Tip Know How Many Carbs You Need 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 Know How Many Carbs You Need Lifters and athletes can handle more carbs even when trying to lose fat Check out these guidelines by Nate Miyaki November 8, 2015December 17, 2021 Tags Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements, Tips A low-carb diet is a good approach for severely overweight, insulin resistant, sedentary people. But that doesn't mean it's the best diet for lifters and athletes. If you're active and relatively lean already, your carb intake can be higher because leaner people have better nutrient partitioning abilities. Your metabolic condition can also change over time, which means the diet plan that's optimal for you can change. Maybe you needed a low-carb diet when you were less active and overweight, but you don't have to live low carb once you're leaner, hitting the gym often and lifting weights, and have improved your insulin sensitivity and nutrient partitioning. In fact, that'll only hold back your progress. Carb Guidelines for Lifters There's a wide range of appropriate carb intakes for performance athletes, strength trainers, and bodybuilders. A good ballpark starting point would be in the range of 1-3 grams of carbohydrate per pound (2-7 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram). Those with good insulin sensitivity or on the higher end of training intensity or volume who want to maximize performance or gain muscle mass would lean towards the higher carbohydrate range: 3g per pound of bodyweight. (Again, this is assuming you're not fat.) Those with poor insulin sensitivity or on the lower end of training intensity or volume and looking to lose fat would lean towards the lower end: 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. Test, assess, and refine until you find your sweet spot in the carbohydrate continuum. Make small adjustments during the assessment period (10-20%) rather than extreme changes. For example, if you start with 250 daily grams of carbs, increase or decrease by 25-50 grams, depending on the goal, rather than cutting down to 50 grams or ramping up to 500 grams. 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 Diet & Fat Loss What s Best 3 or 6 Meals Per Day Eat smaller meals more often, right? Or are larger, less frequent meals the way to go? Here’s what science has to say. Diet Strategy, Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements Brad Schoenfeld, PhD October 2 Eating Tip 5 Trumped Up Claims About Organic Food Science finally has some conclusions about organic food. You may be surprised. Dietary Myth Busting, Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements, Tips TC Luoma December 27 Eating The Least Expensive Way to Boost Testosterone Train hard and you leech out important minerals involved in keeping T levels high and testicles happy. Here's how to fix that. Nutrition & Supplements, Testosterone Boosters TC Luoma March 27 Supplements Tip The 3-in-1 Supplement Whether you want to calm down, increase your endurance, or lift more weight for more reps, this is the stuff to do it. Nutrition & Supplements, Rhodiola Rosea, Super Health, Tips TC Luoma December 1