Morning Training Questions

[NRC16]

Hi all,

Apologies if this is well covered territory, but I’ve searched around the forums without much luck, particularly regarding my first question.

I’m finishing up my 10 day ULC preparation phase and will be having my first CBL tonight, in advance of tomorrow morning’s training session and have two questions.

First, I’m trying to get some options for the best high-glycemic carbs to add post-a.m. workout. I prefer solid foods over shakes and Kiefer suggests in CBL an over-ripe banana, which suggests (to me, anyway) something in the 100 calorie/30 gram of carb area is a good start. For the folks who train in the a.m. and prefer foods over shakes, what are some other options that get the intended insulin spike but do not “over do” the carbs, calories or will otherwise derail things before I start the ULC remainder of the day? Some other options I’m considering are yogurt (say, a 6 ounce container), sweet potato/white potatoes (perhaps 1/2 cup in some sort of hash), an occasional donut :), and maybe a bowl of steel cut oats. What do you think of these options/portion sizes and are there other things I should consider in addition or instead?

Second, what amount of carbs should I be shooting for during CBL nights? For background, I’m 5’7, 155, about 13-14% body fat and trying, for the most part, to lean out. Oh, and I’m a male. I lost 4 pounds during the ULC prep phase. According to the CBL book, my goal should be about 364 grams of carbs (according to the preferred Delta Weight Chart) to about 539 grams of carbs (per the BW to Carbs Calculator). This just seems like a lot of carbs and, given my goal, I’m wondering if anyone had some advice in this regard based on their actual experience.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Makoto Tomizawa]

In regards to your first question, the consensus now is to not have carbs in your PWO shake/meal after a morning session. You just want a quick insulin spike to prevent muscle catabolism, which is achievable without carbs (whey is insulinogenic, adding leucine or Carb Shock would be even better). However, if you don’t want to go the shake route, maybe just have a glass of skim milk with your meal. Or just try a plain lean meat source, which would be boring but they’re very insulinogenic as well. Just don’t do the so called “clean” carbs, as they won’t give you the benefit of a quick insulin spike and a quick drop so you can carry on with eating your fats and protein until dinner.

The amount is different for different individuals (size, activity level, even genetics to some degree) but it’s suggested to start out at 1-2 grams of carbohydrates per 1 lb of lean body mass. Adjust up or down from there. The baseline carbs in the back of the book is the MAXIMUM amount of glycogen store. So in a completely depleted state (which we never will be fully depleted), that’s the amount you can hold without spilling over.

Training Log: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vuwHRdBaPVILxxLhXly_N1Ys66Hcwk4j-bM7nvKSLrI/edit?usp=sharing

[Norman Cerullo]

Thanks for the response.

Regarding a.m. port-workout nutrition, I guess this is another example for the need for CBL 2.0 since following the book, it seems, could lead one astray, and keeping up with the various interviews, podcasts, articles and forums for supplemental or more current info is not realistic for most folks.

Regarding CBL carb amounts, the 1-2 grams per lean body mass seems more reasonable. That said, I blew through that stop sign last night and somehow managed to stuff 400 grams of carbs in my gullet last night. I hit it pretty hard in the gym this morning and felt great though. I’ll dial it in going forward.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 3 months ago by Norman Cerullo.

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