Disclaimer: This review has not been paid for by Carb Back-Loading. It is an unbiased, independent, third-party review of the program, written in order to educate consumers.
Why do you eat? Aside from the fact that food is life, many people eat for a specific purpose. Some eat for enjoyment, others eat to lose weight, while still others eat to promote muscle growth.
A fit body is made 70% in the kitchen and 30% in the gym, and eating right is the most important part of getting in shape. Without the right diet, you’ll never shed pounds of fat and pack on pounds of muscle.
Finding the right diet for muscle gain is tough, but that’s what Carb Back-Loading offers!
What is Carb Back-Loading?
Until recently, experts had a fairly vague picture of how to eat to pack on the pounds of muscle. Famous athletes from decades ago would eat ice cream and other carb-heavy foods, but without knowing why or how they worked.
Carb Back-Loading is a book that explains how eating a low-carb diet can lead to muscle gain, but only if done right. The concept behind this book is simple: only eat carbs later in the day, ergo afternoon and evening. Carbs help your muscle and fat cells to grow, so eating carbs at the right time can change the type of tissue that is grown.
The Mind Behind Carb Back-Loading: John Kiefer
Interestingly enough, John Kiefer’s primary expertise is not in nutrition or fitness, but in physics.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in both Mathematics and Physics, as well as a Master’s of Science in Physics. He is a certified nutrition consultant, but he used his understanding of physics to create his program instead of just relying on nutritional principles.
He not only has released a number of programs like Carb Back Loading and Carb Nite Solution, but he also writes for and serves as advisor to both Men’s Fitness and Muscle&Fitness magazines.
Definitely a man qualified to tell us how to get fit!
A Look at Carb Back-Loading
From the minute you crack open the book, you see that it’s professionally laid-out, designed by a pro, and formatted like any print book is. It may be an online program, but it’s made to look like a book you’d pick up in any health store!
Chapter 1: The Ultimate Drug
According to the author, carbs are a drug. The human body can become just as addicted to carbs as to caffeine, nicotine, and caffeine. (Studies published on Mercola.com back up this claim [1])
Trying to avoid the carb addiction can be tough, which is why so many diets and weight loss programs promote eating carbs only in the morning, only on the weekends, only on certain days, and so on. This program takes a different approach, one based on hard science.
With Carb Back-Loading, there’s none of that endless cycle of bulking up and turning the extra weight into muscles over and over. It’s about eating the right food to grow muscle from the get-go.
Chapter 2: Catalyst
This section explains the story of how the author got in shape. He messed around with a few different diets, but none of them worked for him.
It explains what led him to create the Carb Nite Solution program, as well as the Carb Back-Loading program.
Chapter 3: The Cliff Notes
In this chapter, we look at three popular concepts:
- Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
- The first meal of the day should be free of fat.
- Eat most of your calories before the evening.
And then the author goes and busts these concepts as myths!
To explain the Carb Back-Loading concept–which defies common beliefs–the author lists the simple principles:
- Eat very light in the morning, with most of your calories being consumed late at night. A moderate lunch and a heavy dinner is the key.
- Limit carbs until AFTER you have done your workout, and then eat a LOT!
- Get your workout in the afternoon, preferably as close to 5 PM as possible.
- No more than 30 minutes after your workout, start chowing down on carbs.
- Eat a lot of carbs into the evening.
Everything before your workout is going to be protein with a bit of fat (preferably the healthy kind), and only start downing those carbs in the evening.
Of course, vegetables don’t count as carbs, and you will be able to eat some veggies before your big dinner. However, after 6:30 PM, it’s time to get munching on those carbs like it’s the last meal of your life!
Chapter 4: Modulated Tissue Response
This is the trademarked concept behind the diet, and it explains how we instruct our body’s tissues to behave via our diet, lifestyle, and exercise.
For example, when you sit at a desk all day long, you’re telling your body that your lifestyle is inactive so it doesn’t need to burn as many calories. If you were running all day long, you’d be programming your body to produce more energy. It’s all about how you train your body.
This book is about harnessing the MTR to ensure optimum growth!
Section II: Bricks
This section looks at the building bricks of the human body, including carbs. The truth is that science doesn’t fully comprehend how the body uses certain nutrients, though there is a general understanding. There are a lot of assumptions floating around, but the human body is so complex and there are so many factors (diet, lifestyle, environmental, genetic, etc.) that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to weight loss or muscle building.
Understanding Insulin
It’s amazing how many people have no idea what insulin is or what it does, even in the world of fitness and health!
Most people see insulin as the hormone that lowers your blood sugar levels when they get too high. However, insulin is a hormone that promotes anabolic growth, and it is what promotes the growth of fatty tissue, muscle tissue, and glycogen.
Insulin informs the cells of the materials that are being transported, preparing them to receive the sugar, cholesterol, fat, protein, etc. It stops cells from being broken down, and promotes growth of cells. It also promotes the storage of fat, which is essential for human health. When insulin levels drop, fat burning increases.
Keeping insulin levels high isn’t necessary for building muscle. The point is to elevate it at certain times of the day, and keep it low at other times.
Carbs to Burn
Fruits and starches aren’t the only sources of carbs, but vegetables have them as well. The difference here is that there is a lot of fiber in vegetables, which cancels out the carbs. Fiber prevents 20% of calories from being burned, so eating veggies throughout the day essentially makes your meals low-carb thanks to the fiber.
The Carb Back-Loading Concept Summarized
The book is more than 300 pages long, all of it filled with excellent information that you need to know. It’s worth reading, and you’ll find yourself highly instructed by everything that you’ll find therein.
However, for the sake of this review, we’re going to condense it a bit so that you can get the cliff-notes in a few paragraphs.
Step 1: Get Rid of Carbs
Eliminate all usable carbs (carbs with no fiber) from your diet for 10 days. It’s an ultra-low carb diet for 10 days, which gets your body prepared to burn calories in a totally different way than it has been up until now. You are essentially reconditioning your body to use nutrients in a brand new way, a way that’s more effective for this diet.
Step 2: Start the Day out Right
You will need to stave off that morning hunger for a while, so drinking coffee sans sugar can help you–or you can try heavy whipping cream, according to the book. You also take supplements during the morning, such as a caffeine supplement that helps your body to continue burning fat. You take whey isolate in the morning to prevent muscle loss, and you add coconut oil or coconut milk to promote the production of ketones–a highly efficient source of energy produced from fat. To sum this up, you make a coffee-based shake containing whey isolate and coconut oil.
Step 3: Consume Low Carb Meals Throughout the Morning
The goal of early morning meals should be to consume fewer than 30 grams of carbs before your training, so you stick with low carb veggies, protein, nuts, cheeses, meats, and healthy fats. Basically, find foods that have a low Glycemic Load, and stick with those before your training session. Eggs raise insulin levels, so eat them with something high in fat (think bacon or cheese) to prevent insulin increase. No bread, pasta, grains, fruits, or snacks.
Step 4: Have Another Shake Before Training
Your pre-workout shake is similar to your AM drink, with caffeine, whey isolate, and coconut oil. You can also drink low-carb/sugar free energy drinks, or tea, as all you want to do is increase your body’s ability to replenish glycogen in your muscles once you finish working out. Anything with caffeine in it will do. Drink it 30 minutes before you work out.
Step 5: Eat the Right Foods During Your Training
Drink something with sugar during your workout, which will cause a spike in your insulin levels. It will lead to an increase in muscle growth, while decreasing fat mass. Combining leucine and protein hydrolysate is a good way to cause the required insulin spike, and can prevent the catabolism of muscle tissue. Adding whey isolate to the mixture ensures the best results.
Step 6: Eat the Right Post-Workout Foods
Right after working out, there are two foods to eat: white bread and overly ripe bananas. Both will cause a spike in your insulin levels, and adding leucine and hydrolysates ensure that your insulin level is very high. Add caffeine and creatine to the mix, and drink your post-workout shake no less than 30 minutes after you finish your training.
Step 7: Carb-Load 30 to 60 Minutes Later
During this carb-loading session, it’s time to chow down bigtime on anything that is heavy in carbs. Whether it’s pizza, donuts, fries, pastries, or shakes, gobble it down like they’re the last food on earth. Of course, it’s better to choose the healthiest of the least healthy options.
For example, homemade pizza is better than Domino’s, bake your own cookies instead of eating Oreos, and make your own donuts instead of buying a pack from the store. The less processing, the better! DO NOT EAT HEALTHY FOODS, but stick with the ones that are high glycemic.
Step 8: Eat Protein Before Bed
You may be able to fit one more meal into your day before going to bed, and that meal should contain protein–any type of protein will do.
Step 9: Eat Normally on Off-Days
On the days when you take a break from lifting and training, DON’T CARB BACK-LOAD! There are a few exceptions to this rule, but for the most part you want to eat normally on the day when you don’t train.
There is a whole lot more information you MUST read in order to fully understand the concepts behind Carb Back-Loading, but you’ll find that it’s a fascinating method of eating and training to pack on the pounds of muscle effectively!
What We Think of Carb Back-Loading
My initial impression was that the product is highly professional, and reading through it reinforced my perception. It is written by someone who is very familiar with their material, and who has invested a lot of time into doing research.
We’re Not Fond Of
The Fact You Need to Buy a Lot of Specialized Supplements
You need caffeine supplements, special sweeteners, lots of protein powder, and a whole lot of specialized foods if you want to do this diet. It can be VERY expensive!
We Love
The Professionalism of the Product
Highly researched, well laid-out, and written by an obvious expert, Carb Back-Loading is a product I’m happy to say is worth the read.
The Detailed Information
In the 300 pages of facts and explanations, you learn everything you need to know about how to use the Carb Back-Loading methods to help you pack on the pounds of muscle as well as shed weight. The author seems to know EXACTLY what he’s talking about, and he gives you all of the facts.
Conclusion
The truth is that I have yet to review a product that can equal this one for layout and professional design, as well as for depth of content.
Final Verdict: 5 Stars
Buy it Now!
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