Nick Trigili On Using Insulin in Bodybuilding

Nick Trigili On Using Insulin in Bodybuilding

Insulin is commonly known as the most anabolic hormone in existence, but also deadly. To reiterate, this information is for entertainment purposes only and you should be aware of and follow the laws of your country. Prescription medications should be given by a licensed medical professional only.



<iframe class="teads-resize" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 100%; width: 696px; height: 0px !important; min-height: 0px !important; border-width: initial !important; border-style: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; display: block !important;"></iframe>Insulin is a peptide hormone that is naturally occurring in the human body. It is released from the beta cells of the pancreas in the abdomen. Its main role in metabolism is shuttling glucose (sugar) into muscle, liver, and fat cells. It gets converted to fat/triglycerides in fat cells and glycogen (stored sugar) in liver, mostly. However, the alpha cells of the pancreas release glucagon which is essentially a hormone that is opposite of insulin causing the liver, fat, and muscle cells to release stored sugar into the blood.
Basically, insulin is the body’s storage signal. It increases protein synthesis and fat storage. This can be a game changer when it comes to growing new muscle especially in the off season for physique athletes. Linearly, it can single-handedly cause someone to go from a small amount of lean muscle mass to a freaky amount. On the other hand, it can also kill you because of severe hypoglycemia. This is the caveat with insulin.
Since insulin causes your blood sugar to be moved into storage (preferably into muscle cells), it comes down to how much sugar you have in your blood. For the physique athletes’ goals, you want the minimum amount of blood sugar necessary for muscle growth and not for fat growth. But, if you “run out” of blood sugar, your brain and heart, which rely on sugar to function, can shut down and cause death.



Natural insulin can be capitalized on by consuming a caloric surplus with the majority of carbohydrates around your workout time. That includes having enough carbs before your workout to fuel your workout and enough carbs afterward to cause an insulin spike to shuttle carbs into the recently fatigued muscles.

Now that you’re familiar with the background, should you use it as a performance enhancer? The answer like almost all performance enhancing agents is, if you’re willing to risk the possible adverse effects, then moderate use could be very beneficial.<iframe class="teads-resize" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 100%; width: 696px; height: 0px !important; min-height: 0px !important; border-width: initial !important; border-style: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; display: block !important;"></iframe>
What is moderate use and what can you expect from it? Assuming pharmaceutical rapid acting insulin (Novolog or Humalog), high level competitors could benefit hugely from 5-15iu per workout day. When I say high level competitor, I mean year round <12% body fat and extremely intense, regular resistance training.
Sample protocol:

4 weeks on, 4 weeks off for off season
5-15iu rapid-acting insulin pre or post workout with 6-10g fast acting carbs/iu insulin consumed immediately after insulin administration
This type of protocol allows for sufficient time off, with moderate doses, to lead to maximal benefit with minimal adverse effects. Ideally, you’d be using a glucometer to measure your blood sugar to see how high and how low it gets with standardized insulin doses and carbohydrate amounts. This can allow you to consume the exact right number of carbohydrates to minimize fat gain.
Insulin is powerful tool in the physique athlete’s arsenal that should not be taken lightly. It has the potential for significant benefit including supraphysiologic muscle growth, but also the potential to cause death if misused. If you’re unsure if insulin is for you, I highly recommend hiring a coach to work with you on reaching your goals.


Nick Trigili is a respected IFBB Pro bodybuilder and trainer.

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More Resources on Insulin in Bodybuilding:

The Most Anabolic Hormone Insulin! How To Use Humalin R and Humalog

It's always good to see a pro talk about a particular substance. The thing that they never talk about however, is how they combine it with everything else they take. The protocol he outlined is fine and dandy, but the reality of it used by itself is that you'll likely gain fat considering we're talking offseason here. To truly realize the gains from insulin, IMO, it must be combined with a good amount of either HGH or IGF along with a regular moderate cycle. HGH/IGF causes the body to shift to fat burning instead of fat storage (which insulin favors), and this keeps you from getting fat on the offseason and helps you build more muscle instead.

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That sample protocol is pretty regular from what I've seen. Most who even dabble in doing insulin don't do much over 15 iu. I suspect however that the pros utilize a lot more considering the sheer amount they eat. Combine that with HGH, and you've got two hormones cramming your muscle with nutrients along with a huge growth message. It's no wonder they get so big.

What concerns me is that people ready insulin and don't understand that the insulin you can walk up and get at a pharmacy isn't what most people are talking about. They are speaking of the fast acting insulin and not R. Newbies can go and get the wrong stuff and then end up in a world of trouble and even possibly die due to their own ignorance.

Very true. Nick mentions the fast-acting insulins Humalog/novalog. Most who try insulin try to get them. Personally, I think it's best to use the medium acting insulin in low dosages to help you get used to how it works because it makes you think. You can't jump into using insulin without some serious study and consideration. If you don't do that, you can pay the consequences which can include dying. Pros often use a mix of shorter acting and longer acting because of the amount of food they put in. They've put in their dues to learn what does what, but it isn't the info that they readily tell others unfortunately.

This is one area that lack of knowledge could kill you.