Building muscle

[RyanX24]

Hi I currently go gym and feel like I have not made any progress for over a year now. Is there any bodybuilders , p.ts or coaches or anyone which can help me achieve my goals while having type 1 diabetes? Thanks

 

[tim2000s]

Hi @RyanX24. What are you looking to do and what approach have you been taking so far?

I've done a lot of PT that resulted in significant body reshaping and body fat drop to 9%, but we'd need to know a bit about you before we started trying to give advice.

 

[johnpol]

first things first, look at your training heavy compound movements- bench, incline bench, decline, deadlifts and squats should be your bread and butter movements. heavy as you can for 8 reps x 4 sets. don't fall into the trap of reading what a pro bodybuilder does now, we all start with the basics first, then adapt as you grow. then look at your nutrition, eating every two hrs- protein, fats and carbs with every meal, watch your blood sugars after every meal to see how you react 1.5grms of protein for every lean pound of muscle (typically 25-30 grms a meal cooked weight) add in Amino acids, Zinc (ZMA for sleep) and protein drinks to get extra protein in (avoid cheaper ones with a lot of added Maltodextrin in). this is just a brief over view of what you have to do, as with most things like strength and muscle building it doesn't happen overnight and you will have to put the dedication in as far as structuring your training (write sets, weights and rep ranges down, and how it felt) and dedication to eating a clean healthy diet, all the time.
search out Neil Hill (YT3) on instagram, you can sign up for his free emails, but as with all things he will try and sell you some books, but his free workouts he mails out are good.

you can build muscle as a type 1, a bodybuilder called Tim Belknap back in the nineties did spectacularly, but you must test your Blood sugars regularly, thre will be some others on here that will have a lot more knowledge on the subject than I.

Good Luck and train hard.

 

[h4kr]

So are protein / supplements are ok to take as T1?
Last year I started to build muscle (after being a skinny runner for years) using supplements (protein/creatine/test booster mix) but have done nothing since diagnosis. Fear of hypo and whether i can still take supplements has put me off training. Although I did run for the first time this week.

 

[johnpol]

So are protein / supplements are ok to take as T1?
Last year I started to build muscle (after being a skinny runner for years) using supplements (protein/creatine/test booster mix) but have done nothing since diagnosis. Fear of hypo and whether i can still take supplements has put me off training. Although I did run for the first time this week.

cant see why not as long as you avoid the ones with a lot of maltodextrin in as its a filler to get the calories up, stick to the protein only ones (casein and Whey isolate), I've been diabetic for over twenty years and have strength trained through out. I was only told to never take IGF-1 supplements as it wasn't good for me (insulin Growth factor 1) other than that I have taken just about all the supplements going. my advice for what it's worth would be take Branch Chain Amino Acids and ZMA and protein supplements, if you can't eat enough food for growth.

 

[Deleted Account]

Provided you count any carbs in the supplements and adjust your insulin appropriately, there should be no reason why you cannot eat the same with and without type 1.

If you are doing resistance training, typically, this raises your BG so you may need to increase your insulin when using weights. However, you may then experience a BG drop over the next 24 to 48 hours.
I found resistance training much easier once I transferred to a pump as I could temporarily adjust my basal insulin to allow for these BG changes.
Prior to the pump, I would give myself a bolus boost about 30 minutes before starting my training and then decrease my basal for the next 24 hours.
(In my case, my resistance training is usually climbing as most of my gym work is cardio. )
It takes some trial and error to find out what works for you.

But, there is no reason why having type 1 should not stop you building muscle.

 

[O_DP_T1]

To the OP I've been T1 for over 40 years and been lifting for over 20 of those. I will second what
johnpol and helensaramay have said.

 

[therower]

@RyanX24 . Have to agree with all the advice you've been given so far.
Have a search for ....Stronglifts 5x5 on the internet. Along similar lines to @johnpol this is a great regime to set the foundations for weight training/ body building.

 

[NoKindOfSusie]

Provided you count any carbs in the supplements and adjust your insulin appropriately, there should be no reason why you cannot eat the same with and without type 1.

Is there not a massive weasel word in there, "appropriately."

This just sort of means "get it right, and you'll have got it right." Is there not a massive risk of getting things wrong, the more carbs you eat?

 

[Deleted Account]

This just sort of means "get it right, and you'll have got it right." Is there not a massive risk of getting things wrong, the more carbs you eat?

There have been lots of threads on this topic.
In summary, it is up to the individual how they choose to manage their diabetes: some do so by eating low carb, others do so by learning how their body reacts to different carbs and adjusting their dose and timing of their insulin "appropriately".

 

[kev-w]

Hi I currently go gym and feel like I have not made any progress for over a year now. Is there any bodybuilders , p.ts or coaches or anyone which can help me achieve my goals while having type 1 diabetes? Thanks

You don't specify a training regime, but as mentioned heavy compound exercises are the starting point, the books state that all muscle grows at the same rate, so train the biggest muscles, legs, back, chest & shoulders and up your protein intake, I worked up to 94kg once over, but I had to eat a lot.
I'm 80kg now (and old ) and have had sugar 33 years and have mostly trained right thru, blood test more if you alter your diet...

 

[Pmerrill]

Type 1 hasn’t stopped this guy from packing it on...

https://diabeticmuscleandfitness.com/

Protein doesn’t give me a spike but I’ve seen people on here say it does for them. I’m still a honeymooner so maybe in time it will. I use unflavoured impact whey protein from my protein, only 4g of carbs per 100g.

 

[RyanX24]

Hi @RyanX24. What are you looking to do and what approach have you been taking so far?

I've done a lot of PT that resulted in significant body reshaping and body fat drop to 9%, but we'd need to know a bit about you before we started trying to give advice.

I’m planning on building /bulking up some muscle mass and in 3-4 months go on a bit of a cut to reduce body fat %.

I work 8-5 so normally I eat breakfast/snack 10am, lunch 1pm dinner 6:30. Gym time is normally 7-8:30 4 times a week -

Chest and triceps
Back and bicep and forearms
Shoulder and and traps
Legs and abs

Always have a whey protein shake after each workout but not on rest days.

I also have a survere peanut allergy too.

Could you give a rough guide on what you would think I would benefit by eating in those eating times?

Thanks again appreciate the help

 

[RyanX24]

first things first, look at your training heavy compound movements- bench, incline bench, decline, deadlifts and squats should be your bread and butter movements. heavy as you can for 8 reps x 4 sets. don't fall into the trap of reading what a pro bodybuilder does now, we all start with the basics first, then adapt as you grow. then look at your nutrition, eating every two hrs- protein, fats and carbs with every meal, watch your blood sugars after every meal to see how you react 1.5grms of protein for every lean pound of muscle (typically 25-30 grms a meal cooked weight) add in Amino acids, Zinc (ZMA for sleep) and protein drinks to get extra protein in (avoid cheaper ones with a lot of added Maltodextrin in). this is just a brief over view of what you have to do, as with most things like strength and muscle building it doesn't happen overnight and you will have to put the dedication in as far as structuring your training (write sets, weights and rep ranges down, and how it felt) and dedication to eating a clean healthy diet, all the time.
search out Neil Hill (YT3) on instagram, you can sign up for his free emails, but as with all things he will try and sell you some books, but his free workouts he mails out are good.

you can build muscle as a type 1, a bodybuilder called Tim Belknap back in the nineties did spectacularly, but you must test your Blood sugars regularly, thre will be some others on here that will have a lot more knowledge on the subject than I.

Good Luck and train hard.

Ok that’s great thanks for the advice.
What proteins and fats and carbs would you recommend to eat every 2 hours?
Thanks

 

[RyanX24]

You don't specify a training regime, but as mentioned heavy compound exercises are the starting point, the books state that all muscle grows at the same rate, so train the biggest muscles, legs, back, chest & shoulders and up your protein intake, I worked up to 94kg once over, but I had to eat a lot.
I'm 80kg now (and old ) and have had sugar 33 years and have mostly trained right thru, blood test more if you alter your diet...

Thanks this is my basic day to Day life if you could assist and got any suggestions what I could be eating through out the day?

I’m planning on building /bulking up some muscle mass and in 3-4 months go on a bit of a cut to reduce body fat %.

I work 8-5 so normally I eat breakfast/snack 10am, lunch 1pm dinner 6:30. Gym time is normally 7-8:30 4 times a week -

Chest and triceps
Back and bicep and forearms
Shoulder and and traps
Legs and abs

Always have a whey protein shake after each workout but not on rest days.

I also have a survere peanut allergy too.


Thanks again appreciate the help

 

[johnpol]

Ok that’s great thanks for the advice.
What proteins and fats and carbs would you recommend to eat every 2 hours?
Thanks

that's up to you, as I don't know what you can tolerate, bacon and eggs in a morning (turkey bacon poached or dry fired eggs) porridge with a protein shake, chicken breast and sweet potatoes with broccoli or Kale, beef, fish, eggs, even bacon the food choice is yours. add in some good omega 6 fats, especially if you have nut allergy, the secret to gaining weight is to eat a good clean diet but lots of it. protein shakes are a good way of trying to get extra in. just make sure you have a good protein/carb shake when you have finished training then within an hour of finished training a real food meal such as steak and potatoes to back up the training.
I don't recommend diets as you need to work out what foods you can tolerate and what you cant my diet when I trained properly I ate from eggs (both whole and just the whites) loved omelettes, bacon, chicken, steak, fish and lots of veg. just make sure that you add in the omegas in as they will help you.

 

[O_DP_T1]

that's up to you, as I don't know what you can tolerate, bacon and eggs in a morning (turkey bacon poached or dry fired eggs) porridge with a protein shake, chicken breast and sweet potatoes with broccoli or Kale, beef, fish, eggs, even bacon the food choice is yours. add in some good omega 6 fats, especially if you have nut allergy, the secret to gaining weight is to eat a good clean diet but lots of it. protein shakes are a good way of trying to get extra in. just make sure you have a good protein/carb shake when you have finished training then within an hour of finished training a real food meal such as steak and potatoes to back up the training.
I don't recommend diets as you need to work out what foods you can tolerate and what you cant my diet when I trained properly I ate from eggs (both whole and just the whites) loved omelettes, bacon, chicken, steak, fish and lots of veg. just make sure that you add in the omegas in as they will help you.

This ^^^ is pretty much my diet minus the beef (I don't do mad cow)

 

[tim2000s]

I did a training programme that required relatively low carbs (it's designed to limit insulin requirements as insulin restricts your ability to cut) and was training three times per week. The training consisted of two cycles - strength and volume.

On the volume cycle, it would be eight to ten reps x 3 in supersets, so you'd do deadlifts, wait 60 seconds, and do, for example, bench press, then wait 90 seconds and repeat. You'd then do another superset, and the aim was that in the session you'd have two or three supersets focusing on, for example, legs and back, then next session, chest and shoulders, then final session of the week, arms. This lasts approximately two or three weeks, and when you can do the full three sets at a load with no issues, you increase the load.

We'd then intersperse the volume with strength, again for two weeks roughly. This is much heavier and is about training your nervous system. Here your aim is three sets of three at a heavy weight. Supersets are not required, but do help, and you're allowed 120 seconds between each set. Load increases as per the volume work.

It's key to get your nutrition right, and when I was doing this programme, my macros were something like 10% carbs, 30% protein, 50% fats. You adjust the calories to deliver weight loss, gain or stasis.

When I was training like this, I dropped from around 18% body fat to 10% body fat over three months, and managed to gain about 6kg of muscle.

But you have to stick to the diet. It means no alcohol, no cheating, and eating clean for your calories. Eating six times a day isn't necessary, but in order to eat enough food, you do have to eat more.

WHilst supplements can help with how you feel, they're not really necessary to gain muscle. It's the resistance training and what you eat that count.

 

[RyanX24]

that's up to you, as I don't know what you can tolerate, bacon and eggs in a morning (turkey bacon poached or dry fired eggs) porridge with a protein shake, chicken breast and sweet potatoes with broccoli or Kale, beef, fish, eggs, even bacon the food choice is yours. add in some good omega 6 fats, especially if you have nut allergy, the secret to gaining weight is to eat a good clean diet but lots of it. protein shakes are a good way of trying to get extra in. just make sure you have a good protein/carb shake when you have finished training then within an hour of finished training a real food meal such as steak and potatoes to back up the training.
I don't recommend diets as you need to work out what foods you can tolerate and what you cant my diet when I trained properly I ate from eggs (both whole and just the whites) loved omelettes, bacon, chicken, steak, fish and lots of veg. just make sure that you add in the omegas in as they will help you.

Ok that’s great thanks for all your ideas. Hope to see some progress soon going to make a diet plan up shortly.

 

[RyanX24]

I did a training programme that required relatively low carbs (it's designed to limit insulin requirements as insulin restricts your ability to cut) and was training three times per week. The training consisted of two cycles - strength and volume.

On the volume cycle, it would be eight to ten reps x 3 in supersets, so you'd do deadlifts, wait 60 seconds, and do, for example, bench press, then wait 90 seconds and repeat. You'd then do another superset, and the aim was that in the session you'd have two or three supersets focusing on, for example, legs and back, then next session, chest and shoulders, then final session of the week, arms. This lasts approximately two or three weeks, and when you can do the full three sets at a load with no issues, you increase the load.

We'd then intersperse the volume with strength, again for two weeks roughly. This is much heavier and is about training your nervous system. Here your aim is three sets of three at a heavy weight. Supersets are not required, but do help, and you're allowed 120 seconds between each set. Load increases as per the volume work.

It's key to get your nutrition right, and when I was doing this programme, my macros were something like 10% carbs, 30% protein, 50% fats. You adjust the calories to deliver weight loss, gain or stasis.

When I was training like this, I dropped from around 18% body fat to 10% body fat over three months, and managed to gain about 6kg of muscle.

But you have to stick to the diet. It means no alcohol, no cheating, and eating clean for your calories. Eating six times a day isn't necessary, but in order to eat enough food, you do have to eat more.

WHilst supplements can help with how you feel, they're not really necessary to gain muscle. It's the resistance training and what you eat that count.

Yeah I understand thanks for the help I will like to give your work outs ago along with a diet plan I’m trying to make up. Thanks again