Benefits of Carb Cycling

Carb cycling is one of those terms that gets as many articles written promoting it as it does deriding it, although they are usually from people who either don’t fully understand it or aren’t using it as intended. It’s not a new thing by any means. The fact is carb cycling is a method I have utilised with my clients for as long as I can remember. It’s been an incredibly useful tool in effective diet planning for decades and I swear by it.

The basic principle of carb cycling is simple. Over the course of a week you have days with high, medium and low carbohydrate intake. That sounds simple, and it is, but you have to coincide your higher carb days with heavier gym sessions and low carb days with either rest days or low intensity training. Whatever the day, you also require a high protein intake to help muscle growth.

It’s this cycling of carbs that leads to fat loss and muscle growth. As much as you’re cycling your carbs, you are also cycling your fat intake. It should be low when your carb intake is at its highest, and high on days when your carb intake is low.

All of this carb cycling gives your body a number of physical and biological benefits, namely:

• Improved insulin sensitivity.

• Improved metabolism.

• Improved muscle gain