Tip: Carb Cycling and the Right Amount of Cardio

Reach the next level of physique development without driving yourself nuts. Here's the simple plan.

To get to the next level with your physique, you've got to amp up the training and tighten up the diet more than you've already been. Shocker, huh? More specifically, add just enough cardio to boost the weekly expenditure without interrupting recovery, and drop carbs enough to reignite fat loss without interfering with training performance.

The details will largely depend on what you've been doing, but a general approach would be to add 15-20 minutes of low to moderate intensity cardio either every training day (immediately after lifting or in the morning) or every "rest" day (any time). If you're already doing conditioning work, focus on a lower-than-usual intensity for more diverse training and do it as far apart from your current conditioning as possible.

On the diet front, it's basic carb cycling:

  • Rest days are practically no-carb.
  • Easier lifting days like arms, shoulders, or any lower volume day are low to moderate carbs (about half what you have on a typical day).
  • The hardest training days like legs or back get your regular/current carb intake.

The one-two combo of a bit more cardio and less carbs when you don't need them are a relatively pain-free way to drop some extra fat and get you where you need to be.

After you hit your goal, simply drop the extra cardio and maintain the super-basic carb cycling to maintain a lean physique. Less carbs on non-training days is a smack-your-head-simple way to minimize body fat without paying attention to much else.