THE POPULAR BODYBUILDING DIET
Most bodybuilders today follow a high carbohydrate, high protein, low fat diet when trying
to gain mass. Then, when they get close to a contest, they’ll cut back on carbs so that they’re on
a high protein, medium to low carb, low fat diet. As discussed above, neither of these diets has
near the same positive anabolic effects as the high fat diet. The increase of testosterone and growth
hormone and insulin management you find on the Anabolic Diet is not realized. In fact, these
diets limit growth hormone secretion, thus limiting your gains before you’ve even started.
It’s also interesting to note that the carbohydrate-based diet also negates the positive effects
of caffeine on bodybuilding. Caffeine is naturally present in coffee, tea and cola drinks. It’s also
available in related plant products like the kola nut and quarana, and liquid, tablet and
suppository forms you can find where you buy supplements.
Caffeine is believed to have a very positive effect on muscular contraction and fatigue, and
many bodybuilders use it to increase endurance. Caffeine also aids in the breakdown of bodyfat
and increases the use of free fatty acids, but only in the low carb/high fat diet.18,19 The moderate
or high carb diet renders caffeine useless for the bodybuilder.^20
PROBLEMS WITH BULKING UP/CUTTING DOWN ON OTHER DIETS
Though still favored by most bodybuilders, there are a variety of problems connected with
the high carb diet that you won’t find with the Anabolic Diet. One of the major problems is
the high proportion of fat-to-muscle gain experienced with the carb diet. The high carb diet
actually puts you at a competitive disadvantage to a bodybuilder on the Anabolic Diet.
While you can make some progress with the high carb diet, you don’t put on nearly as much
muscle mass as you can with the Anabolic Diet. The typical bodybuilder bulks up and gets very
fat without adding all that much muscle. Then, when it’s time to cut the fat, the bodybuilder
will tend to lose a great deal of lean body mass. This does not happen on the Anabolic Diet.
For example, let’s take a pair of bodybuilders. One follows the high fat diet. The other, a
high carb diet. They both bulk up to 260 pounds. The percent of bodyfat on the bodybuilder
on the high carb diet will be higher, and he won’t have increased muscle mass nearly as much
as the bodybuilder on the Anabolic Diet.
Then, as they start losing weight, the high fat dieter will maintain more lean body mass while
losing more fat. To be cut up to the same level, say 4 percent, the bodybuilder on the high carb
diet may have to go down to 225 pounds, while the Anabolic Dieter will be equally as cut at
235–240 pounds. This will give him a big advantage in competition.
The bodybuilders on a high carb diet can lose an amazing amount of muscle tissue in the
final 4–6 weeks of preparation before a contest. They’ll keep the protein high and drop the
carbs, and all this does is provide for a more catabolic situation where more muscle is broken
down. At least carbs have some protein sparing effect.
As they drop weight, they find they still have too much bodyfat and must cut even more. They
lose a lot of body mass in the process. I commonly observe bodybuilders at 260 go down to the
22 CHAPTER 2