TweetThe above graphs show how the body produces additional insulin after a "meal" (75 g glucose) to try and compensate for damaged muscles. This supports data we shared back in February that dietary carbs appear to stay in the blood of sore athletes. The muscle damage, as indicated by creatine kinase (CK) in the blood and perceptions of soreness, apparently retards muscles' ability to take up blood sugar (glucose). In fact, the subjects with more damage are the ones who exhibit worse "insulin sensitivity". Look closely at the graphs I’ve provided. Those subjects that rank higher in CK or soreness are the ones who over-produce insulin. You see the pancreas won't stand for high blood sugar and attempts to hammer-home the glucose with extra secretion of the hormone.
"But isn’t this a good thing?" you may ask. "Many competitive bodybuilders take insulin, right?" Well, it depends on 1.) Your goals, 2.) Your state of muscle repair and 3.) Even the time of day. If you've read earlier Muscle Monthly, Think Muscle or Virtual Muscle articles on insulin and muscle building, you know that, although highly anabolic, insulin is a "Jeckyl and Hyde" hormone. Too much can be counter productive to the physique athlete by building fatty tissue (lipogenesis). High insulin concentrations are only beneficial to those individuals whose muscles are receptive – if their not, adipose tissue becomes a willing recipient of all that glucose.
The problem therefore is that athletes need to rebuild muscle carbohydrate stores (glycogen) in order to recover - but can't. At least not very well when they use heavy weights and "negatives" to induce additional growth. Yet it’s fairly well established that intense training of this nature is more effective for making gains. Are we hard lifters relegated to limiting our workouts to less than once per week?
Luckily, the answer is probably not. The solution may involve reduced carb intake on days of extreme soreness or possibly insulin potentiating supplements like Glucosol, Inzitol, etc. The picture is not yet crystal clear. As a first step (and to maximize our chances of finding an effect), we supplemented hard-training bodybuilders with a combination of these. We found a modest reduction in one indicator of glucose intolerance known as hemoglobin A1c, or glycosylated hemoglobin. Whether this equates to more muscle tissue or less body fat over time is not known. It does appear encouraging, however. Perhaps proper nutritional support can indeed help bodybuilders regain their recovery ability. Stay tuned.
Please note, these data are still considered preliminary by the author and readers should read as much on the topic as possible. This research update is partly based on an article that appeared recently on www.virtualmuscle.com
Interested individuals can also reach Dr. Lowery at lonnie@musclemonthly.com
by Dr. Lonnie Lowery
lonnie@musclemonthly.com