i'm trying this!!!

[daved150]

Glycogen Supercompensation

By: Ian Matthews

Have you ever gained 22 pounds in 11 hours? Have you ever dramatically improved your strength in a single day just from changing your diet? Well I have. In my last Bodybuilding.com article I detailed my bulking diet and how I followed up a carbohydrate depletion period with a day where I consumed only fruit juice to create a glycogen supercompensation effect.

So What Is Glycogen Supercompensation?

Glycogen supercompensation is when your muscles are able to hold a greater amount of glycogen than they normally would be able to. They will not only appear fuller and more pumped, but they will also have plenty of fuel to work hard.

Muscles need energy to contract. The muscles use ATP for energy, but ATP stores are quickly depleted. At first the body will create ATP by having creatine phosphate donate a phosphate molecule to ADP, but creatine phosphate is also depleted quickly. For the muscles to continue to work over longer periods of time, ATP must be created from muscle glycogen through glycolysis. Therefore, the more glycogen the muscles can hold, the more ATP can be produced for anaerobic muscle contraction.

So now that we see how glycogen supercompensation can positively affect appearance and workout intensity, how do we cause our muscles to hold more glycogen than they normally would? By depleting the muscle glycogen stores our bodies will adjust by more readily creating and storing glycogen for perceived future shortages. Simple, deplete the muscles of glycogen, and they will more readily store glycogen.

Since carbohydrates are the body's main source for creating glycogen, glycogen depletion is best achieved by cutting carbohydrates out of the diet. The body can also create glycogen from protein and fat, but it is not as efficient at doing so. Glycogen is further depleted through working out since it is the body's preferred source of energy.

"The more quickly the consumed carbohydrates can be broken down into glucose, the quicker glycogen stores will be replaced."

Once the muscles are depleted of glycogen, glycogen supercompensation can be achieved by simply consuming carbohydrates. Since the muscles will now readily hold glycogen, they will immediately create glycogen once the carbohydrates are broken down into glucose. The more quickly the consumed carbohydrates can be broken down into glucose, the quicker glycogen stores will be replaced. Therefore, simple sugars such as dextrose and glucose would fill glycogen stores the quickest. Carbohydrates that are lower on the glycemic index will still fill glycogen stores, it will just take longer and the glycogen supercompensation effect will be more gradual.

Why Does It Work?

Glycogen normally draws water into the muscle, so if carbohydrates are consumed without excess water, water from underneath the skin will be pulled into the muscle. This is why bodybuilders who use glycogen supercompensation for a full, dry appearance at a competition normally choose dry carbohydrate sources.

During the all-juice day of my bulking diet we are trying to refill glycogen stores as quickly and as fully as possible, therefore simple sugars with no added fiber, protein, or fat will get the job done more efficiently. Muscle building is also more efficient when the body has plenty of water to work with and is not dehydrated, that is why fruit juice is the optimal source of carbohydrates in this situation. Drinking water mixed with dextrose would also be a viable option, but I feel using fruit juice is healthier and more bearable.

So there you have it, a complete breakdown on glycogen supercompensation. How or whether you use it is up to you.

[jamescb77]

Re: i'm trying this!!!

it's a pretty good read but it's very undetailed. How long did he deplete, what is his idea of depletion, how long and at what frequency do you drink this juice?

[daved150]

Re: i'm trying this!!!

the loading is a day and i ASSUME it's all day, as if drinking water, but your right...dammit....i'll get back to this!!



first sentance..... "Have you ever gained 22 pounds in 11 hours?"

[daved150]

Re: i'm trying this!!!

Glycogen Depletion



Glycogen is the storage form of glucose, the source of human energy derived from carbohydrates consumed through food. To assist in the storage process, molecules of glucose, a sugar composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms, are strung together to form glycogen, a complex molecule known as a polysaccharide.
The skeletal muscles and the liver are the two chief storage facilities for glycogen. Approximately 1% of muscle mass is glycogen; between 8% and 10% of the liver's weight is stored glycogen. The skeletal muscles store two times as much glycogen as does the liver.
The breakdown of stored glycogen, and the further utilization of glucose, is a process known as glycogenolysis. When carbohydrates are first consumed, the digestive process creates useful units of glucose, whose presence is a signal to the body that is registered at the pancreas, the organ responsible for the monitoring of glucose levels in the bloodstream. The recognition of the glucose presence triggers the production of insulin, a hormone created in the pancreas for the regulation of the amount of glucose sugar present in the bloodstream. Excess glucose is subsequently directed to the liver to be stored as glycogen.
The body has a complex regulatory mechanism in which the liver is prompted to release glycogen in its glucose form when required to balance blood sugar levels. Muscle-stored glycogen is not so flexible in terms of its deployment in the body; once stored in a muscle, the glycogen is not capable of being shared with or transported to other areas that might require fuel. Muscle glycogen must be used at the point of storage.
Once reconverted to glucose, a series of chemical reactions will take place; the single glucose molecule interacts with phosphate compounds to ultimately generate two molecules of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the ultimate body fuel source. Very small amounts of ATP are present in the skeletal muscles at any given time, sufficient for the generation of power in circumstances in which the anaerobic alactic energy system will be required. Such events are almost exclusively immediate activities that last less than 10 seconds. In all other circumstances, ATP must be manufactured through glycogenolysis.
Seventy-five percent of the glycogen available to the body through carbohydrate consumption, in its energy-convertible glucose form, is used to service the energy requirements of the brain and the central nervous system. The balance of glucose stores is directed to the purposes of erythrocyte (red blood cell) formation, skeletal muscle development, and the function of the heart muscle.
The relationships that exist between glycogen and athletic performance are straightforward, and each may be summarized as follows:

• The greater the ability of the body to store glycogen, the greater the ability to carry out physical tasks.
• The lower the levels of glycogen present in the body, the less intensity with which the athlete can perform or train, and the lesser amount of work time will be available to the athlete.
• The average total storage of reserves of glycogen will last a typical adult person between 12 and 14 hours; when the adult person is engaging in exercise of a moderate level of intensity, such as marathon running, the glycogen supply will be exhausted in approximately two hours of activity. In a marathon, "hitting the wall," the feeling of a pronounced loss of energy and fatigue, is in part a function of glycogen depletion.
• When the body has sustained a complete or a near-total depletion of its glycogen stores, it will take approximately 24 hours for the body to both ingest sufficient food of the appropriate carbohydrate proportion, as well as convert the ingested carbohydrates into glycogen.

There are a number of mechanisms employed by elite athletes to increase the ability of their body to store greater amounts of glycogen. One such method is commonly known as "carbo loading," whereby the athlete begins to consume large carbohydrate-rich meals as endurance training is tapered in anticipation of a key competition. This process tends to effectively increase the amount of glycogen stored in the body, and thus aids performance, so long as the athlete does not sustain a weight gain due to too severe a tapering of training.
A reverse method, which is employed by some endurance athletes, is to reduce the intake of carbohydrates during training, with a corresponding reduction in glycogen, as a stimulation to the body to make a maximum use of available fat stores.

[daved150]

Re: i'm trying this!!!

that helps!!!!

[6p6]

Re: i'm trying this!!!

it's a pretty good read but it's very undetailed. How long did he deplete, what is his idea of depletion, how long and at what frequency do you drink this juice?

exactly!

[daved150]

Re: i'm trying this!!!

exactly!

ok...appearently you didnt read the follow up article i posted. when put together, all the info's there

[Doink the clown]

Re: i'm trying this!!!

Interesting.........

[jamescb77]

Re: i'm trying this!!!

it's still not all there. It doesn't talk about how long you need to carb deplete or what their definition of carb depletion is exactly. I down for trying this once i lean out to where i would actually notice a difference. But i think that's a very incomplete article even with the follow up.

[gotagoal]

Re: i'm trying this!!!

Have you ever gained 22 pounds in 11 hours.
I'm not sure I'd want to gain that fast.

[gotagoal]

Re: i'm trying this!!!

I also don't think that i could consume that much.

[firstenrgy]

Re: i'm trying this!!!

This is one of the reasons I suggest that people keep their carb consumption low all day until post workout and then your post workout meal 1-1.5 hours later.
Let me explain. Can we agree that if you give your body anything in abundance, it will use it less efficiently? If you drink a lot of water, your body will urinate more frequently using the water less efficiently. That's why I a firm believer in keeping carbs low until workout/postworkout and also keep carbs low on days off. I don't care if you are cutting or bulking this applies to maximize the replacement of the essential amino acids and glycogen to skeletal muscle post workout.
Just my 2 cents

[daved150]

Re: i'm trying this!!!

it's still not all there. It doesn't talk about how long you need to carb deplete or what their definition of carb depletion is exactly. I down for trying this once i lean out to where i would actually notice a difference. But i think that's a very incomplete article even with the follow up.

ok...now you got me on a fukin mission!! i thaught it said complete was 24hrs, but re-reading it, it didnt...I WILL GET THIS FUKIN INFO, lol

[BIGMOFO]

Re: i'm trying this!!!

WE NEED ALL THE FACTS BRO...DANG!