Doctor J - A Low Carbohydrate Diet for the Bodybuilder

Malea Jensen

Competitive national level bodybuilder Malea Jensen discusses low-carbohydrate diets for bodybuilders.

September 11, 2008 

There is no secret that the goal of a successful bodybuilder who is getting ready for a competition, is to lose fat while maintaining muscle mass. The popular low carbohydrate diet fad, as you read in one of my articles last month, is not what the bodybuilder is necessarily striving to follow.

Despite the cries of the general public in regards to weight loss, the bodybuilder knows that it is easy to lose weight. The problem the bodybuilder faces is losing fat without losing muscle mass. As you know, the body will first choose food, then muscle, and then finally will burn fat, as sources of energy.  You may also be aware of the fact that once you reduce your calories below maintenance levels, your body’s choice of burning food is out of the equation.

Now, the choice remains burn fat, or burn muscle.  I can say this much, if you reduce both calories and carbohydrates, and do not take in sufficient amounts of protein, then you are going to burn muscle.  Not a good choice!  Clearly, you can see that the popular “no” carbohydrate diets are not designed for the aspiring bodybuilder who needs to lose fat, but grow muscle.

I will include rules for maximum fat loss while still maintaining muscle mass:

1.)  Your total caloric intake should equal 10-15 calories per pound of bodyweight.

2.)  Focus on active carbohydrates. Active carbohydrates = Total Carbohydrates – grams of fiber. Your active carbohydrates should not exceed 25 grams per meal, or 75 grams per day.

3.)  Protein optimization. Ingest 25-50 grams of protein per meal. Be aware of the fact that even though protein is the best macronutrient to consume, there still can be some limit as to its elimination capacity. If protein is consumed in excess, some of the nitrogen can be converted to sugar and either burned as energy at the expense of burning fat, or it can simply be stored as fat. Both options are not good.

4.)  Dietary fats are important to burn body fat. Your diet must have an emphasis on Omega-3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fats. These include flaxseed, safflower, and olive oil. Place less emphasis on saturated fats, cream, and beef.

5.)  Carbohydrate load every third then fourth day. A high carbohydrate meal every fourth day refuels muscle and liver glycogen stores, prevents a decrease in metabolism (via T 3 suppression), and facilitates muscular growth by increasing uptake of amino acids. Another thing this high carbohydrate meal will accomplish, is to increase insulin-like growth.  IGF is needed to create an anabolic environment while preventing lipogenesis (fat-building).

6.)  Induce thermogenesis by eating foods that have been shown to increase your metabolism. Some vegetables include asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, celery, onions, radishes, spinach, and tomatoes.  Almost all proteins have a desirable thermogenic effect except proteins high in fat, lunchmeats, and processed proteins. I might add that whey concentrates and isolates are also undesirable for increasing thermogenesis because they are assimilated so quickly that it is often burned as fuel. This in turn, inhibits the burning of stored body fat.

Now you can see that becoming an aspiring bodybuilder takes a lot of scientific knowledge to be successful. I cannot lie to you, however, this is just one of many theories behind fat loss and maintaining muscle at the same time.

Until next time, stay focused on the goal and train hard to reach that goal.