Hey Andy
Like I say I'm no expert but was really quiet desperate at one stage to find some answers to why I was building so much muscle, my whole body shape was changing and changing fast :shock:
I had to have an ATCH test due to low cortisol, when my low Cortisol problems started this was when I started gaining all the muscle, so I did a fair bit of reading and there is the link between low Cortisol and the distribution of muscle mass changing in the body....this seemed to be what was happening with me .
I know I was doing a lot longer distances but I was really bulking up, not like some of my long distance buddies who tend to get a thinner more wiry physique the more they train. I really do have more of a sprinter's physique now if I was to compare myself ....but I can still cover the ground pretty effortlessly so all's good, it's just I would like to achieve a more wiry physique due to my own aesthetics really...I'm a vain bu**er :lol:
I think if you run continuous high blood sugars you will run into breaking down muscle, your body will always choose fat to breakdown first for energy if it does not have food for fuel, I was told then it move onto muscle.Thankfully I do have a nice covering of fat so I'm sure that will go before my muscle because obviously the heart is one big muscle so there is no way I would want that to start getting gobbled up :shock:
For short term high intensity exercise the adrenals pump out Cortisol and obviously adrenalin and apparently high glucose in the blood is a cortisol blocker which helps with muscle growth when you are working them. I understand that is why the bodybuilders who manipulate the Cortico's go for a high carb meal and miss their steroid dose....so I have read, VERY naughty!
This did explain to me why even though my diet had not changed and I had gone from more sprint based, interval ,shorter duration runs (with lower BG) ,to more longer endurance runs with higher blood sugars for the first 6/7 miles (BS between 14/17) I built muscle and a lot of it. I had to stop with the weights as I got really muscly very quickly on my arms so now I just run.
Obviously all anecdotal evidence but it did kind of make sense to me and I saw it happen but we are all individuals who's endocrine system is different and will react differently to different regimes, so it is a mater of experimenting and finding what works for you.
I've got used to my new curves now and I've learned to love them because there is no way I could give up on the endurance running now.
I do sometimes feel like I am running through treacle for the first few miles if I have had the high for a bit, but to be honest I have got it down to a fine art to get my glucose in the perfect range for me just after breakfast so I hit the roads and run it down pretty quickly so I'm not languishing in the high BS range and doing any real damage....and to be honest when I have higher BS and pumped up for a run/race I'm like a stall kept race horse...I'm bouncing off the walls :lol:
What's your sport Andy? and how do you find your glucose control when working out?