What is "feeling flat"?

[Sammich]

I've heard this term a lot, but no one has ever defined it for me. What is it? Is it a psychological thing, or is it physical?

Here's what happens to me that lets me know I need to load on carbs: I get extreme irritability, short temper, angry, etc, which are all symptoms of low serotonin (for me). I know this feeling from my 20 years of having depression/anxiety disorder and messing with countless serotonin-altering meds; it's the exact same feeling. When I load up on carbs, my brain goes back to normal.

Is that "feeling flat"?

[homonunculus]

In BB'ing terms, feeling or being "flat" means the muscles do not feel full, they don't have fullness to them proprioceptively, they don't look full and round (compared to their normal look), they don't have seem to contract (again this is proprioceptive) easily (e.g., when posing), less lactic acid is produced during training or doing an extreme stretch ala DC training and there is a distinct trailing off of the fatigue curve when training when the muscle seem to just "bonk," to borrow a term from distance running, when fatigue ensues more rapidly (esp. on higher rep sets or most anything with reps >10-12) near the end of a set than would be normal.

This is very easy to feel and notice for a BB'er who's trained for a prolonged period on a low carb diet and then repeated carbed up and can notice the difference in the pump during training when flat (carb depleted) or full (carb laoded). You can also create some muscle fullness from being highly fat adapted, too, as guys who use a low carb, high fat diet can stay full despite the low carbs...

-S

[Sammich]

In BB'ing terms, feeling or being "flat" means the muscles do not feel full, they don't have fullness to them proprioceptively, they don't look full and round (compared to their normal look), they don't have seem to contract (again this is proprioceptive) easily (e.g., when posing), less lactic acid is produced during training or doing an extreme stretch ala DC training and there is a distinct trailing off of the fatigue curve when training when the muscle seem to just "bonk," to borrow a term from distance running, when fatigue ensues more rapidly (esp. on higher rep sets or most anything with reps >10-12) near the end of a set than would be normal.

This is very easy to feel and notice for a BB'er who's trained for a prolonged period on a low carb diet and then repeated carbed up and can notice the difference in the pump during training when flat (carb depleted) or full (carb laoded). You can also create some muscle fullness from being highly fat adapted, too, as guys who use a low carb, high fat diet can stay full despite the low carbs...

-S

A-ha, interesting. I had the fast-onset muscle fatigue in my workout the morning before my little crash. I guess I have an extra warning system of time to carb-up that most people lack :shocked:

[homonunculus]

A-ha, interesting. I had the fast-onset muscle fatigue in my workout the morning before my little crash. I guess I have an extra warning system of time to carb-up that most people lack :shocked:

LOL - Actually, I think most people feel pretty close to what you were describing on a "low carb" diet. Somewhere in the 100-200g carbs / day range can leave some people much more miserable than if they go higher (more tolerable / less cravings / less irritability) or lower (ketosis range)...

-S

[LG1]

Does one need to achieve a certain level of leanes before feeling/ looking flat?

[Sammich]

Does one need to achieve a certain level of leanes before feeling/ looking flat?

As someone who is fat, I feel like I am qualified to answer this. I can't tell a good goddamned difference in the way I look with carbed vs. uncarbed. But I can definitely feel a difference in strength and muscular endurance (and the aforementioned psychological difference).

So, here's the fatty rundown. Look different? No Feel different? Very.

[homonunculus]

Does one need to achieve a certain level of leanes before feeling/ looking flat?

You might feel and the muscles might be "flat," but I'd not call you flat if you're just "fat." That term only makes sense when talking about someone who is in or near contest condition, with the exception of someone who's dieting down on a low carb diet and is noticing how the feel and performance in the gym. If a client were at, say 12% BF after coming down from 20% BF on a very low carb diet and (knowing that the understand what is meant by "flat") told me that they feel flat (in the sense I'm talking about) this would tell me that a carb-up is in order.

-S

[Sammich]

Oh, what do you know, Mr. Skinnypants.

[steel1970]

LOL - Actually, I think most people feel pretty close to what you were describing on a "low carb" diet. Somewhere in the 100-200g carbs / day range can leave some people much more miserable than if they go higher (more tolerable / less cravings / less irritability) or lower (ketosis range)...

-S

I concur with the being miserable.....my wife would concur as well....lol

I notice that after my Skipload I obviously am full and my workouts are great thru Wednesday.....by Friday, I'm flat as hell and have zero pop to my muscles, no muscular endurance, and I'm moody as fuck....This has only happened since my cardio increased a bit. Prior to that I had no loss of strength, just a little loss on endurance.....

I actually train my legs last in the rotation and I recently started rotating workouts every other week with legs to train them earlier in the week. I felt like my legs were just dying toward the end of the week as I got more depleted....

[nexa]

I notice that after my Skipload I obviously am full and my workouts are great thru Wednesday.....by Friday, I'm flat as hell and have zero pop to my muscles, no muscular endurance, and I'm moody as fuck....

Pretty much all of this, and I am nowhere near contest prep condition.

And to make matters worse, I usually grocery shop Friday nights post-w/o. I'll just have this sad look on my face as I walk through the junk food aisle.

:smow:

[LG1]

As someone who is fat, I feel like I am qualified to answer this. I can't tell a good goddamned difference in the way I look with carbed vs. uncarbed. But I can definitely feel a difference in strength and muscular endurance (and the aforementioned psychological difference).

So, here's the fatty rundown. Look different? No Feel different? Very.

You might feel and the muscles might be "flat," but I'd not call you flat if you're just "fat." That term only makes sense when talking about someone who is in or near contest condition, with the exception of someone who's dieting down on a low carb diet and is noticing how the feel and performance in the gym. If a client were at, say 12% BF after coming down from 20% BF on a very low carb diet and (knowing that the understand what is meant by "flat") told me that they feel flat (in the sense I'm talking about) this would tell me that a carb-up is in order.

-S

Thx gents. I do recall the feeling and looking flat last year when Skip worked with me.

[steel1970]

Pretty much all of this, and I am nowhere near contest prep condition.

And to make matters worse, I usually grocery shop Friday nights post-w/o. I'll just have this sad look on my face as I walk through the junk food aisle.

:smow:

Lol....2 weeks ago I moved my load from Sat to Sun....that extra day was HARD....I went out Sat nite and bought about $60 worth of junk for the next day....I don't know how I waited....that extra day was killer, especially when I was having cravings since Wed.....lol

[JohnnyBravo]

In addition to what everyone else has said, I also find that I really want to just sleep when i start going flat. Totally lethargic.

[trucelt]

I don't suffer much of the psychological stuff (moody, irritable etc) I'm fine...I'm flat when the muscles start to look slightly deflated and the vascularlarity fades, along with the pumps and endurance trail off....

[trucelt]

I also feel more lethargic and fatigue faster doing normal activities