Find out how by manipulating carbohydrates, you can easily get rid of excess fat in problem areas. The carbohydrate alternation diet has many names, for example, the rotation diet or the BEH diet, but its essence does not change from this - a changing parameter of energy value. For several days, you should significantly reduce the energy value of the diet and completely eliminate carbohydrates from it. Most of the calories in this situation should come from protein compounds.
As a result, the body is forced to actively burn fat, since a significant energy deficit was created. However, this increases weakness and slows down metabolic processes. It is for this reason that you cannot give up carbohydrates for a long time. After a few days, add a lot of carbohydrates to the diet.
As a result, the metabolism accelerates and the feeling of weakness disappears. After that, the cycle is repeated. Note that drying carbohydrate rotation is a more effective way to reduce fat compared to a conventional low-carbohydrate meal program.
Carbohydrate alternation on drying: rules
Basically, the carbohydrate spinning on the dryer is one of the options for a low-carb meal program. The name of this diet fully reflects its meaning:
- Due to the almost complete exclusion of carbohydrates from the diet, fat burning processes proceed as intensively as possible, but metabolism slows down.
- After a while, a large amount of carbohydrates is included in the diet, which leads to a decrease in the rate of lipolysis, but metabolic processes are restored.
Many athletes do not understand why carbohydrate spinning on dryers produces great results. However, there is nothing to be surprised at, because you fully get all the positive effects, and at the same time minimize the negative ones. The positive aspects include the deficiency of carbohydrates, without which fat burning is simply impossible, and the negative here is the slowdown of metabolic processes.
You must understand that everything in the body is interconnected and nothing happens just like that. The basic source of energy (the cheapest and provides an opportunity to get energy in a short time) are carbohydrates. The body creates a certain amount of energy by converting carbohydrates for this into glycogen, which is stored in the liver and muscle tissues. Fats and protein compounds can also be used for energy, but they are more "expensive" energy carriers and the body only turns to them when necessary, when there are no carbohydrates.
Using carbohydrate alternation on drying, you deplete glycogen stores, and the body has no choice but to activate lipolysis processes, which leads to a loss of fat mass. It is enough to spend a few days without carbohydrates, as glycogen stores will be almost completely depleted, and as soon as the body prepares to slow down its metabolism, you include carbohydrates in the howling diet or, in the language of pro-builders, use the "carbohydrate load".
In a couple of days, all glycogen stores will be restored, and you must again eliminate carbohydrates from the diet, and then the cycle repeats. As a result, you move towards the cherished goal in a wave-like manner, alternating between a calorie deficit with an excess. During the first day without carbohydrates, glycogen stores are depleted, and on the second, lipolysis processes are activated.
By maintaining a carbohydrate deficiency over the next few days, the body activates anti-stress adaptation mechanisms to hunger in order to maintain body weight. This is reflected in a slowdown in the production of thyroid hormones and insulin, fats are more slowly converted to glucose, etc. If at this moment carbohydrates are not introduced into the diet, then fat burning can completely stop.
Carbohydrate alternation on drying: diet scheme
Let's look at an indicative scheme for the use of carbohydrate alternation on drying:
- From 1 to 5 days - no carbohydrates in the diet. Eat 2-4 grams of protein for every kilogram.
- 1 to 2 days - carbohydrate load. Eat 1-2 grams of protein compounds and 3-5 grams of carbohydrates for every kilogram of body weight during this period.
The cycle outlined above must be repeated many times and in theory you should lose fat while maintaining muscle. During the first two days, the body's behavior is no different from the classic low-carb nutrition program. Simply put, it turns on the self-sufficiency mode and consumes glycogen, since it remains the only fast and cheap energy source. It will take only two days for glycogen stores to be completely depleted and the body switches to the second available source of energy - fats. By the end of the second day of the first stage, lipolysis processes proceed at maximum speed. However, this cannot continue for a long time, and after another couple of days, the metabolism will begin to slow down.
Long-term absence of carbohydrates in the diet is perceived by the body as a threat to life and its main task is to preserve fat reserves. If you have already tried various "hungry" nutrition programs, then you probably noticed that body weight first decreases rapidly, and then stops abruptly. To stop the further slowdown of metabolic processes, it is necessary to introduce carbohydrates into the diet and this step must be taken after a maximum of six days. As a result, fat will continue to be burned, and glycogen stores will be restored.
Recall that the above scheme is indicative and a five-day carbohydrate fast is not an axiom. Many pro-builders carry out carbohydrate rotation on drying in the following way - they do not consume carbohydrates for the first five days of the week, and then go to the loading stage on weekends. We recommend not paying attention to how others are doing, but using experiments to choose the most effective scheme for yourself. We can safely say that today, carbohydrate alternation on drying is the most effective method of combating fat.
What are the difficulties with carbohydrate alternation on drying?
There is no doubt about the effectiveness of this method, but you need to choose individual settings. We do not recommend for beginners to use this nutrition program, as it is extremely difficult to implement. You must first determine two individual parameters - the duration of the carbohydrate-free diet (in days), as well as the size of the subsequent load (in days and the amount of carbohydrates).
It is quite understandable that the number of days may be excessive or insufficient. For one athlete, metabolic processes may slow down on the third day, and he will have to move to the loading stage at that moment. Another builder can sit without carbs for a week. If you start to consume carbohydrates before the required period, then the lipolysis processes will be stopped.
The situation is similar with the carbohydrate loading phase, which may be insufficient or too large. Who can eat only one large serving of rice porridge and the metabolism will be restored, while the other will have to consume a large amount of carbohydrates for a couple of days to achieve a similar result. In addition, the type of carbohydrates consumed during loading is also of great importance.
All the points described above are extremely difficult to configure correctly. This is why beginners should stick to the classic low-carb nutrition program. Now we cannot give exact figures, since each person will have individual parameters.
It is only through experimentation that you will be able to find that drying scheme for carrying out carbohydrate alternation that will allow you to get maximum results. Based on our own practical experience, we can only give indicative indicators with which to start experimenting - 2 days without carbohydrates and one day of loading.
After that, watch your feelings and appearance. If at the first stage you do not feel weak, and the working weights have practically not decreased, then increase the duration of the first phase by one day. You have to work in one mode for one or two weeks, and then draw conclusions.
- If you feel good, then increase the duration of the first stage.
- If you feel unwell, reduce the duration of the first phase or lengthen the loading time.
- If you see good results in the reflection in the mirror, then nothing needs to be changed.
- In the absence of external changes, the nutrition program must be adjusted.
Such a balance between the first and second stages can be considered ideal, when you are losing weight, but at the same time you feel great. Approximately 50 percent of athletes use a carbohydrate rotation on drying in the following form - 4 days no carbs + 1 day load. It should also be said that in the second stage, carbohydrates cannot be consumed all day, but only during the first half. It's also worth experimenting with the types of carbohydrates. In theory, complex carbohydrates are better, but fast carbohydrates are better for some.
It is also impossible to give precise recommendations on this issue. Bodybuilding is a difficult sport to think about. Experiment and look for the most effective schemes for yourself in everything. This is the only way to achieve maximum progress.
For more information on carbohydrate alternation see here:
