Dr. Michael Colgan is one of the most prominant figures in sports nutrition today. You've no doubt read the notes taken from his work else where in this site - not only is it accurate, but it is effective, objective and in a nut shell - RIGHT! You can't really ask for anything more. One of the biggest sections in Dr. Colgan's book is entitled "The Anabolic Drive". This is basically a nutritional program to beat steroids and ensure success. It essentially details everything you need to know about maximizing aspects of your lifestyle to create the optimal hormonal environment for muscle growth. The following is a summarization of his guidelines. I would highly suggest taking notes with this article - I feel that it could be one of the most valuable tools any athlete can know in ensuring their own progress.

The first point that we should establish before getting on to the guidelines is that the body is synergestic. What that mumbo-jumbo means is that the body is a system which works in harmony with different aspects inside of it. You can't do ONE thing and expect miracles to happen. The really great stuff happens when you fulfill all the conditions necessary to achieve success. With that in mind, remember that the better you fulfill these guidelines, the better your results will be.

Real muscle growth is a balancing act - it isn't just the muscle you build that determines how big you get. In actuality, the muscle you end up with is equal to the muscle you grow minus the muscle proteins lost through catabolism (net growth = muscle grown - muscle lost). So you have to pay attention to not only growing muscle but reducing the amount that you lose. It's very possible to lose more muscle than the amount that you grow. Look at marathon runners. They could be growing a great deal of muscle, but due to the severeity of the catabolism their bodies go through, they always end up looking smooth and skinny. This is a clear example of where muscle growth is overcome by muscle loss. You have to pay attention to both for optimum success.

We first have to understand aspects of the body and how they relate to each other in the anabolic drive. The following table outlines specific structures and how they are relevant to each other and your progress.

Step 1: Release Growth Hormone

 Let's first note that the LARGEST GH releases in the body happen at two times. The first is 30-60 minutes after you fall asleep, the second is during heavy exercise.

The release of GH depends on the stimulation of somatocrinin (the hormone the body uses to release GH). Arginine and OKG (Ornithine Alpha Ketoglutarate) have both been repeatedly shown to activate somatocrinin nicely.

Rule 1: Take arginine and OKG in absence of competing amino acids, one hour before exercise or sleep, to reach the blood brain circulation at just the right time.

We're nowhere close to being done yet. The brain must also have an adequate supply of Vitamin C for GH production to take place. Vitamin C provides a chemical called alpha amidating monooxygenase, a critical limiting factor for growth hormone production. You need this chemical, so the more Vitamin C you take in, the more of this chemical you get, and the more possible GH that can be stimulated.

Potassium is another important factor in GH production. Even marginal potassium deficiency causes inhibition of growth. Reduced Growth Hormone levels, reduced Insulin Like Growth Factors, reduced lean tissue growth - these are all effects of not having enough potassium in your diet.

Rule 2: Maintain adequate Vitamin C and Potassium for optimal growth hormone production.

Step 2: The Insulin Drive and IGF

We already established that GH goes to the liver and is destroyed. It then produces a hormone called Insulin Like Growth Factor (IGF). We already noted how this is one of the most powerful growth hormones in the body. However, the level of IGF and rate of muscle growth are dependant on insulin supply.

Take a look at insulin dependant diabetics. They can't put on muscle if their lives depended on it. Why? Because of inadequate insulin levels in the body. Even if you inject diabetics with Growth Hormone, IGF doesn't increase - therefore they grow no muscle. The reason why is simply because their body doesn't have a steady stream of insulin available to make enough IGF to grow. So you can see how important Insulin is to IGF levels and muscle growth.

Insulin also acts directly on muscle to drive amino acids (and other nutrients) into muscle cells for growth.

So how can we maximize insulin production? Well,insulin production is linked directly to nutrient intake. You must keep insulin going strong 24 hours a day. The way that we do this is by eating every few hours - so it is useless to eat only three times a day. What happens when you wait so long to eat and then have a big meal is that your insulin flies way up high and then crashes down low shortly after. This "yo-yo" rise and fall of insulin disrupts the entire growth sequence. Another way that you can cause insulin levels to yo-yo is to have high glycemic carbohydrates during the day. Eating low glycemic carbohydrates during the day (complex carbohydrates) keeps insulin levels steady and strong.

Rule 3: Eat six small meals daily, spaced evenly apart (2-3 hours) to keep insulin levels elevated and powerful. Eat low glycemic carbohydrates during the day.

Step 3: The Right Food

Remember how we want to keep insulin levels strong and steady? By themselves, protein and free form aminos only cause a SLIGHT rise in insulin. Click here for more information on post workout meals.

Muscle protein synthesis (muscle growth) is therefore inhibited because the body has insufficient insulin to stimulate IGF production and push aminos into cells. So basically you're just wasting your time if you're only having protein after your workouts.

Complex carbohydrates ONLY after a workout are another big mistake. Your body is looking for glycogen from anywhere possible. Complex Carbs (although usable at any other time during the day) trickles glucose slowly into your bloodstream, when your muscle is absolutely ready to suck up glycogen and get back to normal. Complex carbs simply can't raise blood glucose sufficiently to stimulate insulin drive because there is not enough sugar available. The solution?

You need quick sugar after workouts to raise blood sugar and stimulate insulin drive. So all those sugary snacks, juices, candies, etc. that you have been avoiding all the time are perfect for after workouts. They actually help you out at this time. Some athletes are scared that having sugars at any time will cause them to get fat. That holds true for when your carbohydrate stores are full (such as during the day). However, after workouts, when glycogen levels are excessively low, post exercise sugar doesn't put on a molecule of bodyfat. Your body is far too busy using that sugar to replace lost muscle glycogen and starting muscle growth. Don't just take glucose alone, however, a little fructose is also beneficial because your body uses fructose preferentially to replace the glycogen lost from the liver. Studies have shown that a combination of glucose and fructose stimulates much greater insulin response than either of them alone.

Add to this mix (whey hydrolysate protein powder, glucose, fructose) some complex carbohydrates and you'll have the perfect post workout meal solution for muscle growth. This combination ROCKS your insulin response and keep a steady stream of glucose to your body when it needs it. Try to get a 1/4 of your total protein intake after workouts. Your body is supercharged in making muscle - might as well give it the materials it needs. You might also try drinking a carbohydrate drink during your workout to make sure that your insulin doesn't drop too low.

Rule 4: Eat a glucose, fructose, whey hydrolysate protein powder and complex carbohydrate meal directly after training to maximize muscle growth.

Step 4: Specific Amino Acids At The Right Time

Why not take glutamine by itself? Lately, I've noticed that a lot of the "Muscle Comics" (thanks, Matt Brzycki) are touting glutamine as the perfect way to reduce muscle loss. Another load of bullsh*t. Oral glutamine whacks the body with ammonia, a toxic substance. Unless kept absolutely dry (which would mean hardly any contact with air - how are you going to get it out?), glutamine powder degrades into ammonia and pyroglutamic acid. Hell, glutamine even degrades into ammonia if you put it in a solution just a few minutes before you drink it down. It degrades EVEN IN THE STOMACH DURING DIGESTION! Why is ammonia bad? Well, when your bloodstream is flooded with ammonia your kidneys basically have to convert it into less toxic substances and you piss out these substances. So all your hard earned money is floating around in your toilet. Pretty cool, huh? 

However, Ornithine Alpha Ketoglutarate is not a load of crap. It has the same carbon skeleton as glutamine - but contains virtually NO AMMONIA! Basically, this means that you can substitute it for glutamine, get the effect you want, and not piss any of it out. Sounds like a good deal to me. Wait, it gets better. OKG acts as an ammonia scavenger in the body - actually reducing the amount in your bloodstream and therefore improving your performance. We also already know that OKG produces a large release of Growth Hormone. Lastly, your body can make glutamine from OKG. OKG is pretty damn amazing when you think of it now. It increases muscle glutamine and reduces muscle catabolism. It also increases insulin secretion.

Dr. Luc Cynobar at the Laboratoire de Biochemie at Hospital Saint Antoine in Paris fed healthy males either 10 grams of oral OKG or placebos. The OKG group had a marked increase in insulin levels. Case closed.

Arginine is an end product of OKG's urea cycle - so OKG can add arginine to the body as well. "Is there anything is can't DO?!" It sounds like an informercial but all of this crap is backed up by objective, scientific research.

So let's recap: OKG provides a release of Growth Hormone, a source of glutamine, it is an anticatabolic, a big stimulus to your insulin levels, a source of arginine, an ammonia scavenger and it makes girls like you. Wait, that last one might require a little hard work.

Rule 5: Take 2-4 grams of OKG per meal to be super cool. (yes, I'm starting to get bored).

Step 5: Maintain Positive Nitrogen Balance

If you want to grow a champion's physique, you'll want to maintain a positive energy balance and a positive nitrogen balance. The level of IGF is correllated with nitrogen balance. So quality of protein is a must. In best to worst order : whey protein, egg protein, chicken, beef, fish (chicken/beef/fish ranked very closely to each other, interchangeable), dairy and soy. The best proteins ensure the best nitrogen retention.

Rule 6: Maintain positive nitrogen balance with high quality proteins.

Step 6: Thyroid Hormones

Thyroid hormones directly influence insulin secretion (check back at the table, numb-skull). Low levels of thyroid hormone reduce the insulin response to food. However, an excess of thyroid hormones (such as when idiots inject themselves with it) is actually catabolic, but the right amount is definately anticatabolic. Iodine is an important element necessary in the production of thyroid hormones. Because it is rapidly lost in sweat, athletes need more than sedentary individuals. Protein quality (Step 5) also affect thyroid levels. Inferior proteins raise thyroid hormones towards the catabolic side.

Rule 7: Protect Thyroid metabolism with iodine and first class protein.

Step 7: Testosterone

Excess testosterone (such as when administered through chemical steroids) causes a dizzying array of harmful side effects. In teenage athletes, it causes the early maturation of bone (which is why early steroid users are so friggin' short). None of the so called "steroid alternatives" on the market work. Boron is one of these scams. It's an essential mineral for testosterone production, but it definately doesn't cause it by itself. It's just one of the links in a synergistic chain. So the key to achieving success would be to optimize your body's natural production of testosterone.

Testosterone is a cholesterol based hormone, meaning that if the fats that you ingest aren't quality and don't provide the right fatty acids, your testosterone production will be diminished.

There is a lot of evidence suggesting that Vitamin C is also a stimulus for testosterone production. Dr. Abbas Kitabchi at the University of Tennesse confirmed that high ascorbic acid intakes allows for the body to create more testosterone.

Zinc is another important element in testosterone production. Studies by Dr. Ananda Prasad at Wayne State University School of Medicine showed that men deficient in zinc also had lowered levels of testosterone.

The last factor that can increase testosterone levels are Branched Chain Amino Acids . Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine taken an hour before intense training can increase serum testosterone levels after training, when you need it most. This is when testosterone has a maximum effect in promoting new protein synthesis.

Rule 8: Maintain adequate Boron, Zinc, Vitamin C and Branched Chain Amino Acid levels to optimize testosterone production.

There you go. That summarizes all the steps Dr. Colgan believes are necessary to naturally tweak out the most growth and progress from your diet. Remember - synergy is the key to everything in the body. Paying attention to all these guidelines is a surefire route to your success. (Ugh, am I tired. That was a pretty crappy closing sentence. Ah well. Time to eat.).

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