Fitness Vices Series #6: Why is an uncontrolled cheat day a fast way to the bottom?

Cheat day. A fitness vice that certainly doesn't need a long introduction, as most bodybuilders look forward to it their entire diet. With the right timing and the right approach, it can bring you aresults, otherwise it can completely ruin your dieting efforts.

So in today's article , we'll discuss both the positive and negative effects of the occasional cheat day and look at possible alternatives.

What are the positive effects of a cheat day?

The single most important reason why most bodybuilders include a cheat day is to speed up the metabolism in their diet. But other positives include glycogen replenishment and (very important to me personally) the mental release that usually accompanies every cheat day. So let's go through these positive effects one by one.

1. Accelerates metabolism

As a natural exerciser, if you're in a calorie deficit for an extended period of time, your metabolism will start to slow down. This is where cheat day comes in. When you extremely increase your caloric intake one day, your digestion speeds up again. Provided you only include a cheat day when necessary, you don't even have to worry about your body storing calories.

But it's also important to note that athletes taking supportive substances don't need a cheat day nearly as often as natural exercisers.

2. Replenish glycogen stores

Although most of you probably know this, for the sake of the comprehensiveness of this article, we should further define what glycogen actually is. It is a storage polysaccharide that is converted into glucose during strenuous activity in a process called glycolysis, which further serves as an energy source for the muscles. Thus, since it is a carbohydrate, it is clear that muscle glycogen is depleted with prolonged low carbohydrate intake.

If you include a cheat day from time to time, you will replenish its reserves very reliably and you will exercise much better in the following days.

3. You'll relax and unwind

From my personal point of view , a big positive of cheat days is a kind of mental relaxation. If you've ever followed a strict calorie deficit diet, you'll know that after a while you start to feel tired and fed up.

There's nothing better than ditching the stereotypical diet altogether for a day and going out to dinner with friends, sitting down with popcorn at the cinema or otherwise breaking away from the daily stereotype.

What are the negative effects of an uncontrolled cheat day?

In the next part of our article, let's step away from the positive effects of a cheat day for a moment and look at the opposite end of the spectrum. What happens to your body when you don't cheat. The physical effects of a cheat day include, for example, increased water retention in the body and, in extreme cases, nausea. But unfortunately, it can also come on the psyche, as many people feel remorse or even suffer feelings of failure after the day. Let's imagine all the negatives more closely.

1. Increases water retention

If you're having a cheat day, it's more than likely that you're not avoiding carbs. And it is carbohydrates that increase water retention (or retention) in the body. This is probably the main reason why you wake up significantly heavier after a cheat day than on other days, and it can also make you feel a bit "watery". Not to worry though, everything will be back to normal within a few days.

2. Nausea

Even if you have a cheat day planned for today that you've been looking forward to for an awfully long time, still try to use your head.

Because if you overdo it with inappropriate combinations and extreme portions of food, you could mess up your digestion for the next few days. No one is denying you your favourite foods or ordering small portions, but forcing food down your throat seems pointless.

3. It negatively affects the psyche

Before you completely condemn this negative effect of cheat days, it's good to remember that it is a completely individual factor. While some people recover, relax and replenish their lost energy during a cheat dayfor the next phase of the diet, someone else may feel remorse.

In this case, however, it is important to remember that if you are on a strict diet and youlo for a long time, just such a "cheat" day will definitely not hurt you.

How often should I include a cheat day?

The question of how often a cheat day should be included is one of those questions to which there is no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on the metabolic rate, the stage of the diet, the effectiveness of the training, the body somatotype and many other factors. While some may be comfortable with a cheat every week, it's definitely not a good idea for endomorphs. In short, you need to observe your own body and always plan your cheat day based on that. But it's not possible to start on one cheat day per month and end up cheating almost every day.

Although there is no one-size-fits-all solution, I would personally recommend including a cheat day every 14 days during the diet and watching how your body reacts to it. If you've just started the diet, a cheat day after three weeks is probably sufficient as you'll have plenty of muscle glycogen and it will take a while to use it up.

What are the possible alternatives to a cheat day?

Although a cheat day seems like a great diversion from the stereotypical diet, there are other alternatives. Let's take a look at them:

1. Refeed day

Although many people consider a cheat day and a refeed day to be the same thing, there is one major difference between them. As they say professional websites, refeed day is based on quality ingredients. This means that you don't gorge yourself on simple sugars, but instead have, for example, porridge with fruit or a similar macronutrient-rich meal.

2. Cheat meal

If you speak English, the difference between a cheat day and a cheat meal is clear at a glance. While the former lasts all day, the latter only lasts for one meal. From my point of view, a cheat meal is perfectly sufficient, because you can, for example, sit down with your friends and have your favorite pizza noand a burger, so you can relax, but at the same time you won't notice a difference in your figure the next day and you won't have such regrets.

But of course it also depends on the stage of the diet and your glycogen stores.

So how to approach a cheat day?

I don't really recommend a cheat day from my own experience, I much prefer the aforementioned refeed. From the perspective of the average recreational exerciser, I think it's absolutely essential to have a diet that is designed to be sustainable for you in the long term and that you enjoy eating.

But if you're going to embark on a more radical diet and cheat inclusion, be sure to always approach it sensibly. You can indulge in your favourite foods and have no regrets, but definitely don't stuff your foodforces and keep the spacing consistent, otherwise you risk intestinal problems and therefore jeopardising the whole diet.

More episodes from the Fitness Vices series:

• Fitness Vices Series #1: What effect does alcohol have on exercise?
• Fitness Vices #2: What effect does marijuana have on exercise?
• Fitness Vices Series #3: What effect does smoking have on working out?
• Fitness Vices Series #4: What are the pros and cons of anabolic steroids?
• Fitness series on vices #5: To what extent is drinking coffee beneficial?
• Fitness series on vices #6: Why is an uncontrolled cheat day a fast track to the bottom?
• Fitness series on vices #7: What is the effect of energy drinks on health?
• Fitness series on vices #8: Can fat burners really help with weight loss?