How much carbs while bulking?

Shade_star · Sep 11, 2012

Damn with anything over 120g of carbs I get fat, quick even 2 mile daily runs. Damn you guys.

thezan · Sep 11, 2012

I like to start out bulking when extremely lean. My on season diet ends up around 70-100 carbs towards the end of peak week. So thats my starting point. Up carbs roughly 20 or 30 with carb protein meals and go by the mirrior. Keep adding them up until I starting feeling im getting to soft, then may back off our introduce carb cycling. Usually like to stay faily lean while bulking. Nothing is better then starting lean, introducing gh and more carbs and keeping some good gear running. Fill out very nicely.

CDJack · Sep 11, 2012

Jizzmo said:
whats the purpose of that?
carbs are definitely more anabolic than fats because they cause greater insulin secretion. the goal of bulking is to add as much muscle as possible, i dont see anyone adding as much muscle or less fat on 300g of fat instead of 600g of carbs...

1) I never said 300g fat. That's an absurd example

2) How many grams of carbs are you eating at once? at 600g per day you must be eating 90-100g per meal...that's freaking ridiculous. You don't need that many grams of carbs to get anabolic effects from insulin. Just because insulin is an "anabolic" hormone doesn't mean you want to spew out as much as possible. Keep in mind we are discussing natural insulin release, as carb intake when taking exogenous insulin is a whole different story. Sure you can benefit from lots of carbs at certain times of the day, especially PWO when glut-4 is upregulated and you dont even need insulin, but constantly triggering large releases of insulin throughout the day is a recipe for fat gain for the majority of people. I think there's this huge misunderstanding on bodybuilding boards about insulin and how it actually works and people really like to throw around the fact that it's supposedly "the most anabolic hormone"...but it's not that simple.

CDJack · Sep 11, 2012

Just curious for those of you eating 500+g of carbs per day...what are your other macros and how much do you weigh? Either protein and carbs are relatively low or are you eating 4500+ kcal?

jp2007 · Sep 12, 2012

CDJack said:
Just curious for those of you eating 500+g of carbs per day...what are your other macros and how much do you weigh? Either protein and carbs are relatively low or are you eating 4500+ kcal?

I think this is important to note.. I know a lot of guys who eat a lot of carbs but lower the protein intake because they are "protein sparing". Which I find silly.. Rather than 200g protein and 400g carbs why wouldnt you eat 300g protein, 300g carbs... Protein builds muscle, carbs do not

orozco · Sep 12, 2012

For me 900 g

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ajdonutz · Sep 12, 2012

I eat tons of carbs. My body loves them. I get around 350g protein while bulking and the rest are carbs and some healthy fats, and i eat 4-4.5k cals typically.

thezan · Sep 12, 2012

What are some of your fellers fav carb sources?

For me pineapple, bananas, oatmeal and rice. Eziekel bread as well

Deleted member 106824 · Sep 12, 2012

As for the fat vs. carb thing....because I was previously fat I used to think a low carb high fat diet would help me stay leaner (i.e. the Anabolic Diet) but I just got fatter faster. Off cycle I understand fat would be necessary for Test production, and has plenty of great health benefits, but on cycle I would think you really just need whatever amount will give you the health benefits since you're not making natural Test anyway (maybe 75-100g). So then wouldn't the extra calories be better off coming from carbs for a more anabolic response than fat?

I guess too many carbs could cause it's own health issues, but carbs certainly taste better

Jizzmo said:
well, when im bulking i still fast for 14-16 hours a day so thats not a problem to me. i still get in my 700g carbs

How are you sure your insulin sensitivity is good just because you're fasting 14-16hr/day? Are you actually testing it somehow?

epoxy · Sep 12, 2012

thezan said:
What are some of your fellers fav carb sources?

For me pineapple, bananas, oatmeal and rice. Eziekel bread as well

#1 Oatmeal. Then wheat bread/buns as I eat a lot of turkey burgers and hamburgers (made by me, not McDonalds). PWO carbs are from Karbolic and the rest random but I try not to go over 400g when bulking. My bulks are usually slow and steady but I prefer that vs. going 500-600g of carbs a day and hating myself in the mirror at night.

fitzchivalry · Sep 12, 2012

Monster calorie intakes in here...

scottswald · Sep 12, 2012

CDJack said:
Just curious for those of you eating 500+g of carbs per day...what are your other macros and how much do you weigh? Either protein and carbs are relatively low or are you eating 4500+ kcal?

i think most people on here consume that, it's not that much

Jizzmo · Sep 13, 2012

Pumped340 said:
As for the fat vs. carb thing....because I was previously fat I used to think a low carb high fat diet would help me stay leaner (i.e. the Anabolic Diet) but I just got fatter faster. Off cycle I understand fat would be necessary for Test production, and has plenty of great health benefits, but on cycle I would think you really just need whatever amount will give you the health benefits since you're not making natural Test anyway (maybe 75-100g). So then wouldn't the extra calories be better off coming from carbs for a more anabolic response than fat?

Im thinking the exact same thing... I think a high fat diet is definitely beneficial for naturals, but the advantages just fade away when youre on AAS.

How are you sure your insulin sensitivity is good just because you're fasting 14-16hr/day? Are you actually testing it somehow?

[/quote]
Well there are lots of studies on the subject (fasting, intermittent fasting or carb backloading).
Carb backloading by John Kiefer is actually a quite interesting book, ive read it (even though i didnt even understand half the scientific explanations in it) and i still eat similar to his approach.
Its also based on fasting and keeping insulin secretion as low as possible for specific times of the day and spiking insulin up at other times (especially post workout).

I dont know if theres a way to test insulin sensitivity, I'd actually be quite interested in testing mine. My body seems to react pretty drastically to carbs in general, which is one of the reasons I assume my insulin sensitivity is pretty good.

ryanbCXG · Sep 14, 2012

Jizzmo said:
Im thinking the exact same thing... I think a high fat diet is definitely beneficial for naturals, but the advantages just fade away when youre on AAS.

Well there are lots of studies on the subject (fasting, intermittent fasting or carb backloading).
Carb backloading by John Kiefer is actually a quite interesting book, ive read it (even though i didnt even understand half the scientific explanations in it) and i still eat similar to his approach.
Its also based on fasting and keeping insulin secretion as low as possible for specific times of the day and spiking insulin up at other times (especially post workout).

I dont know if theres a way to test insulin sensitivity, I'd actually be quite interested in testing mine. My body seems to react pretty drastically to carbs in general, which is one of the reasons I assume my insulin sensitivity is pretty good.[/QUOTE]

I like keifers, backloading approach with some fasting. Great for insulin sensitivity and for keeping fat gain at bay. Throw in some fasted morning cardio and you are good to go.

I like 600+ carb 250+ pro fat where ever with out adding lots of fat. Fat doesnt get along with my digestive system. I run very well on carbs

MrX · Sep 14, 2012

i m on 800+gms carbs on bulking stage, but my mate puts on too much as soon as he hits 500gms.
i think it has something to do with the genetics too

wannagetbig · Sep 14, 2012

this is a very individualistic question and thus you really cant compare from person to person
i.e. factors like:
metabolism;
activity level (desk job vs. job where on you feet all day);
amount and type of cardio;

are all relevant in terms of determining carbs for a bulking diet.

woodswise · Sep 14, 2012

When bulking, I shoot for 1.5g protein per lb lean bodymass (for me roughly 190# x 1.5= roughly 300g) minimum, then fill in the balance of my Kcal needs (my total Kcal needs being about 4,500, if I subtract 1200 for protein = 3,300) with carbs. I get some fat without trying (120g or so = 480Kcals). So I eat the balance of my Kcals (1820) in Carbs (1820/4=455g).

If I am getting fat, I lower the carbs and increase the fats to stay in a Kcal surplus.

If I am not gaining, I increase the carbs until I am gaining.

It's all very simple, really.

Gunsmith · Sep 14, 2012

During the off season is when im glad im endomorphic , I dont see how some of you guys eat the damn calories your do.

I can drop my calories by 500 a day and rearange my macros so that im taking in way more carbs and i will put on fat quickly even by taking in less calories than with only eating 200-300 carbs a day.

Right now im getting around 4000-4200 calculated cals a day with a some "treats" thrown in their now and then and im pretty content hunger wise and some days my cals drop because im not as hungry.

I definatly think that you way your body process food is higly genetic , my famlily blood lines comes mostly from northern Europe where the diet is more protein and fat related , not sure if that has anything to do with it but thats what im guessing

CDJack · Sep 14, 2012

scottswald said:
i think most people on here consume that, it's not that much

Well then either:
1) "Most" people on this board are 225-240 and lean, OR
2) People are way overeating when they bulk because it's an excuse to.

Honestly, do you have any idea what your maintenance calorie intakes are? Because if you're eating 4,500 Calories per day, i hope your maintenance is at least 3,750. And anyone with a maintenance intake in the high 3000s is a fucking big person. Is your maintenance isn't that high, then there's absolutely no reason to be eating ~1,000 or more Cal per day above maintenance. You can't gain muscle that fast and you'll just put on extra fat.

I am sorry, but just do the simple math.

fitzchivalry · Sep 14, 2012

CDJack said:
Well then either:
1) "Most" people on this board are 225-240 and lean, OR
2) People are way overeating when they bulk because it's an excuse to.

Honestly, do you have any idea what your maintenance calorie intakes are? Because if you're eating 4,500 Calories per day, i hope your maintenance is at least 3,750. And anyone with a maintenance intake in the high 3000s is a fucking big person. Is your maintenance isn't that high, then there's absolutely no reason to be eating ~1,000 or more Cal per day above maintenance. You can't gain muscle that fast and you'll just put on extra fat.

I am sorry, but just do the simple math.

I know. Some of the calorie intakes in here are ridiculous/outrageous.
I know some very big guys and they don't eat nearly the amount that a lot of people in here are reporting.