By: MuscleSports.net

A straight forward bodybuilding guide to carbohydrates!

Carbohydrates: more info…

Carbohydrates are composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. They are the preferred nutritional source of energy. In the United States the average adult male consumes approximately 300 grams of carbohydrates per day. Females consume approximately 180 grams of carbohydrates per day. Carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram, which is the equivalent of protein.

Just as with fats, there is more than one type of carbohydrate. They can be broken down into two main categories. They include your simple and complex carbohydrates. They can be further broken down into categories, including different types in each of the categories. I have outlined the categories and types of carbohydrates in Chart 1A.

Simple Carbohydrates

Monosaccharides - Are known as simple sugars.

1. Glucose: is a natural sugar found in food. Glucose also goes by the name dextrose or blood sugar. You are sure to find this in many weight gain powders, sports drinks and creatine transport formulas. Glucose is also present in soda in the form of corn syrup. One very popular soda has the equivalent of 13 teaspoons of sugar per can! The U.S.D.A. recommends taking in no more than 10 teaspoons a day. You would exceed your daily total sugar intake just by drinking one can of this soda.
2. Galactose: Galactose is unlike the other simple carbohydrates as it is not found in plants. Galactose can be found in milk as it is produced by the mammary glands of lactating animals like cows.
3. Fructose: known as fruit sugar. It is mainly found in fruits and honey. It can be found in some energy drinks mainly designed for endurance athletes. It is also used in some supplements as a sweetener since it is the sweetest of all the simple sugars.

Disaccharides - Are formed from 2 monosaccharide molecules.

1. Sucrose: the most widely known sugar since it is also known as table sugar. It is composed of one glucose, and one fructose molecule. This is the main culprit for tooth decay, so stay away from this as much as possible.
2. Lactose: well known since many individuals especially from Asian and African countries do not posses the enzyme lactase to properly digest this sugar. It is found in milk and dairy products. Lactose is composed of one galactose and one glucose molecule.
3. Maltose: composed of two glucose molecules. It is also known as malt sugar. Since it is mainly present in cereals, beer, and germinating seeds, it isn't a major player in most individual's diets.

Complex Carbohydrates

Polysaccharides - Are formed from multiple chains of monosaccharides.

1. Starch: is also known as complex carbohydrates. Unlike the simple carbohydrates mentioned above, starch is composed of long chains of glucose molecules. Starch can be found in such foods as bread, grains, pasta, rice, cereal, potatoes, and beans. There are also processed forms of polysaccharides. This would include glucose polymers and maltodextrin. These forms of polysaccharides have shorter polymers than a solid form of starch like a potato.
2. Fiber: very valuable nutrient that is deficient in the majority of American's diets. Fiber is considered a non starch polysaccharide. To the mainstream public it is known as dietary fiber. Unlike the other carbohydrates, fiber cannot be digested as it is resistant to digestive enzymes in the human body. Fiber is found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains and nuts. Consuming a high fiber diet helps prevent such diseases as colon cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It can also have a positive effect on lowering bad or LDL cholesterol. Soluble fiber transports bile acids out of the body. Bile acids are needed to produce cholesterol, so eliminating them leads to a lower blood cholesterol rating. The two main types of fiber are insoluble and soluble.
3. Glycogen Glycogen is the storage form of glucose in animals and humans which is analogous to the starch in plants. Glycogen is synthesized and stored mainly in the liver and the muscles.

What Carbohydrates are best for your Training & Recovery

Training:
When preparing for your training sessions you should think at the least 24 hours out from your workouts. Yes 24 hours, because the fuel that will mostly fuel your workout comes from that meal you ate on Saturday night when your in the gym Monday morning trying push 365 lbs. for 8 reps on the incline bench. We have heard it a thousand times people saying i ate good yesterday so why am i so weak and kinda flat today?

Some trainers try to get over this by taking so called high energy pre-workouts that do nothing but mask over the problem for maybe 1 or 2 weeks then your back to the same old situation. Caffeine and other ergogenic stimulants are no going to be a solution to this problem. You need to pay attention to your dietary issues.

Almost all your meals (excluding you post-workout shake & the first food meal) should have mixture of complex medium to low glycemic indexed carbohydrates and at least one fibrous carb to help clean out the excess sugar and help you avoid any bad digestive problems that seem to accompany most bodybuilders who eat any thing and everything just to gain weight, which will be mostly FAT. As for pre-workout about 1.5 hours before training have a shake of about 30-35 gram of whey isolate protein with a piece of fruit- we like apples, this will quickly move through your gut so don't worry about it being in your stomach. Then 30 minute before training you can take yourself a pre-workout supplement that more on the growth side with less stimulants and more performance enhancers. Following this plan will give you all the energy you will ever need to finish even the toughest workouts.

Recovery:
As mentioned in the previous paragraph all you meals should follow the formula of 2 starch carbs and 1 fibrous carbs fro the most part. This paradigm holds true for just about every meal except your post workout shake and the following meal. This is a time when you need to push glycogen back into your muscle to make them feel like they are over saturated. One of the best ways to start the recovery process is to begin to fill muscle glycogen and amino stores with in the 20-30 minutes after training., to do this we here at MuscleSports.net don't go for the traditional protein shake because even though whey isolate does digest really quickly it still has to digest. A post training drink consisting of high glycemic carbohydrate with 10 grams of EAA's, 5-7 grams of Creatine, 5 grams of Glutamine, & .5 grams of Vitamin C. This formula has help all who have used it recover quicker from their workouts with less soreness and fewer down days due to cold even in harsh weather.

The first meal you have after training will be based on what training cycle you are in, what we are going to recommend is for those in a growth phase. You have just finished training and have primed your recovery with a post-workout drink that has primed you muscles for a high protein, high fibrous carb meal to push new growth and better performance. Since this meal is going to be higher in protein than most that you consume your fibrous carb are gonna take the lead with maybe a little complex carbs on the back end. Your gonna need the high fiber so you body can handle the extra protein. This is the reason people get fat eating a steak and potatoes when compared to someone eating the same steak along with some green beans. Your getting carbs but the fiber is gonna pull allot of the saturated fat and excess out of your system to help you from gaining to much unwanted weight.

In conclusion:
Carbohydrates are not a necessary part of the human experience like Protein and Fat, but they do play a major role in your training. Using carbs right can have a very good effect on your health and training. Using carbs wrong such as to many simple sugars can lead to very bad health condition like diabetes, liver diseases, and worst of all cancer, which lives almost sole on sugar. Be sound with you nutrition and you can achieve just about anything your genetics have in them.

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