Carb cycling for bulking

[menace2anus]

Hey guys,
I'm currently on a lean bulk using carb cycling and i would like to know what you guys think of my overall macros...
So for lean bulk, i have decided to add a small surplus of 500 calories to my TDEE which is sitting at 2806, which comes to a total of 3306 calories for me to build lean muscle mass.

high carb day 3306 calories
331g protein
372g carbs
55g fat

moderate carb day (half the amount of carbs for high day) 2581 calories
331g protein
186g carbs
55g fat

low carb day 1819 calories
331g protein
<50g carbs (fibrous veggies like peas)
55g fat

Here's what my current carb cycle looks like:
Sunday: Low
Monday: High
Tuesday: High
Wednesday: High
Thursday: Moderate
Friday: Moderate
Saturday: Moderate

Any advice, thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[RaginCajun]

I’d up my fats so at least 60-70 grams and adjust your carbs for the cal difference. See how your body responds and adjust from there

[GearHeaded]

my 2 cents .. your over complicating your diet for no good reason. your in a 500 calorie surplus and "bulking" , there is no real reason to carb cycle. When bulking , carbs are the most important macro nutrient, yes more so then protein. in fact protein should be a bit lower in a bulk then in a cut (especially if running gear). protein is thermogenic, if your protein gets too high on a bulk while your carbs are low (during a low day) you could be knocked down into a calorie deficit . thats because for every 100 calories of protein you take in your body burns up 30 cals just to assimilate that protein. so for example, if your taking in 2000 cals a day in protein, your burning up 600 cals just to assimilate that (thats like 3 hours of cardio). not good for bulking.

I'd keep things simple . keep your protein moderate (not super high), keep your carbs as high as possible , then simply cycle your fats to control calories and to keep from getting to fat while bulking.
your don't really want to go restricting and having multiple low days of the number one most important bulking macro, ie carbs.
much simpler to have protein and carbs fixed. then cycle your fats in and out on different days . fats are a macro nutrient that you do NOT need on a daily basis. you can get by with fats added in 1-2 days a week is all. on a bulk you could never do that with carbs, you need carbs multiple times per day every day.

[bwandrade]

I don't see a point of carb cycling while bulking, unless you are keeping the same calories and changing the ratio on training x non training days, not the calories themselves.
Besides, on your example, at the end of the week, you are in a caloric deficit, just look:

If you TDEE is 2806 kcal/day, that translates to 19.642kcal/week.
If you have:
1x low day = 1x 1.819 kcal
3x moderate days = 3x 2581 = 7.743 kcal
3x high days = 3x 3306 = 9918 kcal

That's equal 19.480kcal/week, it's an 162kcal/week deficit, and I am not even taking into account the amount of calories spent on your workouts.

[RaginCajun]

my 2 cents .. your over complicating your diet for no good reason. your in a 500 calorie surplus and "bulking" , there is no real reason to carb cycle. When bulking , carbs are the most important macro nutrient, yes more so then protein. in fact protein should be a bit lower in a bulk then in a cut (especially if running gear). protein is thermogenic, if your protein gets too high on a bulk while your carbs are low (during a low day) you could be knocked down into a calorie deficit . thats because for every 100 calories of protein you take in your body burns up 30 cals just to assimilate that protein. so for example, if your taking in 2000 cals a day in protein, your burning up 600 cals just to assimilate that (thats like 3 hours of cardio). not good for bulking.

I'd keep things simple . keep your protein moderate (not super high), keep your carbs as high as possible , then simply cycle your fats to control calories and to keep from getting to fat while bulking.
your don't really want to go restricting and having multiple low days of the number one most important bulking macro, ie carbs.
much simpler to have protein and carbs fixed. then cycle your fats in and out on different days . fats are a macro nutrient that you do NOT need on a daily basis. you can get by with fats added in 1-2 days a week is all. on a bulk you could never do that with carbs, you need carbs multiple times per day every day.

Never heard you do not need fats everyday, first time hearing that. Would he not want the fats for his body’s own hormone production and vitamin transport? Just curious as to your reasoning behind this

[IronLiver]

Never heard you do not need fats everyday, first time hearing that. Would he not want the fats for his body’s own hormone production and vitamin transport? Just curious as to your reasoning behind this

It would be unwise to limit saturated fats in any diet, especially when bulking. Since your body needs the saturated fat in order to properly utilize proteins. Many of the physiques in the 70's in the golden area of bodybuilding where built on diets of only fat and protein, with hardly any carbs. Carbs are the macro nutrient that you do NOT need on a daily basis. Limiting saturated fat intake to 1-2 days per week and eating carbs with 6 meals per day is not ideal for your health.

[Windex]

I would not carb cycle on a bulk. Keep it simple

[GearHeaded]

Never heard you do not need fats everyday, first time hearing that. Would he not want the fats for his body’s own hormone production and vitamin transport? Just curious as to your reasoning behind this

just to clarify, I didn't state "no fats" at all. I suggested cycling fats through out the week. your body does not need dietary fats on a daily basis. your body is very efficient at storing and utilizing fats. the idea that you need fats DAILY for natural hormone production is a little bit over stated most the time, most people don't realize it takes only 1 teaspoon of fat a week to produce all the hormones your body needs (again, 1 Teaspoon... think about how little that is).

of course when eating 300 grams of protein per day from meat, dairy, and eggs.. your going to be getting plenty of cholesterol and saturated fats coming in (as well as omega if your eating steak and salmon).

so when I say "cycle fats" a couple days per week.. I'm talking about "added fats", not fats naturally occurring in the protein sources your eating. added fats are like adding Olive oil, MCT oil, Avacodo's, etc.. to your meals.
its not really necessary to 'add' fats to your meals on a daily basis. as I stated above.

now one situation in which adding extra fats to your meals on a daily basis is good, is for guys that are skinny ectomorphs with super fast metabolisms that struggle to put on weight .. by adding fats to every meal they will slow down their metabolism and better assimilate each meal and more calories will "stick" to them.

but for guys that are not this way, who are running a 500+ calorie surplus from just protein and carbs, the added fats are simply going to add body fat. extra dietary fat when in a calorie surplus gets stored as body fat. period. your body does not even need an insulin response to store dietary fat as body fat. it just naturally stores (via enzymatic processes).
your body does not want to store carbs or protein as body fat (thats a lot of metabolic work to get done), but naturally extra fats your body easily stores and wants to store.


note - an exception to a lot of this, is if your running a keto diet and 'fat adapted'

[IronLiver]

just to clarify, I didn't state "no fats" at all. I suggested cycling fats through out the week. your body does not need dietary fats on a daily basis. your body is very efficient at storing and utilizing fats. the idea that you need fats DAILY for natural hormone production is a little bit over stated most the time, most people don't realize it takes only 1 teaspoon of fat a week to produce all the hormones your body needs (again, 1 Teaspoon... think about how little that is).

of course when eating 300 grams of protein per day from meat, dairy, and eggs.. your going to be getting plenty of cholesterol and saturated fats coming in (as well as omega if your eating steak and salmon).

so when I say "cycle fats" a couple days per week.. I'm talking about "added fats", not fats naturally occurring in the protein sources your eating. added fats are like adding Olive oil, MCT oil, Avacodo's, etc.. to your meals.
its not really necessary to 'add' fats to your meals on a daily basis. as I stated above.

now one situation in which adding extra fats to your meals on a daily basis is good, is for guys that are skinny ectomorphs with super fast metabolisms that struggle to put on weight .. by adding fats to every meal they will slow down their metabolism and better assimilate each meal and more calories will "stick" to them.

but for guys that are not this way, who are running a 500+ calorie surplus from just protein and carbs, the added fats are simply going to add body fat. extra dietary fat when in a calorie surplus gets stored as body fat. period. your body does not even need an insulin response to store dietary fat as body fat. it just naturally stores (via enzymatic processes).
your body does not want to store carbs or protein as body fat (thats a lot of metabolic work to get done), but naturally extra fats your body easily stores and wants to store.


note - an exception to a lot of this, is if your running a keto diet and 'fat adapted'

When you cook fiberous carbs it robs the blood and intestines of available fats. Raw animal fats should be eaten every time you eat cooked starch to help with digestion, prevent toxicity build up, cellulite, acrylamide storage, and constipation.

You are saying that the extra fat that you are eating even on a 500+ calorie surplus is just stored as fat and doesn't have any benefit, which I believe you are mistaken. Obviousilly, it's unwise and unnecessary to add plant oils as you mentioned above. Simply eating an egg, drinking a glass of milk, or a little bit of butter or cheese with each meal should provide the body with adequate saturated fat to keep the body healthy and aid in protein utilization. The extra saturated fat will help the body to properly utilize all that extra protein.

[JaneDoe]

man, the protein is completely high, alias in an absurd amount!

Consume 2 grams of protein per pound of lean body. That is, just the right amount that your body will be able to assimilate to build muscle mass.



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