Cortisol Levels

[Right Hook]

People seem to use cortisol reducing supps a lot during "cut" cycles however I thought I recalled during the chat session with Dr. D and Dinoiii that someone mentioned they would be more useful during a bulk.

I guess my basic understanding would be that your body is gong through more physical stress trying to process the additional calories thus increasing cortisol levels? Pry way to simple of an explanation....

But basically just trying to get a better understanding of cortisol during a bulk.

[B-natural]

You don't want cortisol impeding your gains, it seems that ppl generally train harder and at a higher intensity during bulk, so cortisol spikes during the workout and ppl need to lmt this to be able to see gains.

I see cortisol blocking as a need when cutting to keep cortisol at bay as their are several factors contributing to higher cortisol levels on a hypo cal diet vs. hyper, back to you D

[dinoiii]

Originally Posted by Travis

People seem to use cortisol reducing supps a lot during "cut" cycles however I thought I recalled during the chat session with Dr. D and Dinoiii that someone mentioned they would be more useful during a bulk.

I guess my basic understanding would be that your body is gong through more physical stress trying to process the additional calories thus increasing cortisol levels? Pry way to simple of an explanation....

But basically just trying to get a better understanding of cortisol during a bulk.

I think the thought process is this, though I'd have to re-read in context what you are referencing to be sure.


Fat loss is a catabolic process and this in and of itself will necessitate you to split time between periods of allowing your anabolic hormones to take center stage and times when you will allow your catabolic hormones (cortisol included) to be the front-runners. This industry tries to put claims on allowing various hormones to be type-cast:

Anabolic = "Good"

Catabolic = "Bad"

Unfortunately or fortunately - dependent upon how you look at it, BOTH are REQUIRED and the above is a false suggestion though its very readily marketed.

In this instance, keeping things anabolic may offer additional plight to BUILDING tissue rather than breaking it down. There are ONLY 3 tissue types (muscle, fat, and connective which includes the bones, ligaments and such).

Now - you can still use this during a "cutting" phase...however, the typical promotion is all wrong. The cortisol schematic is a diurnal curve with a LARGE PEAK in the AM and a much less pronounced peak in the PM. You would best employ a heavy dose in the AM upon rising and then another dose ... say ... as you got home from your stressful work session (though this latter offering is modified a bit dependent upon goals).


D_

[B-natural]

Interesting, so by a heavy dose, you mean taking double the recommended serving or....?

for example, lx2.0 says take 1 cap, 2-4x/day, so taking 2-3 pills in the am, might be more beneficial than say, taking 1 and spreading the rest out through the day

[dinoiii]

Originally Posted by B-natural

Interesting, so by a heavy dose, you mean taking double the recommended serving or....?

for example, lx2.0 says take 1 cap, 2-4x/day, so taking 2-3 pills in the am, might be more beneficial than say, taking 1 and spreading the rest out through the day

The Lean Xtreme example...does it still contain 50mg per cap of the 7OH?

If so, the recommended dose for anti-cortisol properties is 200mg so the 4 cap maximum tends to be my efficacious minimum.

And you could heavy dose by taking 2-3 AM and 1-2 PM as described for successful trials. People who wrote it off in the past may even see benefit from this agent if dosing it appropriately.

As far as "spreading it out" - it actually doesn't make sense for this hormone to do it in that fashion UNLESS you are severely hypocaloric (unnecessary btw) in which case cortisol will likely be mildly elevated all day.


D_

[lionelxxl]

Originally Posted by dinoiii

The Lean Xtreme example...does it still contain 50mg per cap of the 7OH?

If so, the recommended dose for anti-cortisol properties is 200mg so the 4 cap maximum tends to be my efficacious minimum.

And you could heavy dose by taking 2-3 AM and 1-2 PM as described for successful trials. People who wrote it off in the past may even see benefit from this agent if dosing it appropriately.

As far as "spreading it out" - it actually doesn't make sense for this hormone to do it in that fashion UNLESS you are severely hypocaloric (unnecessary btw) in which case cortisol will likely be mildly elevated all day.


D_

D, is the above in underlined bold the optimal timing for 7-OH dosages in your opinion? The 2-3am could prove a lil tricky though..

I've been doing it the 3/4 spread out throughout the day previously and would love to see how else i can improve on this protocol.

[B-natural]

200mg's minimum? its a proprietary blend, but in the LX original it was 50mg's,, so I assume its the same. How high would you dose something like Retain 2 then? recommended is 3caps I believe...

[dinoiii]

Originally Posted by lionelxxl

D, is the above in underlined bold the optimal timing for 7-OH dosages in your opinion? The 2-3am could prove a lil tricky though..

I've been doing it the 3/4 spread out throughout the day previously and would love to see how else i can improve on this protocol.

Lionel,

I laugh because I was trying to imply specificity to the 7-OH usually found in many sports nutrition products of 50 mg. If this were the case...I meant 2 or 3 caps in the morning with 1 or 2 in the afternoon rather than times. But thanks for pointing that out. I knew what I meant but it wasn't expressed clearly enough. So...immediately upon waking is what I was getting at.

If you do want to think about the "ideal" time - your cortisol spike is approximated highest at roughly 8am (dependent upon the text/study you read). That being said, you would really want to catch it on the upward trend...so say anywhere from 6 - 8am and closer to the 6 to avoid the peak before it becomes overzealous.

Hopefully 6am isn't ludicrous for everyone, though if it is...take the supplement first thing as you wake and the effects, if any, will be as optimized as you will get it.



D_

[Right Hook]

Thanks Dinoiii.

I'm in the middle of a bulk so I may just add some Lean Ext 2.0 in the morning to see what it does for me.