Are Low Carbohydrate Bodybuilding Diets An Effective Muscle Building Tool?

A critical factor in achieving bodybuilding excellence is muscle definition, which correlates with body fat percentage. In the hunt for the perfectly defined physique, bodybuilders contemplate various diet methods, and carbohydrates receive substantial criticism in the bodybuilding world, with articles regularly written on how carbohydrates lead to excess body fat levels, and because of this overwhelming negativity, many bodybuilders pursue muscle gain with a higher fat, lower carbohydrate approach, with hopes of maintaining a reasonable body fat level. But is there a point where carbohydrate grams can decline excessively, reaching a point where muscle building becomes extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible? For those riding the current bodybuilding bandwagon, the response would seem to be no, but reality is often far different than what today's bodybuilding notions will have us believe.

It is true that excessive carbohydrates will cause body fat levels to quickly increase, hiding muscle definition, and many find themselves battling a rotund mid-section and love handles due to larger than necessary carbohydrate consumption. But stripping carbohydrates to very low levels with the hope of avoiding the common bulge battle is a common blunder, as even though body fat will certainly decline using such an approach, the potential for muscle gain will inversely follow carbohydrate reduction, with dramatic declines in future muscle mass improvements, to the point where no further muscle building will soon be possible. Of course, a bodybuilder not only has the goal of reducing body fat levels, but also maximizing muscle building, therefore bringing carbohydrates to either extreme will prevent one of the two goals, leaving the bodybuilder with a frustrated, unproductive experience while attempting to produce a fair balance between muscle mass and low body fat levels.

What supporters of the low carbohydrate diet plan fail to realize is that muscle building relies upon carbohydrates to fuel certain hormones in the body, especially insulin, which is extremely anabolic, leading to massive muscle increase, but also fueling quick body fat accumulation when utilized incorrectly. Since insulin is proportional to carbohydrate consumption, in order to achieve the most dramatic muscle gains, carbohydrates must be present in the diet, but to suppress body fat gains, both the amount of carbohydrates and timing of such nutrients must be correctly integrated in order to offer muscles sufficient carbohydrate nutrients for muscle gain, while minimizing the negative impact on body fat percentage.

In addition to boosting insulin for muscle building impact, carbohydrates offer an immediate energy source, and since the body must generate explosive output during weight training workout sessions for muscle building, carbohydrates offer this fuel for maximum training effort. When adopting a low carbohydrate diet, the muscles are unable to produce maximum intensity during each weight training set, and therefore muscle building is negatively impacted, and already built muscle is also at risk of being lost. Those who follow a low carbohydrate regimen tend to lose weight training workout motivation, as insufficient carbohydrates can negatively impact motivation, leading to very poor weight training workout performance, which directly impacts muscle growth in an extremely negative way.

Another detrimental factor when following a low carb diet is metabolic slowdown, and although initially a low carbohydrate diet regimen may shed body fat and produce greater definition, the prolonged impact of such a diet routine will not only burn muscle, but will also attack metabolism (the level at which the body burns calories), which means that you will require a lower food intake to maintain a particular body fat level. As a result, fat percentage will begin to increase when food reaches the required level for muscle gain due to this metabolic slowdown, and the surprising result is a greater fat level than will occur when properly balancing carbohydrates with protein and fat.

When your goal is to improve muscle mass and definition, please reject the misconception suggesting that carbohydrates are the evil enemy that interferes with success, as by banishing this vital nutrient from your weight training diet plan, you will experience far less muscle mass and definition than is otherwise possible, but by integrating carbohydrates at strategic times during the day and in potent quantities, you will allow the body to gain muscle without the notorious body fat increase that accompanies popular weight gain diet routines. Carbohydrates, if used correctly, are one of the few fat loss and muscle building keys to success.