awesome thanks for all your healp! i was looking into that carb cycling diet and what do you think about it as a lifestyle? obvious if i was looking to bulk at another point or time i wouldnt be able to do that because of the lack of carbs correct? or am i all wrong, would it be possible that you could sustain that diet, while bulking, or just maintaing you current body weight? or would that diet only be for cutting specifically?
Are you referring to carb cycling (two high days, two medium days, and two low days) or the targeted carb approach in the second article? If you're talking about the carb cycling then yes, I think one can definitely bulk up on that. If you're talking about the targeted approach, you may get mixed answers. However, I think you can. Carbs do help build muscle, but in my mind, it come down to overall calories. You are still getting carbs pre and post workout. With that method, you have you lean body mass in carbs on workout days. For two meals, that is enough. You off days, you can still have veggies, nuts, etc. which contain carbs; you're just avoiding oats, potatoes, pasta, etc. There is also another approach in there that spreads carbs out throughout the day, you just stick to your LBM in grams.
I think the targeted approach is ideal for someone that wants to put on quality weight, meaning lean body mass. Prior to this year, I would aim for 1 pound a week on a bulk. That is not a bad number, but think about like this; that's 52 pounds over the course of the year. How much of that do you think is lean? I'm now aiming for .25-.5 pounds a week. Yes, fat will still accumulate, but not nearly as much. Personally, I am past the point of wanting to put on a lot of weight at once. I still want to put on weight, but I do not want to have to cut as much so I would rather take the slow and steady approach. One thing I have realized about bodybuilding is that it is a marathon, not a sprint. One negative about this method is you may look a little flat (not completely though since you'll have some days where you consume carbs), this can hurt people psychologically. But if you read the second article, it talks about a weekly refeed or cheat meal.
I am not saying carbs are bad, but in my opinion, most people do not need 300-400g a day while bulking. Most of us here are not high level athletes that need to load up on carbs. I think you need to find out how your body reacts to carbs, both high and low, before you can make an educated decision how how and when to use them. This is based off of my opinion and does not reflect what everyone should do. This has worked for me. Bodybuilding is an experiment, we are all different. That is the challenging thing about bodybuilding; there is no universal nutrition or training program for everyone to follow.