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Optimizing Your Hormonal Environment: Diet and Anabolic Synergy
By David Barr
Whether or not you’re currently using, if you’re reading this there’s no doubt that you’re training your ass off. But how can you ensure that you’re really optimizing your potential? This can only be done if your anabolics, training, and diet are working synergistically with each other. For many people the idea of a special diet consists of a single criterion (or dare I say mantra): “get enough protein”. This is not only outdated thinking, but completely suboptimal. Fortunately, you’re about to learn how to maximize your potential.
Enter: Active Nutrition
This diet revolution is called “active nutrition”, and it’s changing the way people look at food. Essentially active nutrition can be described as making food work for you, rather than simply ‘getting enough’ of a particular nutrient. This is not unlike your expectations of anabolics or the stimulus from training –they should be working for you as well. Now just imagine the potential of combining all sources, all-working for you synergistically.
Active Nutrition: A Specific Example
Look at it this way, you can simply consume an adequate amount of protein, or you can optimize your current anabolic state by using the right nutrients at the right times. For example, if you’re using GH there’s a good chance that you have impaired insulin sensitivity. Clearly this isn’t an ideal environment for either fat loss or muscle growth, so it’s best to use active nutrition and let the nutrients do all the work. Hell, even if you’re not using GH, it’s critical to optimize muscle insulin sensitivity if you really want to maximize your potential.
That’s not to say that you’re not going to grow or lose fat when using anabolics (obviously), but a situation of anything less than maximal insulin sensitivity is not optimal for either goal. And if you’re going through the trouble of optimizing training and pharmaceutical use, it’s a good bet that you want to get as much out of it as possible. This is where active nutrition comes in.
Step I: Insulin and Fats
In the case of mitigating insulin resistance during anabolic use, frontloading Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s) is a good start. Consuming 20grams a day (per 200lbs of bodyweight) beginning 30 days before a cycle will ensure that your cells are primed for the insulin as it’s delivered –which ultimately means improved muscle growth and fat loss. This is because the EFA’s not only have acute effects on digestion and satiety, but they also directly incorporate themselves into our cells. In other words, our bodies are literally made out of them!
In addition to EFA’s, ensuring that your diet is comprised of a healthy dose of monounsaturated fat will also provide optimal anabolism and fat loss. 40 grams a day, from sources such as olive oil, almonds, and avocado’s is a good way to ensure that our muscle sucks up the amino acids and energy they need to repair and grow. You’ll want to start this level of fat intake at least 30 days before starting anabolics, because it takes a while for them to build up in our cells and do their job.
Step II: Insulin Timing
This would be followed up by utilizing low Insulin Index carbohydrates predominantly in the morning, in order to keep insulin sensitivity as high as possible. Conversely, we would use high Insulin Index carbohydrates immediately following training. The goal here in not to actually stimulate insulin, but rather take advantage of the fact that our muscles soak up the carbs independently of this hormone. Overall, this leads to an optimal hormonal environment for growth, recovery, and fat loss.
Conclusion
Maximizing muscle insulin sensitivity will result in both muscle growth and fat loss. The impact of this is synergistic with both hard training and anabolic use, particularly when you make your food work for you. Insulin sensitivity is but one way in which active nutrition can be used to optimize your goals, but it’s a great way of introducing you to this diet revolution.
FAQ
Q. I’m using insulin along with my other anabolics; will active nutrition still help me?
A. Absolutely! These strategies work whether exogenous insulin is being used or not.
About The Author
David Barr is widely recognized as an industry innovator, most recently for his work on developing The Anabolic Index. As a strength coach and scientist, he brings a unique perspective to the areas of training, diet, supplementation and pharmaceutical use. He holds certifications with the NSCA as well as USA Track and Field, and can be contacted through his website:
Raise the Barr!
By David Barr
Whether or not you’re currently using, if you’re reading this there’s no doubt that you’re training your ass off. But how can you ensure that you’re really optimizing your potential? This can only be done if your anabolics, training, and diet are working synergistically with each other. For many people the idea of a special diet consists of a single criterion (or dare I say mantra): “get enough protein”. This is not only outdated thinking, but completely suboptimal. Fortunately, you’re about to learn how to maximize your potential.
Enter: Active Nutrition
This diet revolution is called “active nutrition”, and it’s changing the way people look at food. Essentially active nutrition can be described as making food work for you, rather than simply ‘getting enough’ of a particular nutrient. This is not unlike your expectations of anabolics or the stimulus from training –they should be working for you as well. Now just imagine the potential of combining all sources, all-working for you synergistically.
Active Nutrition: A Specific Example
Look at it this way, you can simply consume an adequate amount of protein, or you can optimize your current anabolic state by using the right nutrients at the right times. For example, if you’re using GH there’s a good chance that you have impaired insulin sensitivity. Clearly this isn’t an ideal environment for either fat loss or muscle growth, so it’s best to use active nutrition and let the nutrients do all the work. Hell, even if you’re not using GH, it’s critical to optimize muscle insulin sensitivity if you really want to maximize your potential.
That’s not to say that you’re not going to grow or lose fat when using anabolics (obviously), but a situation of anything less than maximal insulin sensitivity is not optimal for either goal. And if you’re going through the trouble of optimizing training and pharmaceutical use, it’s a good bet that you want to get as much out of it as possible. This is where active nutrition comes in.
Step I: Insulin and Fats
In the case of mitigating insulin resistance during anabolic use, frontloading Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s) is a good start. Consuming 20grams a day (per 200lbs of bodyweight) beginning 30 days before a cycle will ensure that your cells are primed for the insulin as it’s delivered –which ultimately means improved muscle growth and fat loss. This is because the EFA’s not only have acute effects on digestion and satiety, but they also directly incorporate themselves into our cells. In other words, our bodies are literally made out of them!
In addition to EFA’s, ensuring that your diet is comprised of a healthy dose of monounsaturated fat will also provide optimal anabolism and fat loss. 40 grams a day, from sources such as olive oil, almonds, and avocado’s is a good way to ensure that our muscle sucks up the amino acids and energy they need to repair and grow. You’ll want to start this level of fat intake at least 30 days before starting anabolics, because it takes a while for them to build up in our cells and do their job.
Step II: Insulin Timing
This would be followed up by utilizing low Insulin Index carbohydrates predominantly in the morning, in order to keep insulin sensitivity as high as possible. Conversely, we would use high Insulin Index carbohydrates immediately following training. The goal here in not to actually stimulate insulin, but rather take advantage of the fact that our muscles soak up the carbs independently of this hormone. Overall, this leads to an optimal hormonal environment for growth, recovery, and fat loss.
Conclusion
Maximizing muscle insulin sensitivity will result in both muscle growth and fat loss. The impact of this is synergistic with both hard training and anabolic use, particularly when you make your food work for you. Insulin sensitivity is but one way in which active nutrition can be used to optimize your goals, but it’s a great way of introducing you to this diet revolution.
FAQ
Q. I’m using insulin along with my other anabolics; will active nutrition still help me?
A. Absolutely! These strategies work whether exogenous insulin is being used or not.
About The Author
David Barr is widely recognized as an industry innovator, most recently for his work on developing The Anabolic Index. As a strength coach and scientist, he brings a unique perspective to the areas of training, diet, supplementation and pharmaceutical use. He holds certifications with the NSCA as well as USA Track and Field, and can be contacted through his website:
Raise the Barr!
