Role Of Carbohydrates In Muscle Building

A lot has been said and written about protein and the role they play in muscle building. Ask any bodybuilder to tell you about protein’s role in muscle building you’ll get an in-depth response about the way muscle builds, hypotrophy, anabolic rates and more! But what about if you ask the same bodybuilder about the role of carbohydrates and building muscle then most of them have very little or nothing to say about it. Carbohydrates are often overlooked when planning a muscle building diet. This is because a lot of people are not aware of the importance of carbohydrates and the role they play in muscle development. Here are some basic things you should know about carbohydrates and muscle building.

Ideal Intake Of Carbohydrates

Increase your carbohydrate intake to between 1.5-2 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight. In order to gain muscle, a carbohydrate increase will be required to keep your energy levels high, and thus fuel your workouts, and in order to help shuttle the amino acids from your proteins into the muscle tissue (since carbohydrates increase insulin levels and insulin is necessary for the transport of the aminos into the muscle).

How To Avoid Fat

The key thing to ensure that muscle mass is maximized as opposed to fat gain when consuming carbohydrates is to ensure that your intake of them is mostly from low glycemic index ones (slow digesting/released carbs) like brown rice, oatmeal, pasta and sweet potatoes. Limit the higher glycemic complex carbs (like cream of rice) and simple carbs (like bananas) for after the workout when the body needs fast released carbs and proteins in order to quick start the recovery and re-building process and also to help refuel the energy stores (glycogen levels in the muscle and liver) that have been drained.

Best Time To Take Carbohydrates

Also, ensure that you eat half of your carbohydrates split between the times that the body is most receptive to them, which is the morning time (first meal) and post workout time. The morning meal carbs can be complex low glycemic carbs while the post workout meal can be half simple and half complex. Try to avoid eating complex carbs after 6:30pm unless your post workout meal comes after that time as your body's acceptance of the hormone insulin goes down at night and therefore, one runs a higher risk of storing carbohydrate calories at night unless you train, in which case your insulin sensitivity is optimized.

Which Carbohydrates To Take

Eat complex carbohydrates, complex carbohydrates are found in whole foods like brown rice, potatoes, whole grain cereal and oatmeal. Complex carbohydrates should make up the bulk of your daily calorie intake because they form muscle glycogen, the long lasting fuel that your body needs to train hard.

Complex carbohydrates are slow burning which means you get longer lasting energy. They also help keep your blood sugar levels constant, this reduces fat storage and fatigue and promotes the release of insulin. Insulin is the body’s natural anabolic hormone and is essential for muscle development. make sure that you have around 15-20 grams of fibrous carbohydrates, such as green beans or broccoli, at lunchtime and 15-20 grams more at dinnertime as these will help to keep your digestive tract clean and ready to accept new nutrients, thus maximizing nutrient utilization.

Make The Most Out Of Protein & Carbohydrate Combination