Monster's Insulin Primer!
Ok, lets have a look at insulin.
Its highly anabolic and non-androgenic, and in case some of you are in the dark
(I'd like to think we're all clear on anabolic versus androgenic, but ya never
know) I'll briefly touch on the subject before diving in... if youre ok on anabolic/androgenic
concepts, skip to the INSULIN part...
ANDROGENIC VERSUS ANABOLIC
ANABOLIC is defined as "The process of constructive metabolism" or
of building complex substances out of simple substances.
The way your body processes protien, carbohydrates, and fat (all simple substances)
and makes muscle (a complex substance) is ANABOLISM.
ANDROGENIC is basically defined as pertaining to male sex characteristics.
ANDROGENIC/ANABOLIC
"Steroids" are actually called "Anabolic Androgenic Steroids."
They accomplish "anabolism" through "anabolic" pathways,
some being more androgenic (testosterone esters) and some less (winstrol, anavar,
primobolan, ect...).
Most often, with reduced androgenic properties comes reduced anabolic properties,
but it isnt always cut and dry. If anyone is interested I'll go into it another
time, but lets head toward the insulin topic.
INSULIN: NonAndrogenic but Anabolic
Insulin is NOT a sex hormone. It is not related in any way to testosterone,
or to estrogen for that matter. It is a product of the pancreas as opposed to
testosterone which is a product of the HPTA, pituitary, gonadal, leydig, mishmash
of interconnected glands...
WHY IS INSULIN ANABOLIC
So why is insulin anabolic then? Insulin is a partitioning agent. A "shuttle"
if you will.
Picture insulin as a bus. Nutrients board the bus, and insulin pulls away and
drops off the nutrients at the proper bus stop. That is basically what it does,
and for all intents and purposes that is everything you need to know to understand
how it works.
So by insulin shuttling these nutrient where they need to go, it enables anabolism
and is therefor anabolic!
WHY NOT JUST TAKE CARBS TO RAISE INSULIN
Well, the amount of carbs you would need to take in to increase natural insulin
levels to the degree a 10 i.u. shot would would be far more dangerous than using
insuiln (and using insulin is NOT that hard OR dangerous).
Carbs at that level would eventually lead to diabetes and fat gains.
If insulin is a bus taking nutrients where they need to go, then exogenous insulin
is a bullet train! It can hold far more nutrients than a normal naturally produced
burst of insulin can, and it works quicker. Exogenous insulin is the most efficient
way to accomplish glycogen overcompensation, period.
WHAT KIND DO I TAKE
Im a major supporter of fast acting insulin. The faster the better!
Currently he fastest acting insulin available is Humalog. It is active in 15
minutes, peaks in 1 hour and clears the system around 2 hours.
Next would be Humalin-R. It is active in about 30 minutes, peaks at the 2 hour
mark, and clears the system at the 4 hour mark.
"Biophasics" are mixtures of fast and slow acting insulins, but are
not the best choice in my opinion, due to an active dose being in you throughout
the day. The reason you dont want that will be covered in the "HOW DO I
USE IT" section.
There are also Humalin-L and Humalin-S, but they are long acting, and are no
more use to me than the Biophasics. There are also porccine and bovine derived
insulin, but I am against injecting animal derived substances.
WHEN (AND HOW MUCH) TO USE
Im going to assume we want to avoid any fat gains at all. Even bulking I dont
like to gain any unneccesary fat, so Im going to disuss it from that stand point.
The ultra conservative time to use insulin is post-workout. Most people who
are concerned about fat dont go over 10 i.u. as a total dose.
Some people us it on waking, before breakfast, since your body is in a basically
carb depleted state. Its the kind of thng you have to try for yourslef, and
if it works for you, do it. If you thnk youre gaining fat, stop. BUT! Dont start
it at both times at once. Make sure you get your post workout dosage worked
out and that you know it is not causing you any fat gains before you try pre-breakfast
shots. That way you can take out all the guess work as to where any fat gains
may come from.
DISPELLING A FEW MYTHS
There is a commoly held perception that you MUSt take in 10grams of carbs per
I.U. of insulin, some radicals say 5 grams... well, theyre both wrong.
I got curious about this when I discovered that my insulin dependant diabetic
friend didnt even keep track of what she ate post injection. She would feel
hypoglycemic after a shot and take a Glucose Tablet.
A glucose tablet is only 5 grams of glucose (carbs)! So I started to think,
"Hmmm, mabye everyone is off point on this?"
After conducting a few experiments on myself, I found that you can go considerably
lower in carbs than people previously believed.
Now it doesnt make sense to go low in carbs, because that defies the purpose
of using the insulin in the first place, but it does free us from having to
use so much that there might be some "spill over" in carbs that cant
be utilized. So it really makes us able to have more freedom in carbs choices
and amounts.
The "risk" in insulin use is not as risky as people believe. Any person
with an ounce of sense can see the warning signs of a problem coming, and remedy
the situation.
HOW DO I DO IT
If you look at the drug store, you can get these little pen cases that hold
a loaded insulin syringe. They are great for our need, you load up the syringe,
and put it in the case, and throw it in your bag/purse/whatever. After the workout,
head to a bathroom stall and inject it under the skin! Pull up a little skin
from the abdomen or upper thigh (anywhere will do, but these are easiest) and
inject. Do not shoot into a muscle. This rushes the dose and makes it harder
to predict when it will spike.
So now you have 15 minutes to get some carbs (actually you have longer, since
the initial hit of the dose is mild and easy to cope with, the spike is a little
more harsh, but still nothing unbearable. If you use the carbs, you probobly
wont notice the initial dose OR the spike.)
(this is based on Humalog at 10 i.u.)
I use a powder with a 20% simple/80% complex ratio (actually its 17% mono, 5%
di, 7% tri, 5%tetra, and 66% penta-saccharides). I use about 60grams of carbs
to the 10 i.u. of insulin.
This gives me a nice solid stream of carbs to overcompensate my depleted muscles,
but not so many that I risk fat accumulation from the excess.
Now you are good to go till around 1 hour after the initial injection. At this
1 hour mark, the majority of the dose hits your system. Now is the time to eat
a good balanced (AND FAT FREE!) meal. The fat-free emphasis will be explained
in the POTENTIAL PROBLEMS section. This balance meal of carbs and protien and
little to know fat can be anything from a protien drink and a crab drink, to
a low fat MRP, to some lean chicken and rice... your choice.
After this meal, you dont need to pay anymore consideration to the insulin,
it will gradually decrease and will be out of your system at the 2 hour mark.
Till you get accustmed to the use of insulin, start low and slow. Start at 2
i.u. then 5 i.u. then 7 i.u. then 10 i.u. That way you get a better understanding
of any hypoglycemia you may encounter. Ive went as high as 35 i.u., just to
try it, but at a certain point a higher dosage doesnt yield any better results
(except fat!)
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
Insulin is relativly safe. If you dont take in any carbs after using it, your
body will give you PLENNTY of warning! Youll feel dizzy, tired, achey... hypoglycemic.
What is happening is your body has no glycogen to use as fuel. Your muscles
re depleted from working out, and often times youve tapped your liver for any
remaining glycogen. The insulin does, searching for glycogen to use, takes the
rest from your liver, and in the absence of carbs coming in to make more, it
heads for the brain.
Your brain uses glucose as its primary fuel source (a little fat, too.) Thats
why you get dizzy and light headed, the same with during a ketogenic diet...
low glucose equals light headedness.
So if you forget about the carbs, youll get a warning from yuor body, and you
can get your ass in gear and get some carbs in you.
If you get to the point where youre nauseated, just drink some sugary beverage
and get some carbs in you quickly. Youre still a long long way from any major
danger, but dont mess around.
"Fat Free" I said earlier about the 1 hour mark meal. During the 2
hours of the dosage duration, you should avoid fat like it is the plauge! Insulins
partitioning properties are as effective at sending fat to the fat stores as
it is carbs and protien to muscles!
So till the dose is clear of your system, NO FAT! (Thats another reason why
I advocate the fastest acting insulin you can get.)
Well, I cant think of anything else off hand that needs to be said, but if I
missed anything, just ask. I may have taken somethng for granted and figured
everyone would know or assume on their own...
