When it comes to strength and muscle, carbs should be part of the program!

 

When it comes to the 3 macronutrients (Protein, Carbs, and Fat) carbohydrates have gotten a bad rap recently. 
With trending diets such as keto, where the reduction or removal of carbs is the main idea, the large majority of bodybuilders, powerlifters, and athletes of every kind are are still consuming carbs as part of their diet.

Although carbohydrates are not essential to survival, that does not mean to suggest it isn't essential to athletic performance or muscle mass. Yes, your body will produce ketone bodies to fuel the brain should you be low on glucose, however,  I'm going to touch on the benefits of eating carbohydrates as part of your diet if you have goals of gaining and maintaining strength and muscle mass.  ( I am not a doctor, and therefore cannot speak on keto diet for medical conditions.)

If you ask most athletes they'll tell you that carbs are a very important part of fueling their training. 
When fueling your muscles for physical activity, carbs are your body's ideal and quick fuel source! And a HUGE asset to strength and growth. 

The most powerful tool you have at your disposal for building muscle and strength is weight training. If you participate in sports or gym activities that require high energy outputs for two to three minutes,(which ideally everyone should be participating in) you need to make sure you are ingesting plenty of carbohydrates as this type of training is glycolytic - it's reliant on glucose to fuel muscle contraction. 

Glycolysis is the breakdown of carbohydrates. It lasts from roughly ten seconds into physical activity up to about two to three minutes. The energy for glycolysis comes from glucose, or our stored form of glucose – glycogen. Glycogen is stored in muscle tissue and the liver. Glycogen stored in the muscle tissue plays an important role in providing enough energy output to have a decent training session. (it helps you lift heavier. Heavier lifts = better growth and strength gains. Carbs = Great energy for training, vs. no carbs= less stored glycogen=less energy) 
Before I go on further with this point, I'll first point out some other benefits of keeping carbohydrates in your daily diet. 

Prevention of Muscle Loss

By consuming adequate amounts of carbs, the human body can maintain muscle mass while undergoing weight training. This is especially important if you're in a caloric deficit.

Muscle needs time to repair and grow after a training session. If you’re not supplying your body with enough carbohydrates through diet, muscle protein becomes a source of glucose. Your liver is able to convert protein to glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis

Without sufficient carb intake, your body can't repair the damaged muscle tissue and may catabolize (break down) existing muscle tissue to create energy, not just your fat tissue, causing muscle loss. Therefore, eating plenty of high-quality complex carbs will help prevent muscle loss.

Muscle Recovery

This ties in with the previous point . Consuming carbs after a workout promotes recovery, allowing your muscles to repair themselves and reducing the time it takes to heal. A lack of carbs after exercise causes the body to use its muscle tissue as a source of energy.
This causes the body to lose muscle mass and increases recovery time. Additionally, carbs help reduce fatigue so you can hit the gym again sooner than later. 

So, in terms of bodybuilding, physique training, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, etc. these are especially dependent on glucose as a fuel source.
If you want to maximize performance and recovery for this kind of glucose-hungry work, you need to be eating enough carbs.

So, training fuels muscle growth, and carbs fuel training.

Dropping carbs drastically, but at the same time doing very glucose-dependent training...it might work for a while, but can run you into the ground. (As a bodybuilder who depletes carbs before a competition, and continues to train, trust me, it's not really fun!) 

To be clear, you can grow muscle on very low carbs, but it probably isn't ideal.

Some people don't want to eat carbs. If that is your preference, I have no problem with that either. 
You might know people who perform at a high level on a keto/carnivore diet, some people can perform at a high level on a low carb diet, as we are all different. 

When I say you need carbs to maximise your muscle growth, I'm not talking about a crazy high amount, but training performance and muscle growth benefit from having a moderate carb intake vs a very low intake.

(I'll touch on simple vs. complex carbs on another day)

That's if for today. 

 I hope you enjoy those carbs in moderation, and hit a gym session soon! 

Tamara