The Low Carbohydrate, Very High Protein Diet for Bodybuilding and Fitness Competition
Written by Yasar Shahzad Thursday, 01 July 2010 16:47
The Low Carbohydrate, Very High Protein Diet for Bodybuilding and Fitness Competition
For very brief periods, bodybuilders often decrease their carbohydrates to only about 25% of their total calories. This is considered a “low carbohydrate” diet. This type of program would only be appropriate for an extreme endomorph or a competitive physique athlete that’s why it’s often called a competition diet.
The Competition Diet, Low carbohydrate, very high protein 25-30% carbohydrates 50% protein 20-25% fat.
For the average male, the competition diet is about 150 to 200 grams of carbohydrates per day. For the average female, the carbohydrate intake is about 90 to 130 grams. This is just enough carbohydrate to stay alert and fuel high intensity workouts. A larger drop would be overkill.
The protein intake is often extremely high for large and highly active individuals - as high as 300 to 375 grams per day for men and 180 to 220 grams for women. This usually works out to about 1.5 to 2.0 grams per pound of body weight. Most people – except the world’s best bodybuilders, of course – would argue that this is far too much protein, which it probably is if you stayed at this level all the time. However, if you reduce your carbohydrates to 25-30% of your total calories and you don’t increase your protein and or fat to compensate; your calorie deficit will be too large. Whenever the calorie deficit is too big, you trigger the starvation mode. If you’re uncomfortable with the idea of consuming this much protein, then you’ll have to make up the difference in calories with essential fats (for example, 30% carbohydrate, 30% fat, 40% proteins).
Keep in mind that the extremely high protein levels are temporary and they shouldn’t be maintained for more than 12-16 weeks prior to the contest or photo shoot. Afterwards, you would gradually shift back to a baseline diet with more carbohydrates and less protein for maintenance.
Sample low carbohydrate menu
Meal 1 – 7:00 am: oatmeal, 2 scoops whey protein
Meal 2 – 9:30 am: oatmeal, egg white omelet with pepper, onion, tomato
Meal 3 – 12:30 pm: small serving brown rice, top round steak, broccoli
Meal 4 – 3:30 pm: Chicken breast, green beans, 1 tbsp flax oil
Meal 5 – 6:00 pm: Salmon, asparagus
Meal 6 – 8:30 pm: mixed green salad, olive oil & vinegar dressing, tuna fish
This menu also uses the carbohydrate tapering method, only in this case, the starchy carbohydrates are cut off after 12:30 pm. Meals one through three have a lean protein and a starchy carbohydrates while meals three through six contain only lean proteins and fibrous carbohydrates. In addition, the serving sizes of the starchy carbohydrates in the first three meals has been reduced
