Tip Cardio Carbs and the Goldilocks Zone Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Diet & Fat LossEating Tip Cardio Carbs and the Goldilocks Zone Your body wants to be in either an anabolic or catabolic state Here' s how to balance cardio diet and lifting for better body composition by Dr Jade Teta December 4, 2017April 5, 2021 Tags Bodybuilding, Carbohydrate Control, Feeding the Ideal Body, Metabolic Conditioning, Nutrition & Supplements, Tips The Anabolic and Catabolic Cycle Your metabolism doesn't multitask well. Why? Because the body functions in an anabolic (building up) and catabolic (breaking down) cycle. The body either likes to be devoting its resources to storing fat and muscle (anabolism) or burning fat and muscle (catabolism). It can do both, but it's the metabolic equivalent of rubbing your head and patting your tummy. It's not easy and takes time to master. There are two notable exceptions to this rule: anabolic steroid users and diet beginners. Both groups seem to be able to respond to diet and exercise in exactly the way we wish we all did. They lose fat and gain muscle. For all of us natural and seasoned exercisers, we have to be far more careful. Skinny Fat and Muscle Fat This multitasking nature of the metabolism is the primary reason most people fall into what I call the "skinny fat" or "muscle fat" categories: Skinny Fat: If you exercise like crazy and eat like a bird you'll burn fat, but you'll burn muscle too. This can often leave a person smaller, but much flabbier. Not really what most people are after. Muscle Fat: If you train with weights and gain some fat (or don't lose it) it's like putting a jacket on top of two sweaters – you're naturally going to look bulky. This is the law of metabolic multitasking at work. This experience is individual and largely contingent on the type of exercise you do, as well as the type of diet you choose as you lose weight. Carbs Cardio and the Goldilocks Zone A higher protein diet and a lifting-centered workout regime helps the metabolism multitask much better, but many people miss these two critical points. They don't do the style of weight training that's best at building muscle, opting for fast-paced cardio-centered lifting regimes over traditional bodybuilding and heavy strength-training exercise. They also forego carbs and shirk on their protein. Carbs are the major stimulator of the hormone insulin (protein is too, and even more so in certain situations and in certain people), and insulin is a major anabolic hormone. Without insulin muscle building is compromised. The idea here is to get more nuanced in your training and diet. Find your Goldilocks zone: not too much, not too little, but just right. This is most important for carbs and cardio. You likely need both, but not too little or too much. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Supplements Do This at Bedtime to Build Muscle It's a strategy everyone's talked about for years, but we never knew for sure if it worked. Now we do. Here's how to build muscle in bed. Nutrition & Supplements, Protein TC Luoma June 17 Supplements Can Fruits and Veggies Help You Build Muscle A powdered fruit and vegetable blend helped lab animals build a lot of muscle, get stronger, and get faster. Can it work for you? Info here. Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements TC Luoma February 25 Eating Tip The Real Reason Steak Makes You Strong Lifters swear that red meat makes them stronger, but is there more to a steak than meets the eye? Building Muscle, Creatine, Dietary Myth Busting, Nutrition & Supplements, Tips TC Luoma May 27 Supplements Kill The Gurus Have you ever wanted to be recognized as an authority on bodybuilding, powerlifting, and performance enhancement? Nutrition & Supplements, Workout Nutrition Dave Barr October 3