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Insulin 101

XOTG85

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OK, I want to talk about insulin here. I'm going to talk about how to use it properly, the different types, and what to expect from it.
But first and foremost I'm going to talk about safety. Insulin is nothing to fuck around with, and if you're fairly new to the world of performance enhancement and/or nutrition and training, don't even consider doing something like insulin!! Insulin can kill you quick. I'm talking about a dirt nap within a couple hours if you're not careful. HOWEVER, there are really only a couple ways you can fuck it up.
The biggest way to fuck up insulin is incorrect measurement. If I tell you to take 5 units of insulin and you load up 5cc's as you would a steroid shot, or even load up 5 units as you would a GH shot, you are probably going to die. 5 units of insulin means 5 tiny little lines or “clicks” on an insulin syringe. It will look like hardly anything in the needle, this is powerful shit and it doesn't take much at all to do it's job.
The second biggest way to fuck up insulin is to not eat properly after administering it. As a general rule, for every 1 unit of insulin you inject, you need to take 10 grams of carbohydrates with it. This needs to be done within 15 minutes of injecting insulin.
Depending on what type of insulin you use, you will want another meal within 60-90 minutes after that, and that will be a solid meal including fats, proteins, and carbs. After getting familiar with insulin and how your body reacts to it, you may find you can change the ratio to 7 grams carbs/ unit of insulin, or may need to raise it slightly, but for a first time insulin user, 10 grams/unit minimum, and err on the side of overkill at first!!!
[h=2]Fast Acting Insulins[/h]OK, now let's get into the different types of insulin and what to expect. The first time I used insulin was 13 years ago, I'm kind of experienced here, so listen up damnit!!
The first type of insulin, and the one most commonly used is HUMULIN-R. Humulin R can be purchased from a pharmacy without a prescription for around $20-30 a vial. That's right, anyone off the street can walk into a Walmart pharmacy and buy Humulin-R.
This is an insulin with a 30 min. – 1 hour onset, a 2-5 hour peak, and a 5-8 hour duration. This makes it a little more unpredictable than a faster insulin, because there is a much larger gap as to when it can peak. You could eat a meal with adequate carbs and then 3 hours later you're feeling hypo and you better get more in you. But for purchasing/legality issues this is what most guys use.
This is an insulin I would not recommend using more than 1 time/day. I'd use it post workout and make damn good and sure you're not using it within 4-5 hours of bedtime. You want to be awake with this stuff so you can deal with any issues that are coming on from it.
The next type of insulin we will talk about is HUMALOG/NOLVALOG. Humalog and Nolvalog are the same type of insulin, just different brand names. It's just like Sony and Panasonic. This is a faster acting insulin with a 15 minute onset, 30-90 minute peak, and 3-5 hour duration. This is an insulin that you can shoot more than once a day. Two to three times a day injections are fine, but you need to be cautious of insulin stacking.
“Stacking” is when you take an injection, then take another injection say 3-4 hours later, and even though you measured out x amount of units, it was really like x+3 units because there was some residual left from your last shot. What can happen is you misjudge your carb intake and you think you had adequate carbs, but you really fell short and can start getting hypo (dangerously low blood sugar).
I would recommend using Humalog or Nolvalog over Humulin R, its a faster onset, peak, and a shorter duration. You can know what to expect from it a little easier than Humulin R. Also, being able to use it 2-3 times/day will keep you more anabolic and provide better gains.
[h=2]Long acting insulins[/h]Next we get into our long acting insulins, or 24 hour insulins. LANTUS/ LEVEMIR- These are the mack fucking Daddy's of insulins. You want some huge gains? Then run a slower acting basal insulin behind a faster one such as Nolvalog or Humalog. There is no peak with Lantus, its release is slow enough that your body adjusts to it before any side effects occur. It's the safest insulin you could use.
Levemir is similar, but has a slight peak at 6-8 hours, but nothing noticable in most cases. These insulins are usually shot before bedtime, with a 1.5 hour onset, no peak (slight with Levemir, but not Lantus) and a 20-24 hour duration. This means you're anabolic all the time!!
So this is like your basal anabolic machine gun, and adding a faster acting insulin such as Humalog or Nolvalog is your grenade launcher. I've recently packed on 16 quality lbs in only 4 weeks with this, and that is ONLY USING insulin and my 150-200mg/wk testosterone replacement dosage!!! Think if I was on cycle too? Jesus Christ, what kind of gains would that yield?
[h=2]Eating on insulin!!![/h]First off, I would highly advise against using insulin while strictly dieting. You just put yourself in a very dangerous state with lower nutrients and calories on insulin. Not to mention, it is easier to put on body fat with insulin if you're not careful. I just don't see the benefit of using it while cutting bodyfat.
While using insulin, every few hours you should have a protein/carb source. We are not doing anything like intermittent fasting, or carb backloading here. You will feed your body on a regular basis throughout the day!!! Post injection of insulin should be 10 grams carbs per every unit of insulin!!! WITHIN 15 MINUTES OF SHOT!!! And remember, with HUMULIN-R, another meal with 40-60 grams carbs, 40-60 grams protein, and SOME healthy fats should be eaten 60-90 minutes from that!!!
Always be near sugar and food. Actually, make sure its on you!! If you start feeling sweaty, irritable, having cold sweats, dizzy, shaky, hungry, thirsty, just know you're probably going hypoglycemic and you better eat some simple sugars pretty fucking fast!!!
Buy a Glucometer!! These are fairly easy to use and it's good to know what your glucose levels are anyways, but even more so when using insulin. The electronic strips that you use with the meters are a 1 time deal, they usually come in bottles of 50 strips. I'm not exactly sure if you need a doctor script to get the strips or not, but I'd suggest going to your doctor and asking him to write you a script for the diabetic test strips. Just tell your doctor that you would like to start monitoring your glucose levels on a regular basis. Any doctor should write a script for that.
[h=2]Buy a Glucometer on Amazon!!![/h]No more than- 4-6 weeks on insulin!!! You do not want to turn yourself into a diabetic, therefore 4-6 weeks max!! It's also difficult not to accumulate SOME BODY FAT on insulin. I'd follow it up with at least 12 weeks off. Humulin-R, Nolvalog, and Humalog can be used only on days you train if you prefer, this would probably be better so your body does not get too accustomed to it. Now with the 24 hour insulins like Lantus and Levemir, those you will need to take every day.
Anyways, I'm not condoning using this stuff, and how you acquire it is up to you. I'm just telling you how to use the shit safely and what to expect from it. But I'm not going to lie, when it comes to gains in the gym this is some powerful shit!!!
Insulin is the most anabolic thing you can use period!!! Be careful and lift hard ASF!!!
 
Awesome thread bro. Good read


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Awesome thread bro. Good read


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Thanks brother!! I’ve been blasting threw plateaus with insulin lately. It’s crazy how anabolic it is and you don’t need nearly half as much aas when using it. Keep it short and sweet.
 
I've found that I have gotten desensitized to insulin over time and don't need nearly as many carbs to compensate. I've only ever used on workout days and take weeks to months off, so very intermittent use. Novolin R, 10-12iu preworkout. I used it on and off for 2yrs.
 
I've found that I have gotten desensitized to insulin over time and don't need nearly as many carbs to compensate. I've only ever used on workout days and take weeks to months off, so very intermittent use. Novolin R, 10-12iu preworkout. I used it on and off for 2yrs.

I also use on workout days on and off 4 weeks on, 4 weeks off. Novolin R but 6iu preworkout and hgh preworkout 2iu only on lift days 4-5 days each week. I fucking love it !
 
What are good blood sugar readings when using a test strip as a bodybuilder/powerlifter to monitor your blood/glucose?
Is it the same as the standard the 75-87?

I’m curious if micro managing blood glucose could help me better understand when I’m overeating and need to cut it down carbs to ensure growth, not fattening.


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What are good blood sugar readings when using a test strip as a bodybuilder/powerlifter to monitor your blood/glucose?
Is it the same as the standard the 75-87?

I’m curious if micro managing blood glucose could help me better understand when I’m overeating and need to cut it down carbs to ensure growth, not fattening.


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Yeah. What you're trying to do is very beneficial.

Blood sugar compounds through the day so, you can test you sugar at certain points after a meal to see when they are back in range before eating again. 2-3 hours or so.

This is a good way to keep extra fat from piling on during a bulk but, it's a fuck ton of finger pricking
 
IML Gear Cream!
Blood Glucose readings fucking are terrible but I do it so I won’t die lol. I bought mine from Walmart with the kit.
 
Blood Glucose readings fucking are terrible but I do it so I won’t die lol. I bought mine from Walmart with the kit.

But what numbers should we be looking for? 74-87?
Or should we be lower since we are trying to absorb as much glucose & nutrients as possible?


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But what numbers should we be looking for? 74-87?
Or should we be lower since we are trying to absorb as much glucose & nutrients as possible?


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70-140 is the normal range
 
Now if you saw 140, would you take 2iu of insulin to put you back down to 75-ish?


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You could, I don't normally go high. I have problems going low sometimes. I took 12iu novolin R is why I went low tonight. But if I skip a meal and I'm doing something physical I can go low with no insulin.
 
Also Mr.J be sure to start low and work your way up with your dosage. Don’t just start out using 10iu per day. I would start at 2iu and slowly work my way up to 10iu total per day. This is just me though. Remember insulin is nothing to play with and can leave you dead so be careful.
 
Also Mr.J be sure to start low and work your way up with your dosage. Don’t just start out using 10iu per day. I would start at 2iu and slowly work my way up to 10iu total per day. This is just me though. Remember insulin is nothing to play with and can leave you dead so be careful.

Yes always start out at 2iu. Also if you've been off insulin a while your receptors can reset and your sensitivity go up so then you'd start back at a lower dose than when you stopped your last run. That's what happened to me last night, I've been off insulin for a while so the 12iu felt more like 15 and I needed more carbs than usual to offset it.
 
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