Module 9: High Carb Diet For Mass Gains (Part 1)
We've got a lot to cover this week so let's get right to it.
This week, we're talking about how to use a high-carb diet for mass gains.
In previous weeks, I told you about a research study showing that higher carb intakes could lead to more muscle gained with less fat even when participants were consuming a massive caloric surplus.
The details of the study were as follows: Experienced (more than 2 years of lifting experience) drug-free trainees actually gained more lean mass and gained less fat when following a traditional bodybuilding training split (4x per week with high volume training) with a super high-carb diet. (800 grams of carbs per day, less than 50 grams of fat.)
In this week's advisory, I'm going to give you my take on how to copy the initial study and the changes I would make to actually improve on their results.
Ok, so first things first: The researches actually had these guys eating 1,000 to 1,500 calories OVER maintenance. And while the fat gain that these guys gained over the month was minimal, they still gained fat.
In my opinion they could have gained far less fat (or maybe no fat at all) had they consumed fewer calories.
So if you want to try and use a high-carb diet for mass, I'd say set your daily caloric target at 500 calories OVER what you need to maintain your weight.
How do you figure that out?
Punch your stats into the calculator. Be sure to select "moderately active" and then add 500 calories to your "TDEE" (total daily energy expenditure.)
For example, when I ran this calculation for myself my TDEE when selecting moderately active was 2,948 calories per day. Adding 500 to that gives me a target of roughly 3,500 calories per day.
In the study, the researchers had these guys eating 7 meals per day. In my opinion, that's a bit much. But at the same time, you WILL need to eat multiple meals per day in order to get all these calories in. Plan on at least 4 meals per day.
What to eat? Well, that's pretty much up to you. Only rule is to keep carbs HIGH and keep fat at roughly 50 grams per day or less.
This is the key to making a high-carb diet work:
High Carbs + High Fat = you get fat.
High Carbs + Low Fat = you get lean.
You may notice that you actually have to eat a little bit of junk food to get the calories in. This is ok. The trick is finding low-fat junk food. I like red licorice. But bread and white rice will probably be staples on this diet.
How many carbs? In the research study, higher carbs gave better results. So you want to get as many carbs as you can. I'd say shoot for at least 500 grams of carbohydrates per day. You'll be getting around 500 calories per day from fat. That leaves roughly 1,000 calories for protein.
That's actually pretty high.
So if I was running this based on a 3,500 calorie daily target and I had 500 grams of carbs per day that would break out as follows:
500 grams of carbohydrates (4 calories per gram of carbs): 2,000 calories.
50 grams of fat (9 calories per gram of fat): 450 calories:
250 grams of protein (4 calories per gram of protein): 1,000 calories
TOTAL: 3,450 calories.
In all likelihood, I would never be able to consume 500 grams of carbohydrates AND 250 grams of protein. So I'd probably try and bump up the carbohydrates even higher so I could get away with less protein.
Here's how that would look:
700 grams of carbohydrates (4 cals per gram): 2800 calories
50 grams of fat (9 cals per gram): 450 cals
100 grams of protein (4 cals per gram) 400 calories
TOTAL: 3,650 calories.
This would be a ton of food to consume in a day. And while I usually advise against liquid calories like sports drinks and protein shakes, it may be a necessity to add a few of those items per day to hit your targets.
Tip: Two footlong Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sandwiches from Subway with no cheese will get you almost 200 grams of carbs with very little fat, so this is a good lunchtime option if you're trying the high carb approach.
TRAINING
It's really pointless to try a high-carb diet unless you're going to follow a high volume training program.
All the extra carbs and calories should give you increased energy in the gym so this is NOT the time for a minimalist training program.
Instead, train 3x per week with a high volume approach.
Here are two recommended workout plans:
#1: The Ken Waller 4 Day Split.
I really enjoy this program. Takes about an hour to complete, 4 days per week.
I wrote about this here: Ken Waller 4 Day Split
Here's another option:
The George Turner Mass Gain Program.
The program is basic but brutal. Perform this same routine 3x per week on non-
consecutive days. (Monday, Wed, Friday or Tue, Thur, Sat, etc.)
Barbell Squats: 10 sets of 10 reps.
Barbell Bench Press: 10 sets of 10 reps.
Barbell Curls: 10 sets of 10 reps.
For squats and bench press, you will decrease the weight by 10 pounds every 2 sets. So if sets 1 & 2 are done with 250lbs, then sets 3&4 will be done with 240lbs, sets 5&6 will be done with 230lbs, etc.
Do all sets of squats before moving on to the bench press. Don't worry if you are unable to complete all 10 reps on all 10 sets.
Since you will be doing the same routine 3x per week, you will have
ample opportunities to improve. If you are able to complete all 10 reps on all 10 sets, increase the weight next time.
Perform the bench press in the same manner.
The barbell curls will be done slightly different. For those you will use the same weight for the first 5 sets, then drop the weight 10 pounds for the last 5 sets. So if you use 100 pounds for the sets 1-5, sets 6-10 will
be done with 90lbs.
Again, don't worry if you don't complete all 10 reps on all 10 sets. This routine seems simple on the surface but the high volume will pack on size fast.
Note on exercises:
I am using the barbell squat, barbell bench press and barbell curl as that is how George Turner himself originally set it up.
However if you need to substitute an exercise because of injuries or
equipment limitations, that's fine by me. If you need to swap out squats
for leg presses or dumbbell bench press in lieu of barbell bench press, that's fine.
SUMMARY OF PART 1:
Ok, so when using a high carb diet for mass gains there are two things to remember:
A) Keep the fat intake LOW. 50 grams of fat per day is your target.
and
B) Follow a high-volume training program. Do NOT attempt a high carb diet unless you're training at least 3-4x per week.
Any questions? Let me know. Next week we're going to finish this up and I'll show you how to alternate between high carb + high volume and lower carb, lower volume for both mass gains AND fat loss.
You're going to love what I've got in store for you next week so stay tuned.
Matt Marshall, certified personal trainer and founder of Fitness Under Oath
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