Time your Carbohydrates to Save Muscle and Recover Fast

Carbohydrates are the most misunderstood part of our diet. Some people think carbs are evil. Endurance athletes live off of a mostly carb diet. The biggest part of this misunderstanding is the misunderstanding of how carbs are used as energy. Insulin is the hormone that controls how fast carbohydrates are either stored or burnt. The quicker your body burns carbs as energy the more carbs you need to burn as energy. When you are producing a lot of Insulin you body slows down it’s ability to burn fat. That is why someone can get fat on a low fat high carbohydrate diet.

There is a misconception that Insulin is one of the most powerful anabolic hormones. Insulin is a weak anabolic hormone but a very strong anticatabolic hormone. Anabolism is muscle growth and Insulin is a weak transporter of protein but a very strong transporter of carbohydrates.

Cell death by catabolism is caused by not enough energy from ATP to repair the cell.

Anabolism is caused by a supercompensation reaction caused by catabolism. The best training method for anabolism is to trigger the use of all muscle fiber types. Taking the complete spectrum of muscle fibers to the edge of ATP deprivation creating a catabolic reaction and triggering a supercompensatory environment creates large amounts of anabolism.

The path from carbohydrate to ATP = carbohydrate -> Glucose-6-phosphate -> glycolysis -> Pyruvic acid -> acetyl coA -> Citric Acid cycle -> 2H+ and 2e- -> Electron Transport chain -> ATP

Carbohydrates need Insulin to be transported into muscle and liver cells for storage. Insulin can slow down the burning of fat and speed up the storing of fat. Insulin is doing this because it is prioritizing carbohydrate usage and contributing to storing calories the most effective way as fat. This process is called glycogenesis. All carbohydrates are forms of sugar and all of them get broken down into glycogen by glycogenesis.

Insulin is one of the only hormones which drops during exercise. The main reason is due to increased efficiency due to mechanical pumping while exercising. If insulin did not drop during exercise blood sugar would drop to rapidly and your workout would be done very quickly.

Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load are 2 ways carbohydrates are measured on their effect on Insulin. The Glycemic Load is the more important metric. Gylcemic Index measures the speed that your body can break down the carbohydrate into glucose. Glycemic Load is a measure of how much Insulin will be released when eating a certain amount of food. The more Insulin the less fat your body will burn and the more your body will prioritize on using carbohydrates as energy.

Carbohydrate literally means watered carbon. Carbohydrates by divination attract water wherever they are present. When you are tired while eating enough food you may be dehydrated. Your body needs water to transport carbohydrates. Your body needs carbohydrates to transport water.

The Journal Obesity Research showed “Carbohydrate consumption–acting via insulin secretion and the “plasma tryptophan ratio”–increases serotonin release; protein intake lacks this effect.” Low Serotonin can cause depression and high serotonin can cause euphoria. Carbohydrates can become addicting and give people a drug like effect.

There are several different types of carbohydrates used by Max Muscle, Amylopectin, Maltodextrin, Trehalose, Dextrose, Lactose & Fructose.

Amylopectin is a high molecular weight carbohydrate that quickly passes through the stomach getting to the intestines. Amylopectin quickly increases blood glucose levels and increases insulin levels. Amylopectin is perfect for improving glycogen storage very quickly after exercise. Amylopectin should only be used as an after workout recovery supplement. Amylopectin raises insulin so much that long term regular use causes insulin resistance. Insulin resistance can lead to diabetes.

Maltodextrin is easily digestible, being absorbed as rapidly as glucose. Maltodextrin can be derived from any starch, usually rice, corn or potato.

Trehalose is a disaccharide formed from starch. It has high water retention capabilities.
Trehalose is also an antioxidant.

Dextrose is the biologically active form of glucose. Dextrose is closest in chemistry to blood sugar.

Lactose is left in trace amounts in certain whey protein powders. Lactose is a disaccharide. Many people don’t have enough of the enzyme lactase to digest lactose. None of the Max Muscle proteins have enough lactose to cause me any problems. I am highly lactose intolerant.

Fructose is a monosacchride found in many foods including honey. Fructose is derived from the digestion of sucrose. The difference between crystalline fructose and high-fructose corn syrup is 98% fructose vs. 50/50 split of fructose and glucose.

Carbohydrates are the most misunderstood part of the American diet. If used properly carbohydrates can save muscle keep you hydrated and give you tons of energy. If misused carbohydrates can make you fat and turn you diabetic. Carbohydrates can be addicting. For athletes carbohydrates are the fastest way to recover and stop muscle damage. Make sure you time your carbohydrates correctly and you will stay successful in your athletic endeavors

Max Muscle’s Max Gourmet Gainer

The newest maximum muscle performance weight gainer from Max Muscle is Max Gourmet Gainer. Max Gourmet Gainer is the best tasting weight gainer made. Gourmet Gainer is densely packed with the clinically proven performace enhancing carbohydrate to protein ratio of 2:1. Gourmet Gainer is ideal to take up to 4 times per day. The best time to take Gourmet Gainer is right after your workout. The special blend of insulin enhancing carbohydrates will trigger an anti-catabolic cascade that will trigger lots of muscle growth.

1. Gourmet Gainer is the best tasting weight gainer made
2. clinically proven performace enhancing carbohydrate to protein ratio of 2:1
3. take up to 4 times per day
4. take Gourmet Gainer is right after your workout
5. trigger an anti-catabolic cascade that will trigger lots of muscle growth

Understanding Insulin

 Understanding Insulin
rewritten by Dan Gilliland orginally written by Eric Cressey

Insulin is a very complex hormone. Insulin can be a very strong atheletic hormone, even stronger than some illegal steroids. Insulin’s main job is to shuttle carbs into your muscle cells to store for energy. When the muscle cells are full insulin shuttles carbs to be storing them in your liver. At the same time Insulin either stops or slows down the amount of carbs released from your liver. It can take several days to reload your liver with carbs. Your liver is a reserve tank, you have to be careful of emptying because it can take days to refill.

Insulin can slow down the burning of fat and speed up the storing of fat. Insulin is doing this because it is prioritising carb usage and contributing to storing calories the most effective way as fat. 

Insulin can slow down the breakdown of muscle.  Insulin can increase the building of muscle when enough amino acids are in place.  You may know of the “golden hour” after a workout.  Insulin is responsible for the golden hour.  If you time your meals correctly you will never need drugs to create muscle growth. 

The hormones glucagon, growth hormone, cortisol, and the catecholamines epinephrine and norepinephrine do the opposite of insulin.

Glucagon is mostly found in high amounts when a person is experiencing hypoglycemia.  Insulin is produced to counteract the hypoglycemia & blood sugar balance happens.

Growth Hormone counter-acts many actions of Insulin’s carb storage and stopping of fat burning.  GH does work with Insulin to create an anabolic enviroment for muscle growth.  GH can increase the effects of Insulin Growth Like Factors which make Insulin more effective at lower amounts.

The stress hormone Cortisol counters Insulin’s effects by blocking the uptake of Insulin causing Insulin resistance.  Cortisol increases the storage of fat.  Cortisol encourages the breakdown of muscle tissue.

Epinephrine and norepinephrine do the opposite of Insulin.   Epinephrine is very good moving at moving glycogen out of your liver encourging a quick turnover of carb storage and more calories being burnt.  Both epinephrine and norepinephrine increase the burning of fat and have muscle saving qualities.

Insulin decreases as long as you do sub-maximal exercise.  The more movement of your muscles do the more Insulin gets squezzed into your muscles and the more effecient it becomes.  Glucagon increases over long duration workouts to slowdown the amount of carbs being burned.   The amount Growth hormone  increases with the amout of intensity you put into your workout.

Timing your foods to use the power of Insulin to your advantage will be the driving force behind your dieting success. Craving bad food only happenes when your body is out of balance. Put your body back into balance and you can eat anything you want because you will only want what’s good for you. The best time to eat simple carbs is right after you have worked out. Your body needs simple carbs to quickly fill your muscles and liver up with glycogen. When you get full control of your Insulin your whole life will change for the better.

Creatine: Even More Anabolic than You Thought

Using supplemental Creatine increases the amount of IGF-1 (Insulin Growth Like Factor 1) inside muscles. IGF-1 is a catalyst for Insulin and is produced by Growth Hormone. IGF-1 stimulates cell growth and lengthens cell life. IGF-1 can protect against cell and DNA damage by way of an enzyme family called AKT. AKT builds muscle and slows down cell death. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akt

Creatine increases Growth Hormone production. Acute creatine loading enhances human growth hormone secretion.

Growth Hormone increases the amount of IGF-1. Correlations of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I): effects of exercise and abuse by athletes.

Effect of Creatine Supplementation and Resistance-Exercise Training on Muscle Insulin-Like Growth Factor in Young Adults
IJSNEM, 18(4), August 2008,
http://www.humankinetics.com/IJSNEM/viewarticle.cfm?jid=t746qp3Yq234bLK6z366yvx4v683v3tUk843w2kzh232nT73e&aid=16023&site=t746qp3Yq234bLK6z366yvx4v683v3tUk843w2kzh232nT73e

“These findings indicate that creatine supplementation during resistance-exercise training increases intramuscular IGF-I concentration in healthy men and women, independent of habitual dietary routine.”