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Weight Loss Forum / Low Carb / January 2004

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Muscle Gain on LC Diets

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Fred - 29 Dec 2003 23:33 GMT
I'm curious how people have fared trying to add muscle mass while on
low carb diets.  I'm finally nearing my desired body fat % (around
7-8%) and now am looking to start adding muscle.  My plan is to raise
my calorie count to a higher level, and I'm wondering how muscle
buidling on LC diets compares to a more standard diet.

Anyone out there who has been sucessul with this or have advice?

Thanks,

Fred
JC Der Koenig - 29 Dec 2003 23:44 GMT
Bulk up slowly on a balanced diet until you get to about 14% bodyfat. Then
go low carb again until you get back down to 8%. This advice assumes that
you have a somewhat effective lifting program in place.

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JC

Eat less, exercise more.

--

> I'm curious how people have fared trying to add muscle mass while on
> low carb diets.  I'm finally nearing my desired body fat % (around
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> Fred
Roger Zoul - 30 Dec 2003 00:12 GMT
:: I'm curious how people have fared trying to add muscle mass while on
:: low carb diets.  I'm finally nearing my desired body fat % (around
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
::
:: Anyone out there who has been sucessul with this or have advice?

A LC diet is definitely not optimal for gaining weight, and that includes
muscle, especially.

You may want to check out the Ultimate Diet 2.0 at this site:

www.theketogenicdiet.com

This diet combines low carb with periods of very high carb intake.  It is
mainly used for fat loss (to very lean levels) with minimal muscle loss or
even gain.  However, there is a variant of it that promotes muscle gain with
minimal fat gain.  You want that.

The UD2 is a pretty tough scheme to follow.  You may find that just raising
carbs to no less than 100 g per day (to stay LC) and eating slightly above
maintenance levels while doing little, if any, cardio and lifting heavy
(read about HST at http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/hst_index.html) will
work.  Mix in periods of dieting to lose the fat that comes along with the
muscle mass.

Of course, going off LC completely would probably work best, but you'd have
to diet periodically to relose bodyfat.

Another book, Serious Strength Training, 2ed, by Bompa, Di Pasquale, and
Cornacchia, discusses the use of LC diets for muscle building. However, the
emphasis there is also mainly fat loss.  However, on page 212 they talk
about nutrition for hypertrophy, and the basic plan is to LC during the week
with increased carb periods on the weekend.  It is the same as the weight
loss phase but for hypertrophy you must eat above maintenance level -- they
recommend 25 calories per pound of the body weight you wan to attain (a
lot!) in addition to weekend carb ups.

To get a more direct answer, from people who have actually gained muscle
while following a strict LC diet (I've gained muscle, but I'm a slightly
over 1-year newbie at weight training and have been dieting most of that
time -- hence I got muscle gain anyway) you may want to post your question
at misc.fitness.weights.  I'm kinda doubtful you'll find anyone who claims
to have done so because strict low-carbing puts you into a low insulin state
that is just not optimal for muscle gain.  Nor is it optimal for really
intense workouts.  It's good for weight loss and maintenance (where more
carbs are allow) but not really great at putting on mass -- where you need
to be able to eat a lot -- and you won't have much appetite if you're
strictly low-carbing.

Good luck.
Fred - 13 Jan 2004 19:46 GMT
Thanks,

I recently purchased the UD2.0 book and hoping it will work for me.
Roger Zoul - 14 Jan 2004 01:06 GMT
Good luck.....

I've been doing UD2 for the past two weeks and am into my thrid week. I'm
mainly taking a break from HST...I cut my second carb up back to 24 hours
from 30...and I didn't use any creatine (both, that plus carbing up really
bloats  you up!)

:: Thanks,
::
:: I recently purchased the UD2.0 book and hoping it will work for me.
 
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