The Scientist
Level 3 Valued Member
I recently did a self-experiment, and thought I would share the results:
Background: I have a strong history of type 2 diabetes in my family, and I occasionally test my fasting and post-prandial glucose levels out of curiosity. I have also been reading quite a bit of primary literature on the effects of skeletal muscle mass and strength training on glucose homeostasis. The conclusion that I gathered was that increasing muscle mass and keeping carbohydrate intake moderate will lead to increased glycogen storage capacity, but low actual glycogen levels, leading to an ability to absorb large boluses of glucose at a rate much higher than I would have expected.
Protocol: Cyclic ketogenic diet where carbs stay low (75-100 g) most days, putting me into a moderate ketogeneic state after 3-4 days at this level. Once or twice a week, have a large dose of starch (potatoes or rice) immediately after a challenging strength workout. This is known as carb-backloading in some circles. I decided to test my glucose levels to get an idea of what was happening. For reference, I am male, ~220 lbs and ~12-15% BF.
Results: Fasting glucose was 80-85 mg/dl, and dropped to ~75 mg/dl during the workout. Immediately after lifting (30 minutes or squat, deadlift, press, chin-up, farmer's walk), I consumed a whey protein shake and 6 cups of cooked rice (about 270g of carbohydrate). This should be enough to send blood glucose levels very high, but... glucose levels rose to mid-90s after 30 minutes and never rose above that level, coming back down to mid 80s after 2 hours. The following morning, weight was up several pounds more than normal, indicating that the glucose went to glycogen storage (water weight), given that fat storage could not possibly account for that kind of weight increase.
Conclusion: carb feasting when carb-depleted and after strength training seems to result in the ability to store glucose as glycogen very quickly. This confirms data from animal (and some human) studies that I have read, suggesting that Glut4 can be activated without insulin to rapidly remove blood glucose for storage after strength training. The weekly or twice-weekly carb binge also dramatically restores energy levels the following morning and keeps performance high in the gym. If anyone is interested in the power of lifting to manage blood glucose, I thought this might be helpful.
Background: I have a strong history of type 2 diabetes in my family, and I occasionally test my fasting and post-prandial glucose levels out of curiosity. I have also been reading quite a bit of primary literature on the effects of skeletal muscle mass and strength training on glucose homeostasis. The conclusion that I gathered was that increasing muscle mass and keeping carbohydrate intake moderate will lead to increased glycogen storage capacity, but low actual glycogen levels, leading to an ability to absorb large boluses of glucose at a rate much higher than I would have expected.
Protocol: Cyclic ketogenic diet where carbs stay low (75-100 g) most days, putting me into a moderate ketogeneic state after 3-4 days at this level. Once or twice a week, have a large dose of starch (potatoes or rice) immediately after a challenging strength workout. This is known as carb-backloading in some circles. I decided to test my glucose levels to get an idea of what was happening. For reference, I am male, ~220 lbs and ~12-15% BF.
Results: Fasting glucose was 80-85 mg/dl, and dropped to ~75 mg/dl during the workout. Immediately after lifting (30 minutes or squat, deadlift, press, chin-up, farmer's walk), I consumed a whey protein shake and 6 cups of cooked rice (about 270g of carbohydrate). This should be enough to send blood glucose levels very high, but... glucose levels rose to mid-90s after 30 minutes and never rose above that level, coming back down to mid 80s after 2 hours. The following morning, weight was up several pounds more than normal, indicating that the glucose went to glycogen storage (water weight), given that fat storage could not possibly account for that kind of weight increase.
Conclusion: carb feasting when carb-depleted and after strength training seems to result in the ability to store glucose as glycogen very quickly. This confirms data from animal (and some human) studies that I have read, suggesting that Glut4 can be activated without insulin to rapidly remove blood glucose for storage after strength training. The weekly or twice-weekly carb binge also dramatically restores energy levels the following morning and keeps performance high in the gym. If anyone is interested in the power of lifting to manage blood glucose, I thought this might be helpful.
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