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Although it can be
tricky, if we use supplements properly we can increase insulin, GH,
IGF-1 and testosterone levels, and decrease cortisol levels and other
anticatabolic factors at specific times to maximize increases in lean
body mass. It's important to either create an anabolic hormonal cascade
or make use of natural fluctuations and spikes in the endogenous
anabolic hormones. The end result is an anabolic and anticatabolic
effect in and around the time of training, in the critical post-training
period and at other times of the day.
It may be difficult,
however, to get the hormones and nutrients synchronized so that they can
work together synergistically. For example, the problem with natural
growth hormone spikes is that they almost always occur in the post
absorptive phase when exogenous nutrients are in short supply and
unavailable to muscle cells. That is, GH decreases muscle protein
catabolism but has little anabolic action - there's relatively little
influx of amino acids into the cells. In addition, very little insulin
effect occurs because there's no stimulus for insulin release.
Ideally, all the
anabolic and anticatabolic effects of the various hormones should be
maximized (through a synergistic action of testosterone, insulin, GH,
IGF-1 and thyroid), and the catabolic effects of cortisol minimized at a
time when the availability of nutrients is maximal. The idea behind the
target is supplements (along with appropriate training and diet) is to
do all this naturally. You must be precise in your supplementation,
however, and know exactly what you're doing to create and make maximum
use of any possible synergism of elevated levels of endogenous
testosterone, GH, insulin, thyroid and IGF-1, and decreased levels of
cortisol. For instance, the use of the amino acid glutamine has been
shown to prevent the cortisol-induced destruction of muscle contractile
proteins. Glutamine has also been shown to increase both growth hormone
and insulin secretion.
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