The Secret To Building Muscle

Do you want to know a secret?  The fitness industry is full of gimmicks and nonsense, and yet through it all there is still an opportunity for some truth to be revealed.  While this may or may not be a secret, it is certainly not a click bait or some super obvious tip that we’re explaining although most everyone already knows.  No, this is a serious physiological condition that can be addressed and if properly maintained can make a world of difference for your muscle development and overall health.  

What is this “secret”?  It’s a matter of understanding your insulin sensitivity.  This factor alone can actually define your body type, physique, health, and body fat composition.

Like anything else in our bodies there is room to be trained. As a matter of fact, you may be training your insulin right now (in the wrong way) and you don’t even know it. Drink any sodas? Eat a lot of junk food? Or, perhaps, you eat too much too often (every two hours, 3 - 6k calories per day)?  In any case, you’re training your insulin sensitivity to become weak or insensitive. Weak insulin sensitivity is bad.

Why Is Insulin Sensitivity Important?

Everything comes down to our food intake. Aside from sunlight, and what’s absorbed in the skin, consumables (food, liquid, air, medicines) are the only things we can introduce to the system (our bodies), everything else is self contained. So the only influence you have on making changes to your body must go through your mouth, nose, or skin. As the digestion process begins, the food is broken down into simple sugars.  These sugars begin to travel through the blood; our bodies will release insulin to metabolize the sugar into energy and thus give you the ability to maintain life.

When you have weak insulin sensitivity sugar stays in the blood stream longer. Why is this bad? Think of water and metal, over time it will rust. Sugar is an oxidant, and believe it or not oxygen is killing you…slowly :D. The problem with sugar remaining too long within the blood is that it causes adverse effects across the board; namely weight gain, nerve damage, and diabetes.

The Muscle Building Secret

Insulin sensitivity is very important for muscle development. People with good physiques are insulin sensitive. They have good physiques because when your body is sensitive to insulin you’re also sensitive to another hormone called cortisol.  These two hormones go hand in hand, or actually like oil and vinegar; they don’t like being in the same place at the same time. The problem with cortisol is that it is a catabolic hormone, meaning it will actually use muscle tissue as fuel and stores fat around the belly area; it’s a fight or flight mechanism brought on by high levels of stress. These stresses include cardiovascular diseases, weight issues (overweight or starvation), or even exercising. So, after a stressful event like working out, we can actually combat this catabolic response from that stress with things that would spike insulin (simple sugar candies like smarties or with protein shakes). The problem here, which brings us full circle, is if you’re not insulin sensitive your body will remain in a catabolic state and as a result make gaining muscle very difficult.

How Do We Become Insulin Sensitive?

The best approach is intermittent fasting. What Is An Intermittent Fasting Routine? Basically, it comes down to pushing your first meal to later in the day. By doing this it allows your body to properly utilize all of the nutrients you’ve consumed. When you properly utilize these nutrients you are causing your body to become more sensitive to blood sugar levels, and as a result insulin is more efficient.

Anyone who is overweight is somewhat desensitized to insulin. Anyone who is unhealthy is somewhat desensitized to insulin. Anyone with hormonal imbalances is somewhat desensitized to insulin. Be conscious of the food you eat and be active so that your insulin stays (or becomes) sensitive and allows your body to be in a state for muscle building.

People with good physiques are insulin sensitive.