High Carb or Re-feed days..

[Ali]

Hey guys, I was curious on what everyone's opinion is on this topic. Do you feel its nessecary for one to be depleted to take advantage of a re-feed or high carb day?

I know the experts on the board that specialize in nturtion like Shelby, Alex and Skip have there own method and i beleive Skip is the only one that incorporate full out re-feeds each week ( from what i've heard from his clients) but i'm sure thats all based on the individual.


If your on a balanced diet where you eat a descent amount of carbs each day, can you still have a refeed or is will this be problematic in causing you to gain bodyfat?



Any input from the experts would be great

 

[unoigo]

This has been a debated topic as of late. Read thru these threads....

http://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45385

http://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45610&highlight=refeed

I'm sure there's more threads out there.

 

[Ali]

This has been a debated topic as of late. Read thru these threads....

http://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45385

http://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45610&highlight=refeed

I'm sure there's more threads out there.

Thanks bro..Will do!

 

[Magnum]

Although I never called them refeed days I have been using this method since 1982, but I altered it in 1988 and still use this current method to this day. My guys would do close to zero carb all week and then pretty much eat whatever they wanted for the whole day once weekly. You do not need to count cals or make it very scientific at all. There are some occasions when I had my people only do a limited number of meals on that day, but those were the exeptions. I'm open to questions if anyone has any.

 

[Ali]

Although I never called them refeed days I have been using this method since 1982, but I altered it in 1988 and still use this current method to this day. My guys would do close to zero carb all week and then pretty much eat whatever they wanted for the whole day once weekly. You do not need to count cals or make it very scientific at all. There are some occasions when I had my people only do a limited number of meals on that day, but those were the exeptions. I'm open to questions if anyone has any.

Thanks for the post Magum. I'm curious to why you had them so low on carbs? Zero carbs and i would feel like shit. I'm sure you upped theri fats big time during these days, but woudln't this really set someone up to loose muscle? I'm new to this so excuse my ignorance, but ive seen more lower carbs aproach, but the extreme of zero kind of scares me lol

 

[Ali]

The threads above had some great information in them, but I guess what i'm tryign to figure out is where do you start on your refeeds...would taking maybe double or triple your daily carb intake for a refeed?

Reading Skip's exerpt showed he used some high sugary carbs like pancakes and cereal which sounds too good to be true! Would it be wise to make to a mix of both heatlhy carbs and sugary carbs?

I guess each person has their own theory, i'm just looking for a baseline to start at and wondering how often you can incorperate them? Once a week seems like it may be too often...unless extremely depleted from zero carb diet, which i am not on.

 

[w8tlifterty]

Magnum, interesting... In 2006 i think i did this myself. Low to no carb for 6 days and then the 7th day was a free for all,.,, got myself shredded for my second show ever. My question is, how would this work for a current natural athlete...no aas. I have tried no carbs in the past, but if not on hormones it never turns out good,,, any tips.

 

[SABAGOY]

I used the UD2.0 diet for my last show...back in 05 and it was such a roller coaster...I felt like such crap on my low days...there is no way i could do a diet like this again having a job. But i did get in great shape fast. Now i just give my body what it needs and when it needs it each day and i have never looked or felt better before...especially for only being a few weeks out now.

 

[halflife]

Although I never called them refeed days I have been using this method since 1982, but I altered it in 1988 and still use this current method to this day. My guys would do close to zero carb all week and then pretty much eat whatever they wanted for the whole day once weekly. You do not need to count cals or make it very scientific at all. There are some occasions when I had my people only do a limited number of meals on that day, but those were the exeptions. I'm open to questions if anyone has any.

Magnum, seems like everyone has their variation of the low carb week then refeed.

-No carbs post workout?

-Did you find it beneficial for your clients to use metformin on the refeed days?

-How do you schedule workouts around that day? - because some do glycogen depleting day before or they workout weak body part or legs the day of refeed, or they will workout the day after to take advantage of the energy

Thanks for sharing your wisdom Magnum.

 

[Magnum]

First there are no silly questions and remember that is more than one way to skin a cat . As far as what to eat let me start this way. When I would put my clients on a diet I never counted calories at least not in the conventional sense. I've been doing this for so long I could pretty much guess as to what they would need as their starting diet. Also, it took about a week or two for me to see how there weight flucuated which told me how many cals they needed.

I always tell my guys to eat lots of food. Better to eat smaller meals that added up to say 6 to 8 meals per day than to eat a large pizza and not be able to eat again. Eat lots of calorie dense food. Lots of carbs and fat. Doesn't work as well just eating sugar carbs only. Protein not so important and no need to ever count. No such thing as "bad" foods either. I wouldn't recommed eating 8 meals of ice cream, but if you just got done eating a burger and fries you certainly can have some cake later and ice cream if you wanted.

Being natural is no exception. The only difference is that most people misinterperate how much muscle they really have. Hell, most people think that they have much more muscle than they usually do. I never see anyone that I diet lose any muscle, it has never been an issue for me.

I just got done training a girl for a figure show who was natural. I think she started out at 119 14 weels out and stepped on stage at 124. The week before she was pretty damn lean at 130. I have some pics that I can post of her on Thru night before the show and you will see how lean she was. Being a figure girl she did not need to be ripped, but she was pretty darn lean. Ate exactly like any other client. Low to zero carb and cheat meals on the weekend usually one day.

 

[Magnum]

Magnum, seems like everyone has their variation of the low carb week then refeed.

-No carbs post workout?

-Did you find it beneficial for your clients to use metformin on the refeed days?

-How do you schedule workouts around that day? - because some do glycogen depleting day before or they workout weak body part or legs the day of refeed, or they will workout the day after to take advantage of the energy

Thanks for sharing your wisdom Magnum.

No carbs before training, no metformin (crap) Usually you workout before you start to eat on carb day.

 

[bigguns078]

No carbs before training, no metformin (crap) Usually you workout before you start to eat on carb day.

What kind of supplementation do you utilize during the one day refeed? Ala, glutamine, etc...?

Do you recommend working out on refeed day or just taking the day off?

Why high fats on carb up day? Aren't we concerned with getting muscle glycogen levels full and fatty foods would blunt hunger somewhat and prevent full glycogen refilling?

 

[Magnum]

What kind of supplementation do you utilize during the one day refeed? Ala, glutamine, etc...?

Do you recommend working out on refeed day or just taking the day off?

Why high fats on carb up day? Aren't we concerned with getting muscle glycogen levels full and fatty foods would blunt hunger somewhat and prevent full glycogen refilling?

No supps in particular although it's not a bad thing if you do.

I would not call if high fat just high calorie. The muscle will fill just fine, but that is not the first concern here. I have had no one complain that they didn't have an appetite trust me.

 

[DIEZEL666]

Magnum, check your PM's.

 

[Ali]

How do you..

Go about creating your baseline numbers for a refeed day? I know its a trial and error thing, but is there any rule of thumb to follow in setting some baseline numbers? I'm currently 200grams of carbs a day if that helps

 

[Magnum]

Go about creating your baseline numbers for a refeed day? I know its a trial and error thing, but is there any rule of thumb to follow in setting some baseline numbers? I'm currently 200grams of carbs a day if that helps

It's not complicated and no reason to count. Eat six to 8 small meals to where you are full but not stuffed and able to eat every 3 hours or so. Burgers, fries, pizza, spag and meatballs, deserts ect. anything that you like.

 

[Ness]

It's not complicated and no reason to count. Eat six to 8 small meals to where you are full but not stuffed and able to eat every 3 hours or so. Burgers, fries, pizza, spag and meatballs, deserts ect. anything that you like.

Sounds simple, logical, and delicious.

I guess what comes to my mind are any possible health issues from steering away from a strict diet of "clean foods" like greens, efas, lean meats, etc.?

 

[Ali]

Sounds simple, logical, and delicious.

I guess what comes to my mind are any possible health issues from steering away from a strict diet of "clean foods" like greens, efas, lean meats, etc.?

I can't imagine any being concerned with any health issues with doing soemthing like this once a week...considering most americans do this on a daily basis lol.

 

[Ali]

It's not complicated and no reason to count. Eat six to 8 small meals to where you are full but not stuffed and able to eat every 3 hours or so. Burgers, fries, pizza, spag and meatballs, deserts ect. anything that you like.

Sounds simple enough. I guess the only thing i'm struggling with is the fact that this method is against the protocal i've read and most use..which is to avoid high fat content and focus on more carbs, especially high sugary carbs to replenish.

Like you said, plenty of ways to skin a cat, i guess this is just one method using fats/carbs

 

[Ness]

Well

I can't imagine any being concerned with any health issues with doing soemthing like this once a week...considering most americans do this on a daily basis lol.

I am.