you simply have too much of a good thing—an abundance of
energy substrates without the necessary activity level to burn it
off. (That’s one reason getting most of your carbs early in the
day is a good idea—it ensures that you don’t have much of that
energy substrate in your bloodstream as the day wears on, so
your body has to resort to fat for its activity late in the day.)
Jonathan gradually increases his activity to make sure he
burns off excess calories. Riding his exercise bike helps push
his body into the fat-burning zone. Steve chooses to do that
later in his ripping cycle, but keep in mind that he is more of
h a rdgainer type (ectormorph) with a faster metabolism, while
Jonathan is more of a muscular body type (mesomorph) with a
tendency to hold onto bodyfat. Jonathan appears to be more
carb sensitive; that is, his fat cells suck up extra carb calories,
which is why he tends to keep his carb percentage on the low
s i d e — a round 30 percent. (Like proper training, a re s u l t s -
p roducing diet isn’t the same for everyone. You’ll have to
experiment to find out how your body reacts to carbs and
different calorie levels—but extremely low-carb eating is never
the healthy answer.)
No matter how fast your metabolism, you will almost always
have to up your activity as your body adapts to different calorie
deficits on the road to an X-treme Lean look, even if it’s only
with brisk walks two to three times a week. As both of us move
t o w a rd our leanest physiques, we’re taking in between 2,000
and 2,400 calories and doing additional cardio work—oh, and
our carbs don’t drop below 140 grams a day.
Carb Countdown
Right around 150 grams of carbs a day on training days
appears to be an adequate amount that keeps our bodies
functioning in a healthful manner, with enough glycogen to
replenish muscle-tissue deficits created by hard weight training.
( R e m e m b e r, your body holds a total of 300 to 400 grams of
carbs, so a weight-training workout depletes less than 100
gr ams—4 0 0 ca lorie s.) On no ntr ain ing days, yo u should