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Cutting Carbs Is a BAD IDEA
Ask someone how to lose weight quickly, and chances are, they’ll respond with “cut out carbs.” The reason behind that is the fact that cutting out carbs does cause fast weight loss. But that doesn’t mean fat loss, and cutting out carbs could be causing your health some harm. Fitness Expert Kente Bates gives you the skinny.
There’s no two ways about it, if you get rid of all the bread, pasta and potatoes from your diet, that scale will go down. Add so-called junk food to that restricted list, and the losses will be even greater. If you take it to the extremes of banning even “healthy carbs” like fruits and certain vegetables too, then you’ll drop kilos at a rate of knots.
And voila – all of a sudden you’re a weight loss guru. One guy mocked my assertion on hard work, gleefully and mockingly sneering “cutting carbs is all it boils down to”.
What most on the cutting carbs bandwagon fail to see… while cutting carbs does usually bring about weight loss, this doesn’t necessarily mean fat loss. And no carbs should cost you your good mood and high energy levels.
While there may be instances where you may need to cut down your carbs, there should never be any reason to take them out completely. Low-carb diets aren’t sustainable, and cutting them will end up making you fat.
Let’s look at why.
What are carbs?
We all know what foods contain carbs, but few of us actually know what carbs are – that is, one of the three main macronutrients, the other two being protein and and fat.
Your body uses carbohydrates as its main source of readily available energy. It can use protein and fat to make fuel, but this process takes far longer and is much less efficient. In other words, your muscles, organs and brain love the stuff.
When you eat carbs, they’re either used (more or less) immediately for energy, or they’re stored as glycogen in your muscle cells and liver.
Why a low-carb diet might seem like its working
Ninety-five per cent of us will have tried cutting carbs before, and within this 95%, almost all of us will have seen weight loss in the first week or so*. While this seems epic, don’t fret – because weight loss isn’t fat loss.
CREATING A CALORIE DEFICIT CAUSES WEIGHT LOSS, NOT THE FACT YOU’RE NOT EATING CARBS.
When you cut carbs from your diet, your body turns to its stored carbohydrates (the glycogen in the muscles and liver we mentioned earlier). At any one time, you can have as much as 500 grams of stored glycogen, and each gram of glycogen holds around three grams of water with it. This means if your body has to use up all its glycogen for energy because you’re not eating carbs, you can lose up to two kilos (0.5 kilos from glycogen and 1.5 kilos from water) within a few days. But this is not fat loss.
The general public eat a crap-ton of carbs! Think about it – your typical breakfast might include toast, cereals or juice, sandwiches, wraps or bagels at lunch, plus sugary coffees, chocolate bars and fruit throughout the day, then some kind of starch with dinner. That’s a lot of carbohydrates.
By suddenly cutting these out, you’ll put yourself into a calorie deficit where you’re consuming fewer calories than you burn – and it’s creating a calorie deficit that causes weight loss, not the fact you’re not eating carbs.
The perils of swapping bread and potatoes for butter and pistachios
Most people who cut carbs replace their starches and sugars with low-carb vegetables and proteins. That’s great. What’s not so great is when a low-carb diet turns into a high-fat diet because you’re swapping out your starches for high-fat foods such as coconut oil, nuts and seeds, avocados and full-fat cheese.
IT’S SURPRISINGLY EASY TO GAIN FAT WHEN GOING LOW-CARB, PLUS YOU’LL FEEL TIRED, IRRITABLE AND HUNGRY.
There’s nothing wrong with these foods per se, fats are far more calorie dense than carbs (containing nine calories per gram, whereas carbs have four calories per gram). So swapping out carbs for fats can be surefire way to reverse any calorie deficit and turn it into a surplus, undoing any work.
Two slices of bread, 100 grams of cereal, a medium sweet potato, a banana and a flapjack bar come in at 800 calories altogether. But the same calories from fats is a much smaller volume of food. In fact, 100 grams of mixed nuts and 1 and-a-half tablespoons of olive oil is all you’ll get for the same 800 calories.
The mistake low carbers make is to drastically ramp up their fat intake, and while it’s true you can eat a little more fat if you’re cutting carbs, it’s much easier to over-eat fat than carbs. And if you go into a surplus of calories, you’ll gain fat.
When you add in the fact that you’ll feel like crap for the first week or two of going low carb, and that low-carb diets are insanely difficult to stick to long-term, it’s safe to say that such a drastic approach is not a good one.
Why carbs are crucial
You can survive without any carbs in your diet, but there’s a difference between survival and getting what you want- results.
If you want to lose fat optimally, maintain your strength and energy, and lose weight and keep it off, carbs are critical. That doesn’t mean you can stuff your face with muesli, chips and spaghetti though. You need the right amount of carbs – and preferably at the right times.
How much should you be eating?
Your carb intake should be based on your activity level, as carbs are your main source of energy, the more active you are, the more you need. The best way to do this is to base your carbs off your total calorie intake.
For weight loss, men need roughly 24 to 30 calories per kilo of bodyweight per day, while women need 22 to 26 calories per kilo. The more active you are, the higher your multiplier, so guys training hard four or more times per week for instance should go for 28 to 30 calories per kilo. Within that, you can tweak your carbs to your total calorie intake.
While no food should ever be banned completely, it makes sense to choose more nutrient-dense carbs and ones that are higher in fiber – so whole-grains like brown rice and quinoa – as well as white and sweet potatoes, fruits and vegetables. These should make up at least 80% of your carb intake, then you can have 20% leeway for more junk-style carbs.
Carbs can be eaten at any time, but for optimal results, eat most around your workouts. Before training they’ll be used for energy so you get a better session, and post-workout they aid recovery.
Carbs: your new best friend
You will lose weight on a low-carb diet (at least in the first few days, which includes a large portion of water). But that alone doesn’t make this the best dieting approach. In fact, it’s surprisingly easy to gain fat when going low-carb, plus you’ll feel tired, irritable and hungry, all of which mean a low-carb diet isn’t only unnecessary, but potentially damaging to your long-term health and fat loss too.
Look at carbs as a macronutrient that will need manipulating from time to time, depending on your goals and activities. Don’t jump on the bandwagon of quick weight loss- always think for yourself. Get to know your body and what works best for it. Are you on the go all the time, training hard virtually every day and looking to get stronger and build muscle? Then carb up!! Carbs are not a bad thing!!
Are you on a fat loss quest, a little on the lighter side, and maybe not so active day-to-day? You can still eat carbs, you just may want to ease back on them slightly.
As always, the extreme approach doesn’t work. What works is a method that’s based on you – your goals, your body type, and your preferences. Knowing your body, label reading and hard work to achieve your goals are the way to win. These are the basics. THE BASICS ALWAYS WIN!!
Bodyweight Exercises Part 2: The Extreme End of the Basics
DISCLAIMER: These exercises are for the ambitious ones among you. As I always say, listen to your body. Do not hurt yourself trying something you are not comfortable doing.
THE BASICS ALWAYS WIN!!
1. Bodyweight Skullcrusher
The classics are such for a reason. They work! But if you feel you’ve reached a sticking point, especially due to your triceps, then look no further than the skullcrusher.
The traditional skullcrusher is a triceps extension exercise performed while lying on a bench and using external resistance such as a barbell or dumbbell. However, the rulebook goes out the proverbial window when you execute a bodyweight skullcrusher! This time, perform the same movement pattern, but use only your own body, leveraged against a horizontal bar. By employing this change, not only do you smash your triceps, but you also rock your abs, chest, shoulders and back, as you can no longer rely on the bench to provide stability.
Bodyweight skullcrusher
Start in a narrow-grip push-up position, arms shoulder-width apart or slightly closer, with your hands on a bar or other elevated surface. Keep your hands close together and your elbows pointed down to keep emphasis on the triceps. Bend only at the elbows—not the shoulders—and lower your upper body down until your forehead is between your hands. Press from the triceps, and push yourself back up. The lower the incline, the more challenging the exercise.
2. Close-Grip Chin-Up
When it comes to vertical pulling exercises in the urban Street Workout jungle, the lion’s share of the spotlight tends to go to pull-ups performed with an overhand, wide grip. With so much attention placed on this pronated pull, it’s easy to forget that the close-grip chin-up is a valuable move in its own right.
Detractors of bodyweight training sometimes claim there are no exercises that emphasize the biceps. I encourage them to try 3 sets of 15 close-grip chins and get back to me. You see, the underhand grip allows you to recruit your biceps to a greater degree, while the overhand grip places greater engagement on the muscles of your upper back—although both exercises definitely hit both the arms and lats. Furthermore, close-grip chin-ups are the perfect counterpart to skullcrushers, as the two moves emphasize antagonistic muscle groups while crushing the core. Combined, they work hand in hand for building a balanced, symmetrical upper body.
Close-grip chin-up
To perform a close-grip chin-up, grip an overhead bar with you palms close together, facing you. Brace your entire body as you pull your chest toward the bar. Pull down and back, making sure to focus on the acute bend in your arms. Then, lower yourself back down with control, keeping your abs engaged in order to avoid swinging. Your legs should remain straight and squeezed together throughout the entire range of motion.
3. Shrimp Squat
You’re not strong if you don’t have strong legs—period. This is true for calisthenics and every other form of strength training. The shrimp squat, aka “skater squat,” is a unilateral leg exercise that is similar to a back lunge, but with one big difference. For this exercise, your rear foot is kept elevated rather than being placed on the ground. This simple change puts a serious muscular burden on one leg at a time, so make sure to train both sides evenly.
Begin by standing on one foot with the opposite leg positioned behind you and bent at the knee. Slowly bend at the hip, knee, and ankle of the standing leg, and lower your back knee until it gently touches the ground. You will need to lean forward in order to maintain your balance at the bottom position. Now, press with the foot of your standing leg, and return to the top position.
Shrimp squat
I recommend that you perform shrimp squats while grasping your elevated ankle with one hand, but it can also be done with both hands behind you. The latter variant places more weight on your heel and shifts the balance against your favor, making the exercise far more difficult. Shrimp squats also provide a deep stretch to the quadriceps and hip flexors of the rear leg, so take it slowly if you have flexibility issues.
4. Windshield Wiper
I love sit-ups in all their forms. They are as classic as you can get, but at some point, if you want to increase the difficulty without adding weight, you must make an adjustment in leverage.
Windshield wipers not only place your body in the vertical plane, thus creating a mechanical disadvantage against gravity, they also limit your points of contact to just your hands and dramatically alter the range of motion. That’s a lot of bang for your buck.
Start by hanging from a bar or other surface with your hands in an overhand grip. Lift your shins all the way to the bar, keeping your legs straight and together. It can be helpful to envision pushing the bar “down” toward your shins. The bar won’t move, but you will! Squeeze hard to help maintain control.
Windshield wipers
When you get to the top, begin rotating your trunk so that your legs move toward one side, then the other. The twisting movement emphasizes your obliques and serratus muscles. Do your best to avoid bending your elbows when performing windshield wipers, though a slight kink may be unavoidable at first.
The first time you attempt a windshield wiper, you may be unprepared for how much upper body strength is required, so brace yourself. This exercise is harder than it looks, and it is by no means just an abs exercise. A great degree of upper-body pulling is also involved, so be ready to work your whole body.
5. Single-Leg Bridge
There are many times in fitness where we ignore the muscles we can’t see. Don’t get me wrong: There is nothing bad whatsoever about training with aesthetic goals in mind. I myself have pursued looking better with my shirt off. But even so, it is also important to be strong in the muscles you don’t see in the mirror, like the hamstrings, glutes, and spinal erectors.
Bridges are a fantastic—and underrated—means to that end. You may associate them more with yoga than strength training, but make no mistake: The single-leg bridge in particular builds spectacular strength in the posterior chain.
Single-leg bridge
Begin your single-leg bridge by lying on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor, and arms at your sides, palms down. Press your feet into the floor, raising your hips into the air as high as you can, squeezing at your glutes. Now, lift one foot straight above your hips with the elevated leg perpendicular to the ground. You will have to press extra hard with your grounded foot to keep your body up in the air. Be certain to train both sides evenly.
6. Handstand Push-Up
Your shoulders get a legitimate workout from push-ups, pull-ups and planks. But when you perform handstand push-ups, you enter a new realm where the primary mover is now the shoulders.
Even people who can military press huge loads are often surprised when they attempt handstand push-ups. Like the bodyweight skullcrusher, the exclusion of a bench or other external stabilizer compels you to keep a tight body in order to brace and support yourself.
Handstand push-up
Start by kicking up into a handstand against a wall. Make sure your elbows are locked at the start, to help prevent any unfortunate mishaps. Next, lower yourself down until the top of your head comes in contact with the ground. Now, push yourself back up, keeping your entire body taut the whole time. Engage your glutes and abs in order to avoid excessively bending your back, and try not to flare out with your elbows. You can also perform this exercise with a narrower grip for additional triceps emphasis.
In closing, I must add that these are challenging. But they work. Not only do they work…. but they will build on a core of discipline, strength and in some cases, honor. THE BASICS WIN!!
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