re: Anyone Here Tried Carb Backloading?

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According to Kiefer, the most well-known promoter of carb backloading (I wouldn’t say the creator of the method though, as the idea has been around since Arnold’s time), this style of dieting takes advantage of the natural daily fluctuations in insulin sensitivity in muscle and fat cells, as well as the exercise-induced increase in insulin sensitivity in muscle cells.

You see, research shows that insulin sensitivity in both muscle and fat cells is higher in the morning than the evening, which means that both muscle and fat cells will be more receptive to glucose earlier in the day. This is good in the case of muscle (more glucose absorbed into the muscles = better performance in the gym), and bad in the case of fat (more glucose absorbed into the fat cells = more fat storage).

The basic premise of carb backloading is you use these mechanisms to your advantage by not eating carbs when your body is most able to store them as fat (early in the day). Instead, you eat carbs when your body is most likely to store them as glycogen in the muscles (later in the day, after working out).

The post-workout point is important: you use weightlifting later in the day to deplete glycogen stores and increase insulin sensitivity in the muscle cells, but not the fat cells, so when you then start eating carbs, your body preferentially shuttles them into the muscles, not fat cells.

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