Carbs cycling for clean bulk

[Gainw]

Hello guys,

l am 5'9 186 lbs. at the moment and about 10% bf. l am planning a clean bulk cycle after a month. l tried this year first time a carb cycling for my cut/recomp and maintaining phases and it seemed to work pretty well, couse all the other times l gained fat pretty fast. Especially when bulking. So this time l decided to try my bulk with carb cycling.

My cycle will be :

1-9 Prop 525mg/week
1-8 Npp 475mg/week
6-9 Winny 70mg/ed
1-9 A-dex 0.5mg/eod

Now l have 2 choices for carb cycling, the first one which l am using now, just upping calories to make my intake at 3500 kcal in average :

Day 1 Low ; 125 Carbs ; 365 Protein ; 60 Fat ;Total Calories : 2665
Day 2 Low ; 125 Carbs ; 365 Protein ; 60 Fat ;Total Calories : 2665
Day 3 Med ; 225 Carbs ; 365 Protein ; 63 Fat ; Total Calories : 3157
Day 4 Med+ ; 375 Carbs ; 365 Protein ; 70 Fat ; Total Calories : 3893
Day 5 High ; 600 Carbs ; 365 Protein ; 83 Fat ; Total Calories : 5055
Repeat

In 5 day cycle its 3500 kcal average.


Though one guy suggested me other system, which is like u keep protein all the time same number, only change more carbs on high days and more fat less carbs on low days like this :

ALL FATS IN MY DIET IS ONLY FROM GOOD OILS ( FLAXSEED , OLIVE , HEMP , SO ON.. ) , NUTS AND AVOCADOS

So its basically like this :

Mon: 300
Tue: 200
Wed: 100
Thu: 300
Fri: 200
Sat: 100
Sun : 100

Monday: Carbs : 300g ; Protein : 350g ; Fat 70g Total Calories : 3489
Tuesday: Carbs : 200g ; Protein 350g ; Fat 114g Total Calories : 3489
Wednesday: Carbs : 100g ; Protein 350g ; Fat 162g Total Calories : 3489
Thursday: Carbs: 300g ; Protein : 350g ; Fat 70g Total Calories : 3489
Friday: Carbs : 200g ; Protein 350g ; Fat 114g Total Calories : 3489
Saturday: Carbs : 100g ; Protein 350g ; Fat 162g Total Calories : 3489
Sunday: Carbs : 100g ; Protein 350g ; Fat 162g Total Calories : 3489

So basically here every day calories are the same around 3500 and only carbs/fats changes, while in the first one we have different calories, different fats , different carbs only protein the same. Which would u do ?

l Would like to try 2nd one, becouse those 600+ carb days are ****ing horrible for me to eat so much clean food.

Whats ur opinions about these 2 systems and which would u say better or maybe u have something different to suggest ?

[marcus300]

Personally I wouldn't carb cycle while on a bulking cycle. If your after lean gains with minimum fat I would just do a lean bulk diet to suit your needs. I wouldn't sacrifice restricting your diet while on bulking cycle, this is the time to build.

[Gainw]

And its 10 times easyer to eat just on normal diet, but the thing is that l always gain fat on any clean bulk l do and only by doing the carbs cycling l could maintain my bodyfat around the same for last 2-3 months. So l think this is the only way for me to bulk up, it will be slower, but l prefer quality over quantity

[marcus300]

Like ive said I wouldn't do a carb cycling diet while bulking on cycle,
If you gain alot of bf while on a clean bulk your diet isn't constructed good enough

[Gainw]

Just a typical 300 carb day which l do on my carb cycle

09:00-9:30 AM Meal1 cal/fat/carb/pro

1 xl whole egg 65/6.6/0.7/8
7 xl egg whites 300/0/0/31.5
95 grams of Oats 323/6.4/53/13
Half scoop of whey protein 61/0.5/1.5/12

11:30-12:00 AM Meal2 cal/fat/carb/pro ( About 1 hour before workout )

220 grams Chicken breast 317/7.7/0/62
120 grams brown rice 418/2.6/89/2.6
1-1.5 cup of vegetables

13:00-13:30 PM Workout

14:30-15:00 PM Meal3 cal/fat/carb/pro ( PWO meal)

2 scoops of whey protein 245/2/6/49
100 grams of banana 92/0.4/23.4/1

16:00 PM Meal4 cal/fat/carb/pro ( 1 hour after PWO meal )

215 grams of Chicken breast 310/7.5/0/60
120 grams of brown rice 418/2.6/89/2.6
1-1.5 cup of vegetables

19:00 PM Meal5 cal/fat/carb/pro

220 grams Chicken breast 317/7.7/0/62
60 grams brown rice 209/1.3/44.8/4.5
1-1.5 cup of vegetables

20:45 PM Meal6 cal/fat/carb/pro

120 grams of Tuna fish 132/0/0/31.2
5 grams of Flaxseed oil 41/4.5/0/0
0.5 cup of tomatoes

23:00 PM Meal7 cal/fat/carb/pro

200 grams Cottage Cheeze 198/1/7/39.6

TOTAL Calories : 3492.15 Fat : 70 Carbs : 300 Protein : 350

i sincerelly dont know anyone who l can in reality who eat cleaner foods than me. l eat clean like this 2-3 years in a row, by just changing my calorie intake dependant on my weight, no cheats no nothing, only clean protein, carbs and fat. And if l dont carb cycle - for exampple only keep this 3500kcal each day - l gain bf. Then l dont know what is wrong with me

[Gainw]

Bump! Anyone ?

[gbrice75]

I agree with Marcus, I don't think carb cycling is necessary or even dare I say efficient for a lean bulk. Your diet looks pretty clean - if you gain bodyfat without carb cycling, you need to look at your overall caloric intake as the culprit before looking at a single macro nutrient IMO.

Note: You can consider reducing calories on non-workout days. How you go about making that reduction is up to you - i'd keep protein intake the same and lower overall calories by 250-500 via carbs AND fat - possibly even a 50/50 split. Nothing more than 'zig zag' dieting really. This may very well solve your problem.

[Gainw]

This is a pretty good idea gbrice, so on rest days l just should lower for example my carbs that much so that it would be 200-500 calories less than training days right ?

[gbrice75]

This is a pretty good idea gbrice, so on rest days l just should lower for example my carbs that much so that it would be 200-500 calories less than training days right ?

It's a pretty common practice. Your energy requirements are lower on non-workout days, so you lower your energy intake accordingly. Sort of the opposite idea of how during a strict cut diet, people will eat MORE on some non-workout days, as a refeed. In this case, you're providing your body with adequate nutrition/calories on workout days, so there's no need to refeed obviously. Instead, you reduce calories and potentially thwart bodyfat gains.

Again, i'd consider reducing both fats and carbs 50/50, but if you're really big on this carb thing then just reduce carbs. I'd start with 250 calories and if you still see fat gains after a couple of weeks, reduce by another 100 calories. You shouldn't need to reduce much further than 500 or again, you need to look at your overall caloric intake possibly being too high to begin with.

[Buddhabody]

I agree with Marcus and Gbrice, carb cycling doesnt seem to make sense. Either way, good luck mate.