I am almost toast and my reps and weight go have to go down, but the trade off is recomping at a higher rate (higher fat loss throughout the week). No need to be in one boat or the other, just use each as a tool to accomplish whatever your goal is.
Youll lose more muscle doing this
@@bannanaization please explain
@@jellybeanvinkler4878 i guess it really depends how lean you are when you begin recomping, and how trained you are as well. I shouldnt have said something so myopic, but if you arent performing to your highest capacity on some days, then the stimulus will be lower. But i guess it is subjective to those other variables too. He mentions this in more detail in the video though
I found that when I switched to only eating after my runs (2 meals with about 18 hours of fasting each day) that my running started to suffer I was running an average of 90+ minutes a day. My times started to slow a bit and my average time running each week dropped but if I had a small breakfast my running improved, I still like to do the fasting part once in a while but I need to get in some carbs to keep my running going.
Please continue the REAL EDUCATION about carbohydrates!!
I have spent years now not understanding carbs, but listening to all the CZcamsr's like Dr.Baker who had me convinced if I could just tolerate the weeks of carb withdrawal, carnivore would be amazing.
Man I could write about my experiences forever, so THANK YOU for helping me to understand how to eat carbs a little bit more intelligently.
How can I assess carbohydrate requirements? Should I simply try to hit a small surplus because if I gained weight, I'd obviously just cut back. And isn't the small surplus where hormonal health is optimal?
Man!!!!!! I just did a three day zero carbs (meat and eggs + tallow) with exercise and exogenous ketones, my feet and legs swelled up and I gained 4lbs at the end before I carb'd back up! My heart would do funny things and I had major cognitive deficits and a headache... All because I thought if I could just get into keto, I would help my brain injury so much more than my carby life.
Perhaps I should just email you looking for consultation 🙂
Sounds about right. I’m currently on a low carb ketogenic diet, but if I ever meet my weight loss/fat->muscle conversion goals and think about bodybuilding/lifting/whatever, that’s changing.
(Honestly that latter what-if is unrealistic, I’m almost 31, I’m really in this for my health but if I can pile on muscle I will because I like food)
I'm pretty sure for hypertrophy, you want your insulin sensitivity at its highest, which would be fasted. Note, that's not competition; that's training.
You can get by without carb intake, but if you want to have the best performance, then you use carbs, it's well known, well proven, well studied, absolutely true
By far my best performances are fasted. By far! So no fruits, honey or what. Both endurance as heavy lifting. After my sport sessions I always take a high protein (full fat) big meal: meat, eggs, cheese, (raw) milk and (raw) kefir or kwark (< that’s a full fat yoghurt like cheese). I feel great. Super to be honest. 😊
I’m no longer a competitive athlete, but am intrigued with the “carb swishing” Mike mentioned. Does an insulin spike without any actual carbs improve our performance???
I’ll be looking up studies on that!
I'm glad you brought up this subject Mike.
I'm on Keto mainly but I've found I definitely need carbs before I do a gym workout. I usually have oatmeal with some fruit. I can't go overboard with this as I'm diabetic and Keto keeps my sugars nice and low.
The rest of the day I eat Keto and don't have the carbs on non-workout days.
Thats weird because oatmeal literally contains 2 chemicals that essentially relax you. Maybe its just in your head that you need carbs or oatmeal?
Depends on the training. If you are training hard with intent with weights. Carbs are required.
@@JD83000 👍🏼
I work out relatively hard. I’m not a pro athlete. Working out fasted, on a keto diet works just fine for me.
John Kiefer simplified and figured this out years ago...
Carb Nite = Optimal Health
Carb Backloading = Optimal Performance
Endurance cyclist here - centuries - 100 miles. Upped carbs during ride for hydration and prevent bonking. Never really went fasted, but using premixed carbs and electrolytes, not just electrolytes, helped me on hot - like ending in 105 HI - no issues. No muscle craps after. Talk about maximizing carb intake.
As someone who’s practiced lifting on both low carb and high carb, I can absolutely attest to the fact that higher carb allows me to push harder though my workouts and has provided me superior results 💪
Same here. I tried to pull back on carbohydrates and I felt a decline in my ability to sustain work volume. Over time I couldn’t recover and put up as much volume as I usually did, naturally my absolute strength started to decline as well. I lost almost 5% body fat over two months time, but I wasn’t happy with how I felt. I just felt weak.
@@louisdobosenski5989
Yeah I felt overall drained too, even in everyday life.
Serious lifters / athletes are definitely better served by eating more carbs, particularly around workouts.
@@bigpicturegains I agree
What about your body fat
@@s.nikolic497 what about it?
Quite interesting~ I got a kick out of the word ..deserve but actually..makes good sense.
Impressive. And it is smart to select low or non inflammatory carbs like many fruits are when consuming them in amounts that match demand during high intensity exercise. I would go with bananas personally. From my understanding raw veggies can be quite inflammatory but steamed veggies less so if at all however I haven't researched it in great detail. I would choose white rice over brown because I believe although it is high glycemic, it is less inflammatory and I don't think high glycemic is a problem if the energy it being quickly used for performance during exercise. Great stuff thx.
I love the idea of starting the workout fasted and adding carbs halfway through. I personally found it gives me a boost in performance.
I've had really good, long term benefits(3.5 years) of eating a low carb diet combined with 18:6ish IF. I have noticed since I started HIT, high intensity strength training, on the day of and the day after HIT, I really want extra carbs. My wife puts together this wonderful whole grain mix, and after HIT I usually eat an extra serving, or two! And in practice, it works well, no negative effects.
I tried doing some of my workouts in a fasted state a couple of years back, it was not a great idea. I was in the middle of a strength training session, when I could tell that I had used up my glycogen stores in my muscles. I had to stop the workout immediately , and felt sore for days. I learned my lesson, and now always fuel my workouts according to the demand and the energy systems being used.
You should be doing switch via keto diet to increase fat consumption and getting used to it. Then it will be much easier to train in fasted state without any exhaustion. Have you tried keto for few weeks at least?
@@playerone1431 Yes, I did that and fasted training early on in my journey to lose weight, which I did quite well. But then as I shifted focus into athletic performance and eventually as a cycling time trialist and with a focus on short course Duathlons, I realized that keto or low carb dieting absolutely wrecked my top end performance in anaerobic and lactate threshold efforts. Basically I carb cycle like Mike describes in the video. For example, on Race day, I eat 2 hours before the race start, take a sip of fluids which have carbohydrates and electrolytes mid race, and then replenish with carbs and protein within 30 minutes post race. I eat in a similar way in training too. More carbs on high intensity days, less carbs on low intensity or strength days. I also focus on single ingredient complex carbs like oatmeal and fruit, and plenty of vegetables as well. And this has absolutely worked, my training and diet have led me to be able to increase performance to levels I had not imagined possible, and to taking podium spots this year and winning my last race outright. Even if I were not an endurance athlete, I would incorporate some kind of HIIT activity once a week, and for that type of activity, I would always fuel and replenish that workout with a good source of carbohydrates as well as protein.
Like your show Mike!
Very helpful thank you
That makes total sense to me and I basically follow that format. On my non-training days I do intermittent fasting with low carbs in my eating window (
"If you're not exercising you don't deserve carbs." Lmbo. So simple but so profound.
Charles Poliquin would tell his clients you have to earn your carbs
Yeah, perfect way to create eating disorder. To deserve some group of food. There is so many variables for that.
@@grkas5206 Eating disorder and eating discipline are not the same thing.
Seems to be making a case for carbo loading. Which is a very dramatic turn around from a low carb diet. Majority of people training and working out with intensity will be training most days. So he is saying they should not be on a low carb diet. Big change !
What if you have a high metabolism?
My A-1C dropped to 4.8 after adding more carbs and quitting keto carnivore ! So I do better with carbs added 50-100 g daily
Wow! thats amazing.. just goes to show (though i think you're probably in the minority body type) that we're all different & genuinely have different needs to get us to optimal health.
I've been strict keto genic for over five years. I lift and do high intensity interval training. I've never had a problem. Carb cycling is dangerous because the sugar shock damages the endothelium that isn't prepared for it due to the physiologic insulin resistance that comes with ketogenic adaptation.
If u eat rhe carbs while exercising, insulin is not an issue. Muscles take up the glucose directly.
@@iss8504 , I find that true for endurance events lasting several hours, but not on short exercises.
Interesting topic , i noticed since increasing my protein intake from 90 to 140ish gr ( I’m 56 , 5,10 , 70 kg )my recovery and progression has noticeably improved.. and I’m on keto almost 0 carbs since mora than 2 years
@@J.o.e_K Hi there and thank you for asking… let me see
Breakfast: 3 hard boiled eggs ( L size) 70-100 gr Chesse and some meat = around 60 gr of proteins + 50 gr fat
Midday: 300 gr Greek yogurt ( 10 % fat ) , 2 tablespoons of cooked oatmeal ( plain in water nothing added ) and 25 gr of protein
Evening: meat stew ( lots of cream + some tomato’s for volume and another one of yogurt / oatmeal / protein
The stew I prepare it on Sunday’s for the entire week , on weekend’s I eat 2 meals a day / Sunday is for me IF 22/24 hour and mostly eat one time a day but then, I eat a lot 😜
I add some veggies and some fruits a few times a week , but mostly meat / diary/ fat . Also I found out that I prefer cooked veggies rather than raw .
Best regards
@@franzjosefmueller-alban509 I am not trying to be rude but you said you were at almost 0 carbs but you eat oatmeal twice a day?
@@joeberrouard3743 , that’s a total of 15 grams per day ( dry weight ) which means around 8 grams of carbs with a medium glycemic index also to be noted, I consume between 300 and 1200 calories on my workouts ( depending on the day ) so my average is around 2400 calories/day
Regards
90-100 g of glycogen in the average liver, 400-500 g in average individual muscle mass.
Doesn't account for rate of glycogen consumption based upon intensity and duration of activity/exercise, but it's fairly common for trained individuals to bonk/hit the wall/run low on intramuscular glycogen around the 2 hour/120 minute mark under constant load (ie. a marathon at about 80%/race pace) if they don't intake glucose during the activity.
If working under the typical long distance race pace/80%, naturally, those glycogen stores can be stretched well past the 120 minute mark.
As other contributors have said, you need to allow time for your body to become fat adapted. As Mauro Di Pasquale advises in his book go through an initial 12-day assessment phase to see where your ideal carb level should be after
I love that I can cycle 30+ miles and not need to stop for food breaks . Keto 3 years, cycling for 3 years also and I'll never eat a full carb filled diet ever again.
I workout for about 60 minutes early in the morning and have felt great having a cup of coffee with a little A2 cream before the workout and the electrolytes during the workout. Thanks for the great video Mike!
Lowcarber for about 7 years now.
Preworkout for me : coffee, salt, maybe TBS of coconut oil.
Never had problems, and I do bodyweight exercise and swimming.
But my advice for beginners: dont forse yourself to workout fasted. You will get to that in time
Try this. Potassium citrate, sodium, magnesium, creatine HCL, calcium HMB, and a vitamin b complex effervescent that contains caffiene 100mg.
Interesting thanks 👍🏽
One of your best videos, Mike 👍
I’ve done extended low carb, keto, and carnivore over the past few years. They work fine on short burst intensity activities like weight training bc the glycogen usage isn’t that high. I do some intense cycling and no way can I be low carb when I’m doing a 4 hour ride with huge climbs that have my HR pegged at 160 bpm. I’ve tried and the bonking sucked. 😂
Yes, I am fully fat adapted.
…whatever plan you chose to follow, they all work better after the first morning flush…
Gracias,Gracias,Gracias
I’ve been 0 carb 0 sugar for a year 🙌🏻 no fruit, no vegetables, no grains..I have more energy now than I use to being in the fitness world🙌🏻
According to these goons you'd perform better by engaging the randle cycle and dumping deuterium into your nanomotors
What do you eat then?
@@dandanndannnnnn I eat grass finished beef, pasture raised eggs,, raw dairy ( cream, butter, kefir) I make my own beef jerky and collagen bone broth every week for snacks.. I only use Redmond sea salt as a spice for everything
@@carnicavegirl7214 Same here with grass finished beef, pasture raised eggs, butter and kefir
whenever I hear somebody say "everyone is different" I'll just reply: yeah yeah, you're the true ape then lol.
I'm very low carb and endurance run. I definitely need to use some carbs in the way of fruits or raw honey during longer efforts. 20-25g hr. I am pretty lean as well.
This is how I equate it: Carbohydrates are like high octane race gas, Fats are like diesel fuel. Every now and then run some alcohol through the system to clean things out. 💪
When I cut weight Ive always used low carb, it works well with me and it always helped me drop weight.
My problem with carbs is they often come attached with sugar, fructose or Omega-6 which really would negate any benefit you get from the supposed increased energy.
Banana doesn't have such problems )
@@playerone1431 Banana is actually one of the worst fruits out there - it has 15 grams total sugars (glucose + sucrose + fructose) per 100 grams.