Carbohydrate waves - how to do them?

How to manipulate the carbohydrate intake of the Carbohydrate Wave?

Carbohydrate waves are considered in bodybuilding and fitness as one of the basic methods to burn subcutaneous fat as efficiently as possible. Personally, I don't like the term because I find it misleading and out of context. Anyway, when burning fat you need to manipulate the ratio of essential macronutrients and thus carbohydrates, but this too should have an overall coherence and concept. Therefore, I find it useful to first familiarize yourself with the basic nutrients and their function in the body. Even the manipulation of other nutrients is key to the successful burning of subcutaneous fat.

Protein

Proteins are the most important building blocks of our bodies. Optimal protein intake is extremely important during such an extreme procedure as carbohydrate surges. The question remains as to what can be considered optimal protein intake. Opinions vary quite a bit. I myself lean more towards a higher intake. I would consider the optimal intake to be roughly 2.5 - 3 g per kilogram of body weight on days with low carbohydrate intake. Conversely, on days with high carbohydrate intake it is advisable to reduce the dose to 1.5 to 2g per kilogram of body weight. This decrease in protein intake has two advantages. The first advantage is that this reduction triggers internal reactions that put the body in a state that naturally protects the existing protein balance. When you return to your original protein intake the next day, you will streamline muscle gain as the body continues to produce the enzymes and hormones that prevent the breakdown of protein triggered the day before. Another benefit is that despite the increase in carbohydrate intake, there is no dramatic increase in caloric intake, and thus the loss of subcutaneous fat continues. We prefer the intake of complex types of protein, that is, those that contain all the essential amino acids. We refer to these proteins as those of high biological value. Of course, protein intake cannot be saturated with natural foods alone. This is where supplements such as protein concentrates and amino acid preparations come in.

Fats

Although I am not an advocate of extremely high fat intake in the diet, I am convinced that fats are absolutely indispensable in nutrition and their extreme restriction, as we know from the ranks of mainly orthodox bodybuilders in the pre-contest diet, is a health risk and often rather counterproductive. Many female competitors could tell of skin and hair problems at the end of a pre-contest diet. Fats provide a medium for dissolving vitamins A, D, E, K furthermore they are a source of essential fatty acids. Without fats, important hormones could not be produced in the body. In the case of a fat burning diet, it is necessary to choose the appropriate fats to further support fat burning. Part of your daily fat intake comes from foods that serve as sources of protein and carbohydrates, the so-called hidden fats. The diet should be supplemented with good quality oils (especially linseed oil, evening primrose oil or purified fish oil), which are rich sources of unsaturated fatty acids. It is also advisable to eat marine fish with a higher fat content (salmon, mackerel), which can become a source of omega-3 fatty acids. High-quality dietary supplements based on omega-3 fatty acids, which play an indispensable role, especially in a fat-burning diet, should not be overlooked. As far as the quantitative values of daily fat intake are concerned, again on days with low carbohydrate intake, I suggest consuming slightly more fat, approximately 0.8 - 1 g per kilogram of body weight. On days with high carbohydrate intake, it is advisable to reduce the intake, but certainly not to go below 0.5 g per kilogram of body weight.

Carbohydrates

And now, finally, to carbohydrates. In the whirlwind of today's low-carb revolution, it might seem that carbohydrates are a bad thing. But it certainly isn't. Carbohydrates are the most abundant organic compound on earth. We count them among the essential nutrients. However, they come mostly from plant sources.The most important role of carbohydrates is their energy function. They serve both as a ready source of energy (glucose) and as an energy reserve in case of sudden need of the body (muscle and liver glycogen). Carbohydrates are the main nutrient in an athlete's diet. In a normal diet, they should account for about 50-60% of all energy intake. However, when we look at carbohydrate waves their importance in terms of energy intake fluctuates. On some days you can take in 80% of all energy from carbohydrates, on other days 0-10% of the energy taken in.

But let's go back to the carbohydrate information itself.

Carbohydrates can be divided into two basic groups: complex carbohydrates and simple sugars. Complex carbohydrates, found in whole grains, vegetables, rice, potatoes, etc. Simple carbohydrates, on the other hand, are found in sweets, fruit drinks and dairy products. For clients on a fat burning diet, I recommend that they focus on natural starchy carbohydrates such as potatoes, dark rice, whole grain pasta, oatmeal, etc. At the same time, it is advisable to supplement the palette of carbohydrate sources with vegetables, which contain a lot of fiber and can effectively regulate blood sugar levels.

We will now look at carbohydrate dosage in more detail, because there is basically the basis of the principle of carbohydrate waves.

Manipulation of carbohydrate intake

Manipulation of carbohydrate intake is the main principle of carbohydrate waves. This manipulation should ensure a constant stimulation of your metabolism. This is because our body is capable of getting used to a constantly reduced energy intake and thus slowing down the metabolism and stopping fat burning. This is what we are trying to prevent by manipulating carbohydrate intake.

More about fat burning

Muscles obtain energy by oxidizing fats in the form of free fatty acids released from fat stores (triglycerides). One molecule of triglyceride is split into three fatty acid molecules and one glycerol molecule. The free fatty acids released from adipose tissue are transported to the muscles by the blood, where they are bound to albumin. They are further bound to carnitine and transported into the muscle cell. In muscle cells, fatty acids are oxidized to acetyl coenzyme A. Here, in the mitochondria, they enter the Krebs cycle (citric acid cycle) and enter the respiratory chain via the NADH and FADH transporters. This process results in the production of energy (ATP), carbon dioxide (which we exhale) and water. The main advantage of fats is that they are an extremely efficient storage form, releasing approximately 37 kJ/g compared to 16 kJ/g for carbohydrates. In addition, each gram of storage carbohydrate also contains a certain amount of water due to the osmotic effect it produces, which further reduces the efficiency of carbohydrate as an energy source.

So how to do it? Basically, it comes down to alternating high and low carb days. More on practice later. First, let's explain what happens in your body on both high and low carb days.

Low carb days

Low carb days are the very days that are critical to your fat burning success. Your body is accustomed to a higher energy intake than you currently supply that day. So it has to reach into its energy reserves. These reserves are precisely fats. That is, the subcutaneous and visceral energy stores. Basically, you can go down to 50-100 grams of carbohydrates per day. This critical minimum is a high load for your body and you need to increase both your intake of antioxidants and special nutritional supplements such as BCAAs. These days, you also keep your protein intake high, and with extreme carbohydrate reduction, you increase your fat intake to the upper end of the recommended range.

High carbohydrate intake days

When energy intake is higher, our body can fully utilize carbohydrates to make up for muscle glycogen loss. This glycogen has been burned along with fat on the previous days. Fat gain does not occur, for a simple reason. The excess energy would have to persist for a long time. Therefore, days with lower carbohydrate intake are followed by increased carbohydrate intake. So you don't have to worry about high carbohydrate intake days. These days keep your metabolism high and you are able to burn more fat in the following days. On these days, you will also reduce your protein and fat intake. See recommendations above.

So what does carbohydrate intake manipulation look like in practice? I will describe here the two basic and most commonly used methods.

The first method, which is the most commonly used. Unfortunately, in practice, it is quite complicated to use because it requires very precise calculations. In this method, the carbohydrate intake varies from day to day and must be followed without fail. It is mainly used in competitive bodybuilding and fitness. From my point of view, it is outdated, complicated and less physiological. But what cannot be denied is its effectiveness. In practice, the carbohydrate intake for an athlete weighing about 80-90kg looks like this.

As can be seen, this is quite a complicated procedure. In this variant, fat intake is kept low all the time, protein intake is also constant, only on Sundays, when there is a training day off, protein intake drops significantly. As you can also see the average carbohydrate intake is 200g per day.

I personally prefer the second approach, namely the one where carbs don't drop extremely low, but stay at a constant low level for several consecutive days, followed by one day of high carb intake to ensure metabolic stimulation.

In practice, it looks something like this.

As you can see the average carbohydrate intake is about the same. The advantage is that you don't go extremely low with carbs, and thus run less risk of losing muscle mass. Days of higher carbohydrate intake, on the other hand, effectively stimulate your metabolism. As for protein and fat, as with the previous option, it is advisable to reduce your intake of these two macronutrients on high carbohydrate days. On low carbohydrate days, I recommend not dropping below 0.75g of fat per kilogram of weight. I would suggest keeping protein around 3g per kilogram of weight.

In conclusion, the so-called. "Carbohydrate waves" are one of the effective tools for burning fat, but they must be used judiciously.
The article was written by Pavel Samek - Czech Master in Classic Bodybuilding. He works as a personal trainer and nutrition consultant. Taken from Prom-in.cz