Carbs and Bodybuilding: Insulin Myth vs. Savage Truth

Age-old gym lore swears you need carbs for bodybuilding gains. But that’s just bro-science baloney.

You can build serious muscle without carb-loading your way to fat gain, bloating, and energy crashes. Keto bodybuilding lets you sidestep the roadblocks carbs throw in your way so you can get lean, strong, and unstoppable.

Let’s break down the science behind why you don’t need carbs to stack muscle — and why going low-carb might be your best move for dominating your physique goals.

🙅 You Don’t Need Carbs for Bodybuilding

According to bodybuilding nutrition, protein is the holy grail for muscle growth (fact). But carbs fuel workouts, spike insulin, and drive muscle gains. 

Sure, carbs can do those things — but they’re not the only way. There is another side to this story.

🦄 Debunking The Insulin Myth

Insulin is a hormone that helps shuttle glucose (sugar) from food into your cells for energy or storage. While all macronutrients prompt an insulin response, carbohydrates spike it the highest.

Insulin also plays a small role in muscle protein synthesis (MPS) — the process of building and repairing muscle. It helps move amino acids (the building blocks of protein) into your muscles.

Amino acids trigger MPS, which then kickstarts muscle hypertrophy (aka, bigger, stronger muscles).

Now, when you switch to a low-carb ketogenic diet, your body trades glucose for fat as its primary fuel source — running efficiently on ketones instead.[*]

Ditching carbs tanks your blood sugar and insulin levels. But here’s the thing: it doesn’t stop MPS or hypertrophy.[*] Why? 

Because you don’t need carbs for muscle growth. Gains can happen without insulin spikes. Want proof? 

A study compared post-workout recovery in two groups: one got 25g of whey protein, the other got 25g of whey protein plus 50g of carbs. The result? The extra carbs did nothing to enhance MPS or muscle growth.[*]

And that’s because:

❌ Muscle Growth Doesn’t Depend on Insulin Alone

Insulin spikes aren’t the only ticket to gains. Your muscles have other ways to absorb amino acids and stimulate growth — no high-carb bodybuilding diet required.

🥩 Ample Dietary Protein

Protein — not carbs — activates muscle growth. As long as you’re getting enough, your body has everything it needs to drive MPS.[*]

Even with lower insulin levels, a high-protein diet ensures plenty of amino acids in your bloodstream, making them readily available for muscle repair and growth.[*]

Plus, ample protein intake preserves lean mass while torching body fat.[*] Win-win.

👉 Check out this Beginner’s Guide To Keto Bodybuilding Macros to learn more!

🏋️ Exercise (Especially Resistance Training)

Strength training isn’t just for gym bros to show off. Weight training sparks MPS by pushing amino acids into your muscles.[*][*]

To maximize gains, train major muscle groups at least twice a week.[*] Progressive overload — increasing weight, reps, or intensity over time — forces your muscles to adapt, grow, and get stronger. Without it, you’re just spinning your wheels.

👉 Take the guesswork out of your fitness. My free Savage Strong Training App lets you choose and customize programs, track your progress, and apply progressive overload principles, so you can hit your body composition goals faster! 

👏 The Unseen Perks of Stable Blood Sugar Levels

Switching to keto stabilizes blood sugar levels, keeping them low and steady. This balance comes with special wins for muscle growth, including:

Better insulin sensitivity. A keto diet improves your body’s insulin sensitivity, meaning your cells become more efficient at utilizing insulin — even at lower levels.[*] You get the benefits of amino acid transport for hypertrophy without the high-carb downsides.

👉 Psst! Did you know intermittent fasting also affects your insulin response?

Higher growth hormone (GH) levels. GH is a powerhouse for muscle growth, prompting amino acid uptake and MPS.[*] Both lower blood sugar levels and resistance training naturally boost GH levels.

On keto, GH stays elevated, which may enhance muscle gains and preservation, helping you stay anabolic (in muscle-building mode).[*]

Adrenergic stimulation. Cut carbs and keep blood sugar low, and your body ramps up adrenaline production. This powerful hormone lights up your workouts and helps prevent muscle breakdown.[*]

Ketone bodies. On a keto or low-carb bodybuilding diet, your body produces ketones. These energy molecules made from fat become your new fuel source. But they’re also a game-changer for bulking and muscle preservation. 

Research shows ketones:

• Enhance MPS [*][*]
• Prevent muscle breakdown [*][*]
• Help maintain muscle strength, endurance, and mass [*]

These benefits may explain why studies find no significant differences in fat-free mass gains between those on a ketogenic diet vs. those on a traditional diet.[*]

🤔 But What About Glycogen?

Muscle glycogen powers high-intensity exercise.[*] So, a common argument against keto bodybuilding is that low glycogen = low athletic performance. But that’s totally false.

Glycogen is simply stored glucose in your muscles. While it’s true that low glycogen can impact endurance, your body has a built-in backup plan.

A study of 20 elite triathletes compared a high-carb diet vs. a low-carb diet over 20 months. The results? Peak fat burning in the low-carb group was 2.3x higher — an “extraordinarily” high rate. 

Even better? There were no significant differences in:[*]

• Resting muscle glycogen
• Glycogen usage during exercise
• Glycogen replenishment during recovery

Gluconeogenesis enters the chat. This process lets your body create the exact amount of glucose it needs from non-carb sources like amino and fatty acids.[*]

Bottom line? You can maintain and replenish glycogen stores without a high-carb diet. And if you’re worried about your energy levels… 

🎢 Roller Coaster vs. Steady Energy 🔥

No matter how you slice it, glucose is a short-lived energy source. Whether you fill up with slow-digesting complex carbs or fast-burning simple carbs, you’re stuck on the same spike-and-crash roller coaster.

Carb-based energy is unreliable. You get a quick surge of power, followed by a slump that leaves you dragging. This cycle of insulin spikes and crashes can wreck your workouts, kill endurance, and make recovery a nightmare.

But unlike glucose, ketones don’t spike insulin or cause energy crashes. They’re a steady, long-lasting fuel source your body produces naturally, keeping you dialed-in mentally and physically.

Studies show ketones are a more efficient fuel than glucose, allowing your muscles to produce more work for the same energy cost.[*]

And as long as there’s fat in the tank, you won’t run out of gas. That means no crashes, no burnout — just sustained power to dominate all 7 phases of bodybuilding.

Finally, there’s something else to consider when discussing bodybuilding with carbs… 

🐑 The Fluffy Bloat Factor

Bodybuilders want to look ripped and shredded, not soft and fluffy. And this is where carbs can be a real pain in the glutes.

Ever feel puffy and bloated after a high-carb meal? That’s because carbs hoard water like a sponge. For every gram of glycogen (stored carbohydrate), your body clings to about 3 grams of water.[*]

This leads to a flat, less-defined look that hides muscle definition. Not exactly the chiseled aesthetic you’re after.

By cutting carbs, you naturally shed excess water weight, revealing the hard-earned muscle underneath. Less fluff, more cuts, and a leaner physique — just what you want when stepping on stage (or just looking your best year-round).

💪 Try the Keto Bodybuilding Difference

You don’t need carbs to build muscle. Keto bodybuilding is not only possible — it’s a superior way to get lean, strong, and competition-ready without insulin spikes, energy crashes, or excess fat gain holding you back.

If you’re ready to break free from the outdated bro science and take control of your physique, it’s time to step up and make the switch.

🐺 Unleash Your Inner Savage!

The Savage System is my proven blueprint for building muscle and torching fat on a ketogenic or carnivore diet.

It’s more than just cutting carbs; it’s a holistic approach that combines targeted nutrition, strategic training, and tactics to nurture the mindset of a champion. 🏆

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