Need help with carb cycling

[T3/T4 GSR]

I have been reading this article here( http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/par30.htm ) on carb cycling and I have some questions that aren't very clear. Now I have high carb, low carb and no carb days. Is my caloric intake supposed to vary being higher on high days etc? Also what is a good split here? On this site they have my no carb day falling on my heaviest work outs and one of my high carb days on saturday when I don't do cardio or train. Now I could just add cardio on high carb day but i am hesitant to have a high carb day on a day off. As far as actual numbers go my current diet falls right in line with the low carb days so I am going to keep that meal setup the same for those days but as far as high carbs what is considered high? My low carb days are about 160 grams and I am 170 at 10.5% which should be good there but I am not sure how much to raise it and how to change the caloric requirements. Any clarification here would really help me as I am trying to drop another 2.5% or so body fat to bring out my abs before summer ends and I start bulking so I can start my bulk as lean as possible and my current diet is stagnating.

[abbot138]

This is actually an artice that Pinnacle wrote and posted on here not too long ago. I have been using it for about 5 weeks, with nice results....Yes calories will vary considerably. I think when you are looking at splits you are looking at the bulking one, here is my carb cycle split. High-Legs, Low- Traps/Abs, No- Off, High-Back, Low-Chest, No- Off. If you dont do deads I would put switch Chest and back workout, but with deads part of my back routine, I have to have a high carb day for back. I have pretty much followed his outline word for word (with the exception of not doing cardio, I have to do cardio, its just doesnt feel like cutting without it ) Its really not a keep track of macros kind of diet, like he says in the article, it relies more on the bodies ability to self-regulate and tell you when you are done eating....Go back and read his post on here, not sure if it is the exact same as the other one, but it should anser all of your questions, here is the link and I bumped it for you too, let me know if you have questions.....Why am i doing wrong to see my abs???

[T3/T4 GSR]

Since i do this split
mon - chest and then cardio
tues - back and then cardio (no deads since I am using 1 min rest intervals)
wed - legs
thurs - shoulders and then cardio
fri - tris and bis and then cardio
sat - off
sun - off
So should I do something like low, none, high, none, high, low and none? Is that to all over the place? Or should I do a high carb staurday and add some cardio like an hour of walking outside with some abs? Then I could do low, none, hign, low, none, high, none.

[abbot138]

Since i do this split
mon - chest and then cardio
tues - back and then cardio (no deads since I am using 1 min rest intervals)
wed - legs
thurs - shoulders and then cardio
fri - tris and bis and then cardio
sat - off
sun - off
So should I do something like low, none, high, none, high, low and none? Is that to all over the place? Or should I do a high carb staurday and add some cardio like an hour of walking outside with some abs? Then I could do low, none, hign, low, none, high, none.

No, if your gonna do this method of carb cycling then your diet will determine your split, not the other way around. If you want to follow this method, you are just gonna have to change your split, I know its a pain at first, but you will adjust. Your back and legs day shouldnt be back to back anyway. 2 days on and 1 day off is actually a nice switch as you hit every body part in a 6 day rotation instead of a 7 day roatation which in the long run will allow you train each muscle group more in a given time period. I would follow the split that Pinnacle outlines in the thread.

[T3/T4 GSR]

Why would I have to change my split just to make a leg day fall on a high carb day? I mean i have been doing it on low carbs so I am sure I can do that. I am not really lifting very heavy lately anyway just fast rest intervals to tax my muscles while doing cardio to burn fat. So energy isn't that huge a concern I just rather have more of it when I do legs. Having the weekend off keeps me sane.

[abbot138]

Your not getting it. Re-read his post. The cycle goes High-Low-No. And your heavy lift days go on High Carb days, then your "secondary" lifts go on Low days, and you should not be doing any lifting (maybe some light cardio) on No days. You shouldnt have a High Carb day on a non-lift day, that defeats the whole purpose of carb cycling. You arent really following his outline at all, so feel free to do whatever you feel works best for you. Not tryin to be a dick, just sayin. Also you need to still be going somewhat heavy when cutting (you should be in the 8-10 rep range), all that light weight super high rep cardio lifting when cutting is BS. When cutting you need to retain as much LBM as possible, lifting light weight while at the same time reducing calories and doing cardio is a good way to put yourself into a catabolic spiral. The intesity of your leg and back workouts (again if your doing deads with legs, which you should be) should be high enough so that you HAVE to put your high carb days on those days in order to keep you glycogen stores full enough to complete the workouts at your normal level of intensity....Good luck with whatever you decide.

[M302_Imola]

Started carb cycling two weeks ago and here is my split:

Mon. High carb - chest and triceps
Tue. Low carb - back and biceps
Wed. No carb - steady state cardio for an hour
Thur. High carb - Shoulders and traps
Fri. low carb - Legs and abs
Sat. No carb - am ss cardio
Sun. low carb - HIIT cardio
and then the cycle starts back over.
You will notice that back and legs (2 large muscle groups) are on low days which is about 150g of carbs. It is my belief that just coming off of a high day (the day before) your glycogen levels are more full than on the actual high day. Many people report a better workout the day after a high carb day. Not to take away from what Abbott was saying but this is an alternative.

[abbot138]

Yeah, that works as well....I think it depends on what time of the day you work out as well. Im not in the gym until 6:30, so on High Carb days first off Im coming off a No Carb day and my body is starved for Carbs, so I feel like my glyc stores fill up farily fast, also bc I lift so late I have time to get 3 high carb meals in me before hitting the gym....Looks like a good split tho bro.