Unquestionably, people have a love/hate relationship with carbohydrates. It’s become common to blame carbohydrates for excess body fat, but it’s not the only piece of the fat loss puzzle. What about if you’re training for more muscle mass? If that’s your current goal, carbohydrates can make a big difference. In this article, we’ll show you how to Build More Mass With Carbs!
How To Build More Mass With Carbs
Your muscles use glucose to produce energy. Glucose comes from carbohydrate foods (and to a much lesser extent from protein and fatty foods). Once glucose is stored in your body, it’s known as glycogen. If your body doesn’t have enough stored glycogen, it’s going to be tough to get through a workout effectively. In addition, having proper glycogen stores is important for recovery.(1,2)
That’s why Rich always had a 5% Nutrition Real Carbs shake (always with a protein source) both before and immediately post-workout. Plus, that’s why it is important to plan a significant amount of your daily carbs in the hours around your workout.
Use 5% Nutrition Real Carbs To Build Quality Muscle Mass
First, how many carbs should you be taking if muscle mass is your goal? As noted, lifters should consume about 50% of their daily carbohydrate intake in the hours around their workout. Are you unsure how many carbohydrates you should take in? A good starting point is 1.5 grams per 2.2 lb of body weight. You can adjust this number up or down depending on how you feel and how your body reacts.
Once you understand what your carbohydrate intake should look like, the next step is choosing the best sources of carbohydrates. Good food choices include:
- Sweet Potatoes
- Brown Rice
- Oats
- Quinoa
- Whole Grains
- Fruits
- Vegetables
Other good sources include 5% Nutrition Real Carbs and Real Carbs Rice. Both of these exceptional products use only real food sources of carbohydrates. You won’t find any “designer” or synthetic carbs here! Rich believed in real food, first and foremost, and we adhere to that belief.
Using 5% Nutrition Functional Carbohydrates
One of the easiest ways to meet your daily carbohydrate requirements is to use a carbohydrate powder like Real Carbs. As noted, that’s especially true in the timeframe before and right after your workout. By drinking a Real Carbs shake (with added protein from Shake Time, our real-food protein powder), you ensure you have the training energy you need to push your muscles to the limit. Once you’re done, kick-start recovery with another shake. Recovery is to a great extent about replacing glycogen stores and ingesting enough protein to help repair damaged muscles.
Recap
Carbohydrates support training energy and help provide the cellular energy your body needs throughout the day. Don’t mistake this kind of energy with the central nervous system stimulation of caffeine. While this kind of energy is also helpful during a workout, your muscles depend on stored glycogen to fuel muscular contractions. Drinking a Real Carbs shake with added protein from Shake Time before and after your workout ensures you won’t struggle to complete your workouts. This in turn allows you to perform the kind of workouts you need to build the mass you want.
References:
- Elia, M., Folmer, P., Schlatmann, A., Goren, A., & Austin, S. (1988). Carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism in muscle and in the whole body after mixed meal ingestion. Metabolism: clinical and experimental, 37(6), 542–551. https://doi.org/10.1016/0026-0495(88)90169-2
- Jensen, J., Rustad, P. I., Kolnes, A. J., & Lai, Y. C. (2011). The role of skeletal muscle glycogen breakdown for regulation of insulin sensitivity by exercise. Frontiers in physiology, 2, 112. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2011.00112
