Is the use of humalog in peri-workout window a broscience?

[deuces_00]

Let me preface this by saying I am not asserting that the use of pre/post workout slin IS a gymbro science, just putting my thoughts out there. Feel free to disagree and let me know your thoughts.

With my current understanding of insulin within bodybuilding, and insulin as a whole, it just doesn't seem to make much sense to use humalog in peri-workout window, or really at all.

Yes, x units of humalog + intra shake allows for rapid absorption of glycogen and aminos into the cells. But suppose we are an off-season bodybuilder eating in a caloric surplus sufficient enough to support good training performance, with proper timing of carbs around the workout window/throughout the day, and are remaining insulin sensitive, humalog just doesnt seem to make much sense. Just because the humalog shoves the nutrients in quicker, doesn't mean that this would result in a greater hypertrophy response.

The 'best' argument I can think of in which humalog makes the most sense is to support longer and more strenuous training sessions, but honestly in my opinion this falls short too. If you've got good programming and understand how to best train for hypertrophy the humalog's not really needed here either as you wont train in such a way that makes it necessary. And you can have an intra-shake and still reap some benefits without deploying humalog.

It seems to me that the use of insulin within bodybuilding is pretty limited to a basal insulin once A1C & fasting blood glucose trends indicate that insulin sensitivity is suffering during off-season.

It's important to note that my beliefs and principles around what the best approaches for hypertrophy training and bodybuilding nutrition are definitely key influences in forming this opinion, so our (potential) disagreement probably will originate from our differing beliefs on the training/nutrition aspects. But lmk what you think irregardless!

 

[shredded.lyfe]

It's only purpose, like everything in this arsenal is to manage a problem you're currently in the middle of.

Very advanced strongman (open) athletes have massive carbohydrate demands that the body simply cannot metabolise enough.

So once their carbohydrate intake exceeds a certain threshold they use the insulin to cover the gap, but that doesn't mean they're doing it every workout either, nor every season.

Bodybuilders use it for hypertrophy but usually the spastics that are reaching for that needle haven't actually maxed out their other hypertrophy pathways, they just see that insulin is cheap and then try to use it as a shortcut.

Sometimes Bodybuilders will use it at the tail end of their prep just to squeeze a few more weeks out as their insulin sensitivity has gradually declined over months, but that's all it's doing, it's not sustainable.

 

[deuces_00]

It's only purpose, like everything in this arsenal is to manage a problem you're currently in the middle of.

Very advanced strongman (open) athletes have massive carbohydrate demands that the body simply cannot metabolise enough.

So once their carbohydrate intake exceeds a certain threshold they use the insulin to cover the gap, but that doesn't mean they're doing it every workout either, nor every season.

This is what I mean - in this context lantus is entirely sufficient and a whole lot easier as you just have to dose it 1x/day and is much safer as well as the risk for going hypo is pretty much zip.

So why choose humalog? Can’t think of a good reason to reach for humalog over lantus pretty much ever