CARBS ARE ENERGY!!!

It makes me sick to think of the number of people out there who blame CARBS for their own inability to lose weight. I'm not in the mood to write an informative post about the difference between rice crispies and brown rice cakes, but I will take a moment to explain how helpful carbs can be for increases in strength and power.

When trying to lean out, drop body fat, lose weight--whatever you call it, a lot of people tend to lower their starchy carbs. By "starchy," I am referring to grains, high glycemic fruits, potatoes, etc. I follow this protocol for contest prep. I eat 1 serving of "starchy" carbs (oat bran) for breakfast, and only have another form (rice cakes) post-workout. On non-weight training days, I have oat bran for breakfast, and rely on broccoli and green beans for carbs for the rest of the day.

However, carbs ARE necessary for ME personally. Most people who train intensely benefit from the presence of carbohydrates in their diet. If you read my blog, you are familiar with my once a week carb up. Once a week (usually monday,) I double my carbohydrate consumption, and eat more starchy carbs as opposed to veggie carbs. This is NOT a "cheat day," because the sole purpose is to replenish glycogen stores, and to provide fuel for my muscles for the following week of workouts. Yesterday, I had over 300g carbs, and it was JUST what I needed.

Benefits of my carb load:

During my leg workout today, I deadlifted much heavier than I have been able to the past few weeks. Since I weigh less and less each week, my workouts and strength have been decreasing slowly as well. The heaviest I'd deadlifted in the past 3 weeks was 115 pounds, usually keeping the weight between 85 and 105 pounds. 

Today, after warming up, I killed 8 reps with 135! Did it again. I was feeling strong, so I added a 5 pounder to each side, a conservative load increase of 10 pounds. 145lbs for 8 reps, then 6. I know 145 pounds isn't very heavy, but considering its a lot more than I weigh, I feel pretty good! Also, 155 is my ultimate deadlift, so I wasn't far off today. I probably could have handled 155 with my lifting straps.

And I felt like I could keep going! I had a ton of power throughout the rest of my workout: my step ups, box squats, kettlebell swings, etc--were all explosive! And, I sweat like a monster (another side effect of the carb load.) 

I feel STRONG again, like I can take on each workout like a PRO this week.

If you have never played around with your carb intake, I do suggest it if you train hard. The extra carbohydrates in your body will give you the POWER to bust through strength plateaus, and likely result in some of the best workouts you've ever had.
And no, it won't make you fat.

Thank you carbs, for making my week 10 times better.
And thank you Allegra, for helping my allergies immensely.

Hope I inspired some of you to do some deadlifts ;-)