Counteracting cortisol...NAT? Trainerdan? Anyone???
 

I'll jump in here, too, because my question is similar. Last time I lifted, I had 2/3 of a Coke (real sugar) before I started lifting, left it in my locker and had the remaining Coke plus a protein shake right after. I did this once before with carrot juice (unsweetened) instead of the Coke.

Good, bad or ugly?

Thanks!

Friday

Niky, I'll take a stab at it :)

Workouts of 2 hours are long - is there anyway you can cut that down? Cardio in the a.m. and lifting in the p.m. (now that you have equipment at home this might be a possibility?) Studies show that cortisol levels rise after a hour of intense exercise - anything you can do to keep workouts under this time would be to your benefit.

Re: fat burning of the 20 MAS. The nature of the interval training of this type of cardio is that fat burning happens AFTER you workout - it's more anaerobic than aerobic. Protein right after wouldn't really help you cardio-wise, although it's a good idea before you lift. In Fern's AM Cardio on an Empty Stomach thread there are some tips on how to minimize the catabolic effects of a.m. cardio - first one that comes to mind is half a cup of coffee, another is to keep workouts short ;)

Re: lifting. carbs post workout do help combat cortisol by release a controled spike of insulin effectively switching you from catabolic to anabolic. You can also help fight cortisol by taking your anti-oxidants at this time (Vit C&E, green tea) and glutamine. Traditional BBing guidelines do encouage higher G.I. carbs with some protein at this time, so a banana would fit right in. I'm not sure if the pros of this outweigh the cons when following a LC lifestyle, though. You'll have to try and see how YOU feel. And of course, wait to see what Dan has to say :)

Friday, you could never be ugly ;) But I think you just gave me an insulin spike. Coke? How was it? (It's been years since I tried the stuff).

Nat

LOL Nat. :)

The Coke wouldn't have been worth it as a cheat. It was Cherry, too. It was kind of weird, really. I was fully aware that I wasn't craving it, didn't particularly want it, etc. It was for medicinal purposes only, honest. :D

The Friday CKD instructions say to start the carb-up with some fruit or high-GI carbs before the last workout of the week. Coke seemed to fit the bill. :) It was about 30-35 carbs before and 10 after. If I drop my carb-up day, I might try this as a strategy - the TKD instead of the CKD. Supposedly, you don't even leave ketosis, and if you do, it's only for an hour or so. It may also be more anabolic than the CKD (which, of course, isn't *supposed* to be anabolic at all).

As for insulin spikes, Zeus pops a roll of Sweet Tarts before each of his work-outs. **shudder**

Cheers,

Friday

HMMMMM.....
 

COFFEE?
 

Re: COFFEE?
 

From the A.M. Cardio thread, quoting Dan, first page:



So, one or ther other, but not both :)

Nat

avoiding catabolism
 

Nat, seems like you covered it for me.

The ECA, antioxidants, glutamine, and BCAAs would all help to minimize catabolism. I would definately take BCAAs and/or glutamine as soon as I woke up if I were following the program you have outlined.

I just started bringing AM sprints back into my training, and I take 2 NYC pills and a BCAA/glutamine blend as soon as I get up. I hit the court 30 to 45 minutes later.

The length of the workout still seems long, even at 1 hr. 15 min. But, it is much better than 2 hrs. LOL.

Your banana and protein shake idea is good. The post workout carbs will minimize catabolism.

When carbs aren't much of a concern for me (bulking/mass/strength season), I take in carbs (liquid form, like Gatorade, etc) DURING my workout. This actually helps minimize cortisol even more. I'll have to dig up the studies/references on that and post it here.

I suppose there could be a happy medium somewhere that will allow you to consume some carbs during the workout, and some after it to blunt cortisol as much as possible.