Are Low Carb Bodybuilding Diet Plans A Detrimental Muscle Building Tool?

A critical factor in achieving bodybuilding success is muscle definition, which correlates with body fat percentage. In the hunt for the perfectly sculpted physique, bodybuilders contemplate various diet methods, and carbohydrates receive significant 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 weight lifters pursue muscle gain with a higher fat, lower carbohydrate approach, with hopes of sustaining a reasonable body fat percentage. But is there a point where carbohydrate consumption can decline excessively, reaching a level where muscle gains become extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible? For those riding the current bodybuilding bandwagon, the reply would seem to be no, but reality is often far different than what regularly promoted bodybuilding notions are saying.

Excessive carbohydrates will cause body fat percentage to quickly increase, blurring muscle definition, and many find themselves battling a rotund stomach and love handles due to haphazard carbohydrate ingestion. But stripping carbohydrates to extremely low levels with the hope of avoiding the bulge battle is a serious blunder, as even though body fat will likely decline using such a method, 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 gains will soon be possible. Of course, a bodybuilder not only has the goal of minimizing body fat percentage, but also maximizing muscle building, therefore bringing carbohydrates to either extreme will prevent one of the two goals, leaving the bodybuilder with an angry, bitter experience while attempting to produce a reasonable balance between muscle mass and low body fat percentage.

What proponents of the anti-carbohydrate diet routine fail to realize is that muscle gains relies upon carbohydrates to fuel certain hormones in the body, namely insulin, which is amazingly anabolic, leading to significant muscle increase, but also fueling rapid body fat gains when utilized improperly. Because insulin is directly linked with carbohydrate consumption, in order to achieve the most dramatic muscle gains, carbohydrates must be available in the diet, but to prevent body fat from spiraling out of control, both the quantity of carbohydrates and time of the day in which such nutrients are consumed must be systematically implemented in order to provide muscles with sufficient carbohydrate nutrients for muscle increase, while greatly reducing the negative impact on body fat levels.

In addition to boosting insulin for muscle building impact, carbohydrates offer an immediate source for energy, and since the body must produce explosive output during weight lifting workout sessions for muscle building, carbohydrates offer this energy source for maximum training effort. When adopting a low carbohydrate focus, the body is unable to generate maximum torque during each weight lifting set, and therefore muscle growth 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 lifting workout motivation, as insufficient carbohydrates can adversely impact mood and motivation, leading to very poor weight training workout performance, which directly impacts muscle growth in an extremely negative way.

One additional detrimental factor when following a low carb diet is metabolic reduction, and although initially a low carbohydrate diet plan may shed body fat and produce greater definition, the prolonged impact of such a diet philosophy will not only cause muscle to decline, but will also reduce metabolism (the rate at which the body burns calories), meaning that you will require a lower food intake to maintain a specific body fat level. As a result, fat percentage will start to climb when food reaches the required quantity for muscle gain due to this metabolic slowdown, and the net result is a more substantial fat level than will occur through properly balancing protein and fat with carbohydrates.

When attempting to enhance muscle mass and definition, please ignore the misconception suggesting that carbohydrates are the harmful enemy that blunts success, as by banishing this important nutrient from your weight lifting diet plan, you will produce far less muscle mass and definition than is otherwise possible, but by integrating carbohydrates at strategic times and in potent quantities, you will allow the body to gain muscle without the customary body fat surge that accompanies popular weight gain diet routines. Carbohydrates, when used wisely, are one of the few muscle building and fat loss keys to success!

Francesco Castano authors MuscleNOW.com, a diet and weight training program teaching the exact techniques for muscle building without supplements or drugs. He also owns IncrediBody.com, an online fitness superstore selling weight training equipment at guaranteed lowest prices.