The Best Foods For Building Muscle and Losing Fat

20 Jan 2025 · 1 min

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In this segment of his YouTube video, Eric Roberts explains that many lifters mistakenly focus only on protein, overlooking the crucial role of carbohydrates. He describes how muscles store glycogen, the primary energy source for weight‑lifting, and argues that without sufficient carb intake, glycogen stores are depleted, limiting lifting intensity and muscle growth. Roberts emphasizes that carbohydrates are not “bad” but essential for maximizing strength and hypertrophy, and he lists practical carb sources such as rice, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, oatmeal, and bread that can help replenish glycogen and support muscle building.

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You're not eating enough carbohydrates, and it's the reason you can't build muscle. Most people think you need protein to build muscle, and yes, protein is important, but here's why carbohydrates might be even more important. Your muscles' main source of energy is something called glycogen. You store this glycogen in your muscles so that when you go to work out, your muscles have fuel saved up to lift weights. If you don't have this fuel saved up, you won't be able to lift very heavy, leading to less muscle building. And the main way your body gets glycogen into your muscles is through you eating carbohydrates, especially ones like rice, sweet potatoes, or regular potatoes, oatmeal, or bread. So all that time you thought carbs were bad for you is simply just not true. You need them if you want to maximize your weightlifting and muscle building.