Pharmaceutical insulin is a hormone used to treat high blood sugar levels in certain types of diabetes. So what does it have to do with bodybuilding?
Well, like any sport or physical activity, bodybuilding has its limits, and professional or high-level bodybuilders often resort to extreme methods to build muscle mass, pushing those limits a little further each time.
We've all heard about the use and abuse of anabolic steroids by bodybuilders. It's estimated that more than half of male bodybuilders regularly use steroid preparations such as oxymetholone or nandrolone, at doses sometimes 10 to 100 times the recommended therapeutic dose.
Surprisingly , one in four bodybuilders who take steroids also take insulin . The combination of the two substances is considered to be an effective training stimulant that significantly increases metabolic rate, anabolic metabolism and ultimately muscle growth.
Although the use of insulin to build muscle mass makes scientific sense, it also carries significant risks and side effects.
So why do bodybuilders take insulin? How does it work? What are the benefits? What are the risks?
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What is insulin?
Insulin is a hormone that the body produces on its own. The pancreas releases it in response to a rise in blood sugar levels after eating carbohydrates or producing glucagon. Pharmaceutical insulin is used for people with diabetes .
In this chronic disease, the body does not produce enough insulin, has no insulin at all (type 1 diabetes), or is resistant to insulin (type 2 diabetes).
Its main function is to transport sugar from the bloodstream to the cells , which use it immediately as an energy source or store it for later use.
insulin administration
Insulin is a liquid, water-like medication that is administered by subcutaneous injection . It is injected under the skin using tiny, thin needles.
The most important insulin injection devices include syringes and ampoules, insulin pens and insulin pumps .
Why do bodybuilders take insulin?
Bodybuilding is the practice of building muscle through hypertrophic exercise, progressive resistance and nutrition, with an emphasis on optimizing muscle growth for aesthetic performance.
An important part of bodybuilding is nutrition and supplements. While most bodybuilders use more or less natural supplements such as proteins, creatine, caffeine, glutamine and others, high-performance athletes often resort to pharmaceutical products such as anabolics, steroids, growth hormones and insulin for extreme muscle growth . These help the muscles absorb more nutrients faster after training.
Here's how insulin can help with bodybuilding (we'll discuss the risks and side effects below).
Note: The use of insulin for bodybuilding is absolutely off-label . It is not recommended by healthcare providers and is not part of the list of official uses of this drug.
insulin for muscle building
In addition to its traditional use for blood sugar control, insulin is an anabolic hormone known to promote muscle growth. While science supports the fact that insulin promotes muscle growth, the mechanisms by which it works are still controversial. Here are the key takeaways:
- Insulin stimulates muscle protein synthesis and reduces the breakdown of muscle protein. Muscle protein synthesis is the process of building muscle mass from amino acids (the building blocks of proteins).
- Insulin promotes the storage of carbohydrates in muscle cells . After exercise, muscles need to be replenished with glycogen (the stored form of carbohydrates) to support protein synthesis and mass building . Insulin increases nutrient storage and muscle replenishment after exercise by allowing more glucose, amino acids and creatine to enter the muscles.
- Insulin allows for better blood flow to muscles. According to this study, insulin decreases vascular resistance and increases organ blood flow, especially in skeletal muscle tissue, suggesting that insulin is a vasodilator. Increased blood flow helps deliver more nutrients, glucose, and amino acids to muscles, ultimately promoting the building of muscle mass.
Is insulin an anabolic steroid?
Yes, insulin is an important anabolic hormone. Anabolic hormones such as insulin, testosterone, growth hormones, and estrogen promote muscle growth through anabolism, when energy is used to build complex molecules from smaller units.
The opposite process of catabolic hormones such as cortisol, glucagon or adrenaline inhibits muscle growth by breaking down molecules to use them for energy.
Is insulin a steroid?
Bodybuilders often have this misconception about insulin and think it's a steroid. But no, insulin is not a steroid.
Steroid hormones fall into the category of lipids, while insulin is a peptide hormone formed from amino acids. However, insulin is believed to work side by side with anabolic androgenic steroids and growth hormones to promote muscle growth.
How do bodybuilders use insulin?
Because the use of insulin for muscle building is neither legal nor medically approved, it is also not regulated. Therefore , there is no official insulin protocol for bodybuilders . Instead, the practice is more individual and based on a trial-and-see approach.
The types of insulin
First, you need to know that there are about 20 different types and brands of insulin on the market, all of which differ in terms of intended use, onset time, peak times and duration.
Basal insulins (long-acting insulins) are used to regulate fasting blood sugar levels in diabetic patients, while bolus insulins (fast-acting insulins) act on blood sugar after meals and carbohydrate intake.
Because bodybuilders use insulin to help muscles quickly absorb glucose and nutrients immediately after exercise, they only use fast-acting bolus insulins .
After training
The main purpose of taking insulin for bodybuilding is to promote the building of muscle mass. This is achieved by injecting insulin right after a workout , along with consuming carbohydrates , so that the insulin helps to refuel the muscles faster and more efficiently after training.
Bodybuilders typically administer an insulin injection within 15 minutes of training to get into an anabolic state.
insulin & carbohydrate ratio
The use of insulin for muscle building is only effective when combined with the intake of carbohydrates . In addition, taking insulin without the intake of carbohydrates leads to low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), which can lead to dangerous complications such as seizures, coma and death.
As a general rule, you should consume at least 15 grams of carbohydrates for each unit of insulin you inject.
While we do not recommend using insulin for bodybuilding purposes, if you still choose to do so, you should use a glucose meter to monitor your blood sugar levels within the next 4 hours after an injection.
Insulin for Bodybuilding: Benefits vs. Risks
Using insulin to build muscle is unsafe, so we do not recommend using insulin for bodybuilding or any other purpose outside of medically supervised diabetes treatment .
The risks and side effects can far outweigh the benefits, and several bodybuilders have died from insulin abuse.
hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
The main risk of insulin abuse in bodybuilding is hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Insulin is a blood sugar-lowering hormone that is used medically to lower blood sugar levels in diabetics.
If you inject an insulin dose that is not adjusted to your carbohydrate intake (too much insulin) or your physical activity, there is a high risk of a drop in blood sugar.
Symptoms of hypoglycemia include drowsiness, rapid heartbeat, fatigue, hunger, sweating, irritability, paleness, tremors, dizziness and others.
In most cases, eating or drinking fast-acting sugars (sugar, juices) will cause your blood sugar levels to return to normal quickly. However, if you have injected a high dose of insulin, you may not be able to recover on your own.
Severe cases of hypoglycemia can actually lead to confusion, seizures, coma, and even death, and therefore require immediate medical attention.
Is insulin considered doping in bodybuilding?
You need to be aware of the legal situation in your country . While some countries do not regulate the use of insulin and you can buy it over the counter, other countries have strict regulations and prohibit the use of insulin outside of medically approved insulin therapy for people with diabetes.
Finally, insulin may be considered a banned substance by some bodybuilding federations. The International Olympic Committee, for example, prohibits insulin outside of its medical use (for athletes with insulin-dependent diabetes).
