High Days/Low Days

[Brock456]

I was just reading something today on lowering cals and cutting back on carbs/fats to improve insulin sensitivity on rest days, keeping protein high for protein synthesis.

I’m currently bulking on
5K cals
500-600c
400p
100-150f

Anyone else do this?
How much should I cut cals on my current plan on rest days?

 

[luki7788]

for me, first of all, too much fat in the diet, you can easily get 0.3-0.4 g per 1 lbs of body weight

when it comes to lowering kcal on days off, these are school roses, I like to lower them by as much as 50% or more

 

[Sixfoottwo]

I was just reading something today on lowering cals and cutting back on carbs/fats to improve insulin sensitivity on rest days, keeping protein high for protein synthesis.

I’m currently bulking on
5K cals
500-600c
400p
100-150f

Anyone else do this?
How much should I cut cals on my current plan on rest days?

I like the idea myself as well but my issue is if you cut kcal on rest days ( taking you are now growing steady) you have to make up for the missed kcals on training days right? Let's say you work out 4/7 days it would quickly become a pretty darn big day of eating on training days.

 

[NEMSZ]

I like the idea myself as well but my issue is if you cut kcal on rest days ( taking you are now growing steady) you have to make up for the missed kcals on training days right? Let's say you work out 4/7 days it would quickly become a pretty darn big day of eating on training days.

Refer to Luki’s post above and take a look at his thread.. The guy walks around at almost 300lbs and is 10% bodyfat on a bad day lol his clients look pretty insane too..

I’d say it’s a pretty solid approach…

I understand your train of thought though, I just think it’s a strategy meant for slow(er), lean gains rather than the typical gains of just put on as much size as possible even if it’s “bad” size (fat)..

Why add 30lbs in 3 months when half of it is fat when you can add maybe 10-15lbs and keep yourself at 10% bodyfat max and look way better..

 

[Brock456]

for me, first of all, too much fat in the diet, you can easily get 0.3-0.4 g per 1 lbs of body weight

when it comes to lowering kcal on days off, these are school roses, I like to lower them by as much as 50% or more

Thanks for response brother.

So lowering cals to about half on off days? 2500 if 5000 on training days.

That’s going to be a big adjustment for me but I’ll give it a try

 

[luki7788]

I did not say that you specifically should reduce by 50% but I have a few suggestions
- on a training day, 30-50g of added fats will be absolutely sufficient. Focus mainly on increasing carbohydrate claoralism and do it very slowly - do not add kcal every week only when you run into stagnation
- on the day off, keep the protein the same high cut carbohydrates on. 150-300g for the whole day (depending on how active you are that day) you can increase fat that day, but not drastically around 80-100g a day
- do cardio all year round

 

[jaxino]

I did not say that you specifically should reduce by 50% but I have a few suggestions
- on a training day, 30-50g of added fats will be absolutely sufficient. Focus mainly on increasing carbohydrate claoralism and do it very slowly - do not add kcal every week only when you run into stagnation
- on the day off, keep the protein the same high cut carbohydrates on. 150-300g for the whole day (depending on how active you are that day) you can increase fat that day, but not drastically around 80-100g a day
- do cardio all year round

Basically on rest days you will be at "maintenance calories"?

 

[luki7788]

Basically on rest days you will be at "maintenance calories"?

I would say a slight deficit

 

[Brock456]

I did not say that you specifically should reduce by 50% but I have a few suggestions
- on a training day, 30-50g of added fats will be absolutely sufficient. Focus mainly on increasing carbohydrate claoralism and do it very slowly - do not add kcal every week only when you run into stagnation
- on the day off, keep the protein the same high cut carbohydrates on. 150-300g for the whole day (depending on how active you are that day) you can increase fat that day, but not drastically around 80-100g a day
- do cardio all year round

I’m experimenting with keeping calories on workout days:
4500-5000
450P
550-600C
100F

Rest days
3500 calories
450P
250-350C
100F

 

[Brock456]

I would say a slight deficit

Luki do you or any of your clients implement a cheat day on high carb day? If so, what does it usually consist of?

 

[luki7788]

I never recommend cheated meals, I admit it - you go out with a girl somewhere, go to your family for Christmas, etc., then make yourself a cheat meal

 

[Brock456]

Was watching Justin Harris videos on carb cycling. I see he does high/low and medium days.

Interesting stuff

Im currently doing 5 high days, 2 low days (rest days)

 

[jaxino]

I’m experimenting with keeping calories on workout days:
4500-5000
450P
550-600C
100F

Rest days
3500 calories
450P
250-350C
100F

It's not easy to copy what Justin Harris does.
Just keep your simple plan, it works, and it's easy to stick to.
I just think that prots are really too high.

Maybe try something like that:

Workout days
600-750C (whatever you need)
250-300P
50F (added)

Rest days
300C
250-300P
50-100F (added)

 

[Sixfoottwo]

It's not easy to copy what Justin Harris does.
Just keep your simple plan, it works, and it's easy to stick to.
I just think that prots are really too high.

Maybe try something like that:

Workout days
600-750C (whatever you need)
250-300P
50F (added)

Rest days
300C
250-300P
50-100F (added)

What do you mean with the "added"? I overheard it on YouTube as well, I believe with Kuba Cielen ( could be mistaking here) who doesn't count fats in for instance chicken. Just counts the added fats. Do you just add olive oil and avocado till you reach 100 grams of fat then?

 

[luki7788]

What do you mean with the "added"? I overheard it on YouTube as well, I believe with Kuba Cielen ( could be mistaking here) who doesn't count fats in for instance chicken. Just counts the added fats. Do you just add olive oil and avocado till you reach 100 grams of fat then?

I have been counting macronutrients just like Justin for many years. I only count added fats

 

[Brock456]

It's not easy to copy what Justin Harris does.
Just keep your simple plan, it works, and it's easy to stick to.
I just think that prots are really too high.

Maybe try something like that:

Workout days
600-750C (whatever you need)
250-300P
50F (added)

Rest days
300C
250-300P
50-100F (added)

I have been thinking of dropping protein intake. I know only so much is synthesized. The rest is excess.
Most of my food that I eat is high protein - chicken, iso powder, ground beef.

Maybe I’ll work on dropping it and adding in more rice, bagels, rice cakes, sweet potatoes.

Thanks for your help

 

[Ruhlfreak55]

I do this, substantially lower on rest days.

 

[Sixfoottwo]

I have been counting macronutrients just like Justin for many years. I only count added fats

So you don't count fats in chicken for instance? And what about eggs then, protein or fats? I'm intrigued by this way of doing it. I've always counted everything.

 

[luki7788]

So you don't count fats in chicken for instance? And what about eggs then, protein or fats? I'm intrigued by this way of doing it. I've always counted everything.

I don't count chicken fat, white fish, rice, etc., but beef, whole eggs or oat cakes, yes

and in fact, you can say that I personally do not count anything because every day I eat exactly the same meals and only reduce or increase the portions if necessary

 

[jaxino]

What do you mean with the "added"? I overheard it on YouTube as well, I believe with Kuba Cielen ( could be mistaking here) who doesn't count fats in for instance chicken. Just counts the added fats. Do you just add olive oil and avocado till you reach 100 grams of fat then?

I have always counted "calories" as @luki7788 does, mainly for simplicity...

As bodybuilders we usually eat very lean cuts of meat, like under 7%fat. Fats in our carbs are minimal so it's useless to count everything.


In the end calories are not important at all, it's all about portions.

For example:
If you are growing on 100g + 200g lean meat + 10g olive oil every meal, once you go to a cut you can just remove the fats and reduce the carbs.