# Carb cycle to bulk?



## itsme1 (Dec 7, 2010)

Hey guys I've been cutting for 10 weeks and am happy with the weight loss now my plan is to do a lean bulk and was wondering if anyone does this by carb cycling I used it for my cutting phase and it worked a treat.

What I was planning is 300-350 above my TDEE but cycle the carbs so in a week I have

1 high day 300g+ of carbs

3 medium days ~200g

2 low days 150g or under

Then 1 day 70g MAX but aim to keep below that.

I do cardio 5 times a week mon-fri and 6 weights session I know seems like a lot but it is what I seem to respond to the cardio sessions are very light for 20min and weights is a average of 45mins being sure not to train big muscle groups back to back.

If carb cycling isn't great for bulking would it matter if I was eating the exact same foods day in day out? Would body adapt to this and metabolism slow down like I've heard before or would it be fine? If this way is better to go what macro split do people tend to go for on a lean bulk?

Cheers for help

Dave


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## Cronus (Jun 5, 2012)

Kind of do the same but a lot less extreme. I train 5 days, 2 rest. Rest days I'll do cardio, I'll drop my carbs by around 50g and make up the calories from virgin coconut oil, but I'm still ingesting around 250g carbs on my rest days.


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## L11 (Jan 21, 2011)

What about the rest of your macros? Are you planning on making up the calories from fat on your low carb days?

Personally I lean bulked on ~3000 calories, 300g carbs, 300g protein, 70g fat as a minimum every day and put on no noticeable fat. Probably FAR to much protein, but my point is more than I did 300g a day carbs and it was fine for minimal fat gain..


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## itsme1 (Dec 7, 2010)

L11 said:


> What about the rest of your macros? Are you planning on making up the calories from fat on your low carb days?
> 
> Personally I lean bulked on ~3000 calories, 300g carbs, 300g protein, 70g fat as a minimum every day and put on no noticeable fat. Probably FAR to much protein, but my point is more than I did 300g a day carbs and it was fine for minimal fat gain..


Was hoping you would have input mate cos I remember you posted somewhere you had done a successful lean bulk. So did you eat the same foods daily or mix it but make it fit macros also how far over maintain were you?


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## RowRow (Nov 17, 2011)

If you are going to truly carb cycle to bulk imo the only thing that should fluctuate is carb amounts everything else should be constant.

I like 3 days high, 2 days medium and 2 days low carbs when bulking.


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## itsme1 (Dec 7, 2010)

RowRow said:


> If you are going to truly carb cycle to bulk imo the only thing that should fluctuate is carb amounts everything else should be constant.
> 
> I like 3 days high, 2 days medium and 2 days low carbs when bulking.


But surely that will mean your not in a surplus everyday? Sure that would be good for no fat gain but wouldn't it seriously limit gains?


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## RowRow (Nov 17, 2011)

Well put it this way when i say high i mean 100% carbs, medium is 75% and low is 50% of your regular amount. Lean bulking is a compromise though unless you are doing a lot of macro timing and using a lot of drugs you will be compromising growth to stay leaner.

Thats why i either bulk or recomp I never lean bulk really.


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## itsme1 (Dec 7, 2010)

Ok so rather that carb cycling if I went flat out keep macros the same everyday would it be a bad thing if I ate the exact same foods everyday or would that not be a problem and every 10-14 days have a cheat meal just to stop me going insane? Or should I plan out like 3 different meal plans and cycle them but they equal the same on kcals and macros?

All input welcome and appreciated guys


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## RowRow (Nov 17, 2011)

itsme1 said:


> Ok so rather that carb cycling if I went flat out keep macros the same everyday would it be a bad thing if I ate the exact same foods everyday or would that not be a problem and every 10-14 days have a cheat meal just to stop me going insane? Or should I plan out like 3 different meal plans and cycle them but they equal the same on kcals and macros?
> 
> All input welcome and appreciated guys


Again this is only me speaking but I eat the same thing day in day out. Boredom isn't an issue for me and I have a cheat meal once every 6 weeks.


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## itsme1 (Dec 7, 2010)

Brilliant mate that helps a hell of a lot cos I have no problem eating it over n over as I enjoy what I make. And recommendations on macro split? My kcals are about 3000-3200 a day


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## RowRow (Nov 17, 2011)

itsme1 said:


> Brilliant mate that helps a hell of a lot cos I have no problem eating it over n over as I enjoy what I make. And recommendations on macro split? My kcals are about 3000-3200 a day


I prefer high carb and protein diets with low fats. I have found keeping fats lower keeps my appetite firing all day.

I have about 2300cals from carbs, 2000cals from protein and about 600cals from fats so that equates to a

48% carb 40% protein and 12%fats. I don't get too bloofy on this ratio either.


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## itsme1 (Dec 7, 2010)

RowRow said:


> I prefer high carb and protein diets with low fats. I have found keeping fats lower keeps my appetite firing all day.
> 
> I have about 2300cals from carbs, 2000cals from protein and about 600cals from fats so that equates to a
> 
> 48% carb 40% protein and 12%fats. I don't get too bloofy on this ratio either.


**** that's a nice kcal allowance but bet its a ball ache make.

Well I always train harder when I'm on carbs and don't feel the need to cheat as a result so might do a 40 40 20 split then.

1280kcaks protein and same carbs then

640kcaks fats total or 3200 putting me 300 over TDEE.


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## RowRow (Nov 17, 2011)

itsme1 said:


> **** that's a nice kcal allowance but bet its a ball ache make.
> 
> Well I always train harder when I'm on carbs and don't feel the need to cheat as a result so might do a 40 40 20 split then.
> 
> ...


It's not as hard as you think haha.

Yeah start with that. If you find yourself too hungry drop carbs a little and up fats not hungry enough drop fats and up carbs.


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## itsme1 (Dec 7, 2010)

Really appreciate the input mate. Once I'm on the laptop will send reps


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## L11 (Jan 21, 2011)

itsme1 said:


> Was hoping you would have input mate cos I remember you posted somewhere you had done a successful lean bulk. So did you eat the same foods daily or mix it but make it fit macros also how far over maintain were you?


Nah not the same thing every day, a combination of chicken, lean beef mince, turkey mince, mackerel, tuna, rice, wholemeal flour, pasta eggs and oats and and just fit it into my daily macros.. The surplus was about 500 to start with, when I say it was ~3000 calories, I aimed for at least that, but in reality it was a little more as I'd habitually eat out of the peanut butter tub. After a few months though I wasn't in a surplus anymore (my TDEE increased as I got heavier) and I just coasted on that diet.. I would've slowly upped the cals a little and clean bulked forever but December was a very good month for partying, lots of disaronno meant I put on a little fat and had to cut, then I went to New York in January and the less said about that the better... This year I'm aiming to clean bulk way through till March then will probably need a minor cut.


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## itsme1 (Dec 7, 2010)

L11 said:


> Nah not the same thing every day, a combination of chicken, lean beef mince, turkey mince, mackerel, tuna, rice, wholemeal flour, pasta eggs and oats and and just fit it into my daily macros.. The surplus was about 500 to start with, when I say it was ~3000 calories, I aimed for at least that, but in reality it was a little more as I'd habitually eat out of the peanut butter tub. After a few months though I wasn't in a surplus anymore (my TDEE increased as I got heavier) and I just coasted on that diet.. I would've slowly upped the cals a little and clean bulked forever but December was a very good month for partying, lots of disaronno meant I put on a little fat and had to cut, then I went to New York in January and the less said about that the better... This year I'm aiming to clean bulk way through till March then will probably need a minor cut.


Haha sounds good. That's my plan I'm going to try and lean bulk through to end of jan next year if possible. Have got the a 250 surplus but I don't count my veg or salad. So prob about 350-400. Did you not eat the same as you done IFFYM or just cos you'd get bored of eating the same thing or because you don't recommend the same thing daily?


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## L11 (Jan 21, 2011)

I didn't eat the same because I like variety.. And even if I have chicken 8 times a week, none of those meals will taste the same.. IMO I don't think there's any need to keep your surplus as small as 250.. You might do it for a month with no fat gain, but you might have wasted a month where you could have done 500 with no fat gain.. I don't count my veg or salad, but then I never did when I was working out my maintenance either so it doesn't actually matter provided portion sizes are consistent..


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## itsme1 (Dec 7, 2010)

L11 said:


> I didn't eat the same because I like variety.. And even if I have chicken 8 times a week, none of those meals will taste the same.. IMO I don't think there's any need to keep your surplus as small as 250.. You might do it for a month with no fat gain, but you might have wasted a month where you could have done 500 with no fat gain.. I don't count my veg or salad, but then I never did when I was working out my maintenance either so it doesn't actually matter provided portion sizes are consistent..


Good point. I'm still trying to figure it out exactly what my TDEE is but I'm tracking everything. If I go by formulas online calculators and all that it says something like 4000kcals a day is a 500 surplus but I genuinely don't think I need that much so going week by week trying to get it right I think that's the only true way to be sure. I like what you say about the veg not being calculated in TDEE I will do the same as it is a staple n always the same size give or takeover 20g.

Yeah I've got a massive draw of spices and that so I'm always trying new flavors so its variation in that aspect just wondered if the staple stayed the same if it was bad or not but looks like its a good which makes it a hell of a lot easier to calculate a diet plan.

Any sups you recommend to help keep fat off? Obviously keeping the surplus to the right amount is number 1 but anything for helping the weight gained be more likely to be muscle rather than fat.

Reps given when on a laptop later


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## L11 (Jan 21, 2011)

Yea i can understand about being cautious, once you get abs you get paranoid about losing them lol. The best way of keeping fat off is by smashing it at the gym. I train so much harder when im not in a deficit, just because i wanna make sure the calories are being used!


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## itsme1 (Dec 7, 2010)

L11 said:


> Yea i can understand about being cautious, once you get abs you get paranoid about losing them lol. The best way of keeping fat off is by smashing it at the gym. I train so much harder when im not in a deficit, just because i wanna make sure the calories are being used!


Haha yeah I know the feeling I knew I was going Nandos last night so ruined my quads literally couldn't walk up the stairs after had to wait 5 mins to get water for my way lol. Well I've got some zma, trib and daa I got given so will prob use them as they're just sitting there but not worried about buying any.


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