Eat Like Matt Kemp....Swing Like Matt Kemp?

Eat Like Matt Kemp....Swing Like Matt Kemp? If only it were that easy.  No matter how closely I or probably the majority of the population, followed Matt Kemp's eating/training program, it's doubtful we could ever swing the bat like him.  However, that doesn't mean his nutritional strategies can't be helpful.  I recently read a Men's Health article that focused on Matt Kemp's nutritional practices during training and thought I would comment on them.

 

What is it?
Matt Kemp uses a nutritional strategy called "Carb Cycling" which is often used by bodybuilders and athletes that are training at a high intensity or are looking to put on lean muscle mass versus fat and muscle mass.  It basically consists of a rotation between high-carb days and low-carb days.  The idea is that training days are high carb days and rest/off days are low-carb days.

What Does It Do?
During exercise, specifically intense exercise (as is common during sports training), carbohydrates are the primary source of energy.  So, it makes sense to provide your body with higher amounts of energy (carbohydrates) on days that you are training hard.  Carbohydrates are also important during the recovery process as well, especially when you are training heavy multiple days in a row. In the body, carbohydrates are stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles which can be broken down and mobilized during exercise for energy.  However, when carbohydrates are consumed during rest/inactivity and carbohydrate stores (glycogen) are full, then they are converted to fat and stored as an alternate source of energy.  This is why off days require lower amounts of carbohydrates as they are not needed as much on those days.  It's important to remember that you still need to hit your total calorie mark for the day.  So, on low-carb days you need to make up those calories with either a higher protein or fat intake in order to prevent muscle loss.

Is it Healthy?
Research has shown that a low carbohydrate diet for an extended period of time may actually increase insulin sensitivity.  In other words, your body will become more efficient in the way it responds to sugar and can increase the rate that sugar is cleared from the blood and stored for energy.  A higher level of insulin sensitivity decreases one's chance of developing Type II diabetes.  A low-carb diet has also been shown to be beneficial for weight-loss programs and is currently one of the more recommended diet plans by dietitians.

So, in the slightly modified words of Barney Stinson: "Carb Up!" (on training days that is)