I know this blog is completely necessary because two of our most common questions once a new PowHer.fit member goes through their nutrition overview setup based on their current body status and their future goals include:

  1. Are you sure I should REALLY be consuming this many grams of carbs every day?  That numbers seems way too high.

or

2. Am I really supposed to eat this many calories in a day?  What if I don’t hit my calorie goal?  Specifically if I’m way under on my protein for the day? (I’ll dive into this answer in a future blog post)

Since so many people have a previously negative thought process when it comes to carbs along with the fact that so many of our members doubt how many carbs we suggest they consume daily, let me break down WHY carbs are so beneficial for muscle building.  Remember building lean muscle mass helps your body to burn more calories at a resting state, and you can read more about that topic of caloric burn HERE on a previous blog post I wrote.

To start off very brief and matter-of-fact, Carbs are important for muscle building because they’re protein sparing, which means the body looks to glycogen for energy instead of breaking down muscle tissue for energy. Consuming carbs post-workout can prevent muscle loss and help repair muscles.

That’s right, carbs help us to fuel performance (training and exercising) with energy, help us to build lean muscle mass and in turn burn fat! That can be so hard to believe based on what society tell us, but if you made strength training a part of your exercise regime, like the PowHer.fit workouts we guide you through, prepare to NEED carbs to be successful.

Most people think of protein only when it comes to building muscle, but carbs play an equally important role. Carbs, when compared to protein and dietary fat, are the most efficiently broken down and metabolized form of energy for the body. And, during periods of intense training, studies show that replenishing these carb stores can benefit performance by maintaining high levels of activity and delaying the onset of fatigue.

So what actually is considered to be a CARB?

Carbohydrates are made up of sugar molecules, which your body breaks down into fuel, especially when you’re working hard.  And remember, all vegetables have carbohydrates, and they are loaded with vital nutrients.  You’ll learn all the different food composition in terms of macros (proteins, carbs and fats) when you start tracking your food like we show you in our members-only nutrition overview.

There are both simple and complex carbs. Simple carbohydrates are the reason most people think carbs are bad. They include things such as table sugar, syrup, and soda. Complex carbohydrates are a combination of fibrous carbs and starch. They include options like oatmeal, apples, whole grains, brown rice, and vegetables.  People used to believe that complex carbohydrates were the only carbs that should be consumed, but that’s not always the case. Actually, your body takes both complex and simple carbohydrates and tries to break them down into usable energy to fuel your muscles and organs.

Your body prefers carbs so much that if you remove them completely from your diet, your body then converts other sources of food (like fat or protein) into carbs and simple sugars. In other words, your body was designed to run on carbohydrates. Avoiding them isn’t necessary, you just need to make sure you don’t go completely overboard and eat too many (this is where us teaching you to track and count macros comes into play!). The cells in your body prefer to use carbs to fuel your day-to-day functions. Carbs can help fuel activities like lifting weights or running, and they are also used to power your brain, heart, and lungs.

But do you actually NEED carbs to build muscle?

Just like every other macronutrient, carbs play an essential role in body composition. As our body’s primary source for energy, we rely on carbs for sustained energy, preventing fatigue, and enhancing training performance and store these carbs as glycogen for later use.

Carbs are important for building muscle because they’re protein sparing, meaning the body looks to glycogen stores for energy instead of breaking down muscle tissue for energy. With the correct amount of carbs available to muscles, protein can be free to do its main job of repairing and rebuilding muscle tissue, which maximizes muscle gain. To maximize muscle gain, it’s always important to incorporate a combination of strength training, intense exercise like high-intensity interval training, and replenishing your body post-workout with an optimal amount of complete protein.  This is the exact type of training incorporated into our current PowHer.fit programs which you can learn more about HERE.

It’s totally true that protein needs carbohydrates to work and do their full job when it comes to building lean muscle mass within our bodies.  In fact, starving your body of carbohydrates during and after periods of intense exercise will likely cause your body to use protein as an energy source. In severe cases of low carbohydrate for prolonged periods, this may even result in the breakdown of hard-earned muscle proteins to be used as fuel during workouts or to replenish muscle glycogen after training.

Protein is a relatively expensive (and inefficient) energy source (as the body does not store protein) when compared to carbohydrates (which the body can store). As much as some frown on sugars and starches, these carbohydrates are your body’s most important fuel source. Your body breaks them down into the simple sugar glucose. Glucose is either directly consumed by your cells for energy, or it’s stored as glycogen in the muscle or liver for later use when your energy demand requires it. Those are the simple, accurate facts.

When glucose is in short supply, your body will begin to utilize fat and protein (even muscle protein) for energy to preserve glucose levels. This complex energy system has been referred to by some as the “Glucose Economy.” If you do not obtain enough glucose from the food you eat, your body has the ability to convert protein or fat into glucose. As you burn calories (energy) through exercise, or remain in a carbohydrate-fasted state (as on low carb diets), your body scrambles to make glucose in an effort to maintain its glucose economy.

It is your glucose economy that determines how fast your body burns fat, how well it performs physically, and how fast you recover after training. Yes, low carbohydrate diets may be an effective way to manipulate your body’s glucose economy to burn fat faster. Since the body is in a carb-depleted state, it is forced to convert fat into glucose to meet its energy demands. But you simply can not do this for any extended period or you will not accrue muscle.

I also want to state that society has a way of making us think so many things are “carbs” when really they are foods high in fats.  For instance: movie popcorn, hot dogs and pizza will surprise you to see how high the fat content is and how much lower the carb content actually is.

So rest assured that even though the amount of carbs our nutrition overview suggests you intake daily may seem high compared to previous “diets” you’ve been on, know that there are many benefits that carbohydrates do for your body.  As long as you’re getting in your workouts, pushing yourself to the level of feeling a good “burn” during strength, HIIT and endurance days, as well as lifting a good amount of weight for resistance, your body will put those carbs to good use.  Still don’t believe me?  Know that I consume around 200 grams of carbs every single day.  Here’s a photo of me at 12 weeks postpartum below for reference!

Thanks so much for reading along to learn more about the benefits of carbs for your body.  If you’re a PowHer.fit member who hasn’t updated your nutrition overview in the last 4-6 weeks, we suggest you do so now to calculate your most recent progress along with your upcoming goals!