Tell me how I can make this happen again? Future freak, Mountain dog, gunsmith. etc.

[bananas007]

4 days of trace carbs. 5th day, evening rolls around i feel fatigued and lose control lol. Eat a bean burrito from taco bell, and a hard bean taco, and a peanut butter jelly. Day after, back to normal diet of no carbs.

Evening leg work out. I was doing squats, and making the weight move like a bar made of bamboo stick. Went up in weight no problem. EVERYTHING felt light. EVEN the post work out cardio on bike at the same intensity, felt like a childs play.

What happened? I am sure has something to do with glycogen depletion and refeed.

I had to go back to a more traditional diet. Getting through trace carbs day i felt like a zombie. Currently Taking in 100ish carbs a day.

But if i wanted to have this phenomenon happen again, can I do a zero carb day once a week. At 12 0 clock at night have a 100 carb meal, and then work out legs the next day?

Will it effect my fat loss?

Will it be beneficial for making my leg muscles strong/ hypertrophy or is it just "fake" since the glycogen and water is helping me lift more?

 

[Gunsmith]

I think it has alot to do with what mountaindog1 touched on in his recient thread about timing your carbs around your workout.

I used to be a big fan of no carb diets and now more than half way though my prep I'm getting 100-125g a day , 25g during my workout with BCAA's and the rest in the three meals following my 4pm training

25g with BCAA's via Gatorade intra workout
6oz tilapia , 2 tablespoons LBA's , 1/2 cup white rice and tablespoon honey at the gym post workout ,
10oz chicken or fish and 8-10 ounces sweet potatoes in last two meals

I'm steadily getting leaner , not losing strength and muscles are staying full

 

[bananas007]

you think its that simple, I think its different, cause the carbs that helped me were consumed more than 18 hours before teh actual workout. I think it has to do more with depleting glycogen and refeeding it.

Now is it possible to deplete the glycogen in one day? Cause i cant go through 4 days of no carb hell.

 

[JonnyO]

100g is trace carbs? Lol trace is more like under 50g to me. Is this your first 4-5 days low carbs or have you been doing this for a while before you experienced the strength increase? If your not used to it, it may tale some time to adapt to it before you start to feel ok on it. Are you taking in adequate fats too? You really shouldn't be that fatigued.

I cannot see 1 day depleting carbs being able to do much as it takes longer to deplete muscle glycogen.


How did you look that next day? You probably filled out and sustained in the muscles and helped you push more. You might want to schedule a weekly refeed and plan you leg day the following day or that day.

 

[bananas007]

100g is trace carbs? Lol trace is more like under 50g to me. Is this your first 4-5 days low carbs or have you been doing this for a while before you experienced the strength increase? If your not used to it, it may tale some time to adapt to it before you start to feel ok on it. Are you taking in adequate fats too? You really shouldn't be that fatigued.

I cannot see 1 day depleting carbs being able to do much as it takes longer to deplete muscle glycogen.


How did you look that next day? You probably filled out and sustained in the muscles and helped you push more. You might want to schedule a weekly refeed and plan you leg day the following day or that day.

No bro you misunderstood. I was doing low carb. Trace only the lil bit in whey shakes and other foods. prolly 30 grams a day. But i couldnt take it any more. Felt really weak and workouts were suffering. So one night i pigged out on a bean burrito, a taco and a pbj. The next workout was awesome.

After that, I switched my low carb diet to regular carb diet. 100 grams a days. I have good energy, and its more sustainable, but I wanna be able to repeat THAT dream workout again. How can i achieve that.

The workouts on my 100g a day carb diets are good, but notihng special.

The workouts on my low carb diets sucked, But the one workout after refeed was Better than ANY other workouts. Kapish?

 

[JonnyO]

I get it, lol. You might want to play with your carb timing so that your workouts do not suffer so much when on low carbs. And like I mentioned earlier, play with your reloads and see how they go the next day or whatever. I've never had an issue myself going really low carbs and having productive workouts.

 

[FutureFreak]

4 days of trace carbs. 5th day, evening rolls around i feel fatigued and lose control lol. Eat a bean burrito from taco bell, and a hard bean taco, and a peanut butter jelly. Day after, back to normal diet of no carbs.

Evening leg work out. I was doing squats, and making the weight move like a bar made of bamboo stick. Went up in weight no problem. EVERYTHING felt light. EVEN the post work out cardio on bike at the same intensity, felt like a childs play.

What happened? I am sure has something to do with glycogen depletion and refeed.

I had to go back to a more traditional diet. Getting through trace carbs day i felt like a zombie. Currently Taking in 100ish carbs a day.

But if i wanted to have this phenomenon happen again, can I do a zero carb day once a week. At 12 0 clock at night have a 100 carb meal, and then work out legs the next day?

Will it effect my fat loss?

Will it be beneficial for making my leg muscles strong/ hypertrophy or is it just "fake" since the glycogen and water is helping me lift more?

A few things to consider here --

How long had you been dieting in general before employing a VERY low carb (trace) regimen?

How LEAN were you once you began that VERY low carb plan?

First off -- 4-5 days of 30g or less carbs is NOT enough time to 'metabolically shift' into a fatty acid substrate state...

In fact the initial 2-3 weeks is fairly tough as the body is trying to find homeostasis ---therefore it is no surprise you felt 'off' and had crappy energy and motivational energy.

So assuming you depleted a fair amount of glycogen in 5 days and I will assume you were dieting prior so you are lean --- I am not surprised that you got a nice MINI cosmetic effect from the taco bell for the following workout.

I always tell people when they refeed or load -- it is usually 18-24 hrs later until you look good as water has cleared + glycogen is jammed into cells by then 100%

Of course you could repeat this protocol -- If you decide you cannot fathom going that low of carbs (-30g) then attempt to try 50-60-75g until you find an amount that is compatible.

Then as long as you are properly depleted via --intense training, cardio etc....

and are progressively getting leaner then you will/should achieve this effect time and time again.

-FF