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Ok, so I'm reading this book I got called the anabolic diet. What they reccomend is 5 days with less than 30 grams of carbs per day, then eating a high carb diet for 36-48 hours. The book is very geared towards Bodybuilders but I figure it might have some advantages for a performance based athlete looking to put on some muscle. Some quotes and points that I'd appreciate input on:
"usually insulin works to decrese the secretion of growth hormone, but the body sees the great increase in carbs and insulin during the weekend as a stressful situation, much like exercise, and growth hormon actually increases with insulin. in this way, we get the positive effects of growth hormon stimulus both during the week and on weekends." - p. 27
Is this right? I was under the impression that a low carb induced ketosis would take more time than 5 days to induce, and could be lost after one cheating meal. Would a 5 days on, 2 days off split like this even get you to ketosis or is it striving for something different do you think?
p. 28 Says cortisone is a catabolic hormone.
I know nothing about cortisone. could somebody enlighten me? some people say it makes you fat, others say it destroys muscles, some say it does very little with regards to training... WTF does cortisone do?
"the first thing your body does in response to this exaggerated carb loading is stuff the muscles with glycogen (muscle glycogen also increases more than you'd find on a high carb dieet). At the the same time, amino acids are driven into the cell and an even greater anabolic effect is experienced.
"During the weekend you'll find yourself rather relaxed and blase because carbs will be forcing a rise in serotonin.
"once you hit that gym on monday, you're going to get one of the best pumps of your life, thanks to all that glycogen and water in the muscle cells. During monday and tuesday, your syustem will be working, burning both all that increased glycogen and free fatty acids, and you'll experience the expected rise in fat burning and muscle growth. Then, Wednesday-friday, with glycogen limited again, you'll switch back to a near exclusive fat burning metabolism to maximize your gains."
They spend a lot of time justifying the 2 days off, and the glycogen store replenishing thing is a big reason for it. They seem to make the claim that the anabolic diet helps increase ATP stores on your cheat days (and to a lesser extent in the two that follow) in addition to spending the majority of the week burning fat for energy.
In any event, I'll be trying this diet for a month to see what happens. I mean, it couldn't hurt anything right? Time for some cottage cheese and some sleep.
"usually insulin works to decrese the secretion of growth hormone, but the body sees the great increase in carbs and insulin during the weekend as a stressful situation, much like exercise, and growth hormon actually increases with insulin. in this way, we get the positive effects of growth hormon stimulus both during the week and on weekends." - p. 27
Is this right? I was under the impression that a low carb induced ketosis would take more time than 5 days to induce, and could be lost after one cheating meal. Would a 5 days on, 2 days off split like this even get you to ketosis or is it striving for something different do you think?
p. 28 Says cortisone is a catabolic hormone.
I know nothing about cortisone. could somebody enlighten me? some people say it makes you fat, others say it destroys muscles, some say it does very little with regards to training... WTF does cortisone do?
"the first thing your body does in response to this exaggerated carb loading is stuff the muscles with glycogen (muscle glycogen also increases more than you'd find on a high carb dieet). At the the same time, amino acids are driven into the cell and an even greater anabolic effect is experienced.
"During the weekend you'll find yourself rather relaxed and blase because carbs will be forcing a rise in serotonin.
"once you hit that gym on monday, you're going to get one of the best pumps of your life, thanks to all that glycogen and water in the muscle cells. During monday and tuesday, your syustem will be working, burning both all that increased glycogen and free fatty acids, and you'll experience the expected rise in fat burning and muscle growth. Then, Wednesday-friday, with glycogen limited again, you'll switch back to a near exclusive fat burning metabolism to maximize your gains."
They spend a lot of time justifying the 2 days off, and the glycogen store replenishing thing is a big reason for it. They seem to make the claim that the anabolic diet helps increase ATP stores on your cheat days (and to a lesser extent in the two that follow) in addition to spending the majority of the week burning fat for energy.
In any event, I'll be trying this diet for a month to see what happens. I mean, it couldn't hurt anything right? Time for some cottage cheese and some sleep.