Your body releases insulin to dispose of unneeded sugar. While insulin is an extremely anabolic hormone (actually the most anabolic hormone known to man), there is a definite disadvantage with insulin spikes caused by too much sugar. Insulin triggers energy stores to open up and helps to shuttle nutrients into

storage areas. Adipose cells readily accept nutrients to be stored as body fat shortly after the introduction of insulin. Insulin opens the “doors” in adipose for body fat storage for a very short period of time. It takes a high level of insulin to force open the adipose doors. Insulin doesn’t affect body fat storage as long as the insulin levels rise slowly and remain fairly consistent . Throughout the day, sugar consumption can

spike insulin levels and induce body fat storage. Eating a high carb diet without sugars will cause a steady release of sugar into the system causing a high level of insulin release, but since the rate of release is steady , it does not trigger an “open door” in adipose for body fat storage but provides an extremely

anabolic environment as the benefits of insulin are realized. Complex carbs are a much bigger molecule than simple sugars. They have many sugars bonded together. To turn complex carbs into glucose, they must be broken down. There is a series of steps that they must undergo to be broken down. Enzymes must

be present to break each molecular bond of these polymers. All this takes a while to complete. By the time some of it is broken down into glucose, in the small intestines, some of it has already passed into the large intestine where absorption is almost completely ceased. This process allows for a slow and steady rate

of glucose production that fuels the brain and muscles throughout the day without causing a release of insulin. This is very important because, as previously stated, you don’t want insulin in your body during a workout; you need its recipicle, blood sugars.

Animals release natural sugar stores, glycogen, for energy. The body will regulate itself with insulin when it no longer needs the sugar in its system. It doesn’t matter whether the sugar comes from internal (from glycogen) or ingested sources (table sugar), insulin is released to counteract it. There will be rushes

and fatigue with high consumption of sugars as your body tries to regulate itself. It can be almost impossible to workout when one’s blood sugar levels are low due to sugar consumption beforehand. Insulin signals the body to begin repair after a workout. Your body thinks that glycogen has been released when sugar is present in the bloodstream. Why? Glycogen (blood sugar) is released when your body meets high output demands. After strenuous activity, the body has to repair. When one is undergoing activity such as weightlifting, he needs energy, glucose from broken down glycogen. Insulin is released after the workout to counter the now not needed glucose level. When muscles sense the presence of insulin, they see that its time to begin healing and recuperation. Insulin “opens doors” in the muscles to accept nourishment and helps to shuttle in vital nutrients such as amino acids.

Just imagine your muscle cells as having an irresistible attraction to insulin, a chemical attraction. The insulin wants to get into the muscle. What is so significant about insulin is its chemical make up. Its structure causes it to bond to nutrients. Nutrients include creatine, prohormones, anabolic hormones, some

vitamins, minerals, glutamine, and other amino acids. This is the cause of the 45-minute window for taking supplements and refueling your body for the next workout. The body sucks up needed amino acids during this period. Remember, muscle tissue is made from the assimilation of various amino acids. So, to have protein synthesis within the muscles, your cells must have sufficient amounts of various amino acids. Glutamine is the biggest component of muscle fiber. Adequate glutamine is essential for the addition of new muscle. All of these nutrients are sucked into the cell for 45 minutes due to the increased amount of

insulin in the body after a workout, and because the muscles themselves are “starving” for them, a henomenon called intercellular thirst. With this in mind, you can see how ingestion of huge amounts of sugars after a workout is beneficial. Your body will have some insulin naturally released after the workout but the more, the better in causing a hormonal environment that’s good for forming new muscle. IGF-1 (insulin like growth factor), a Growth Hormone, is also released in the presence of insulin. Growth Hormone is what causes gigantism. That’s one factor in determining why some people are mesomorphs

and others are ectomorphs. It’s why people like Andre “the Giant” don’t even have to work out to be huge, but if they do, they gain much more muscle than the normal person. The growth hormone is released by the pituitary gland. Think about this, what if you could have a spiked insulin level all throughout the day? You’ve already learned that you don’t want extra insulin just before a workout because it will hinder the breakdown of the muscle fibers. But imagine a 24-hour insulin spike. That would be the most anabolic environment one

could ever hope to achieve. So how do you achieve that? Well that’s one of the biggest dilemmas faced in the underground world of competitive bodybuilding today. And in fact it’s one of the biggest reasons that bodybuilders are bigger, stronger, and more defined than bodybuilders ten years ago. They have employed the injection of artificial insulin. Imagine, all day long, almost everything that is consumed is converted into anabolic fuel. Insulin is more powerful than any steroid ever formulated. But it’s also the most dangerous. Bodybuilders inject incredible amounts daily. The pancreas may soon stop its own production of insulin and the body can become solely dependent upon the exogenous injections. One could cause himself to become a life long diabetic. They sell their health to the sport of bodybuilding.