Your mother may have said, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." If you're a bodybuilder, that advice is pretty close but not exactly right. When it comes to gaining muscle mass, the most critical "meal" is actually the supplement stack you down within seconds of waking. That's because you don't want to lose precious minutes preparing eggs or oatmeal, much less the time it takes to digest those whole foods. By then, because of the fast you endured while sleeping, you've already lost lean tissue to catabolism. Instead, you need nutrition that can quickly get in your stomach and to your muscles. You also want to take advantage of your naturally high testosterone levels in the morning by supplementing with something that can help put that T to work, driving more gains. Using the Morning Muscle Stack as soon as you wake up will help you accomplish all that, without a lick of cooking.
WHEY
When you wake up, your body is
essentially coming off a 7 to 9-hour fast,
and it's breaking down muscle protein
to convert it into fuel. The best way to
halt this process is to take about 40
grams of whey protein.
Whey is the fastest-acting protein you can consume, especially if you choose a whey protein isolate or, even faster, a whey protein powder with whey hydrolysates (whey proteins broken down into smaller fragments for speedier entry into your bloodstream).
The amino acids from whey rapidly enter your blood to be used for fuel, instead of muscle proteins. Those aminos not used for fuel will go to your muscles to rebuild them.
Whey protein also contains peptides that enhance blood vessel dilation, which means you'll have greater blood flow to your muscles to enhance the delivery of not only the aminos in the whey but also more testosterone. This is important when you wake up, since that's when your T levels are highest. DOSE:40 grams of whey protein in a shake.
HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT CARBS
During the night, your liver uses its
glycogen (the storage form of carbs) to
fuel your body. Once these glycogen
stores reach a critically low level, the
liver signals the body to attack muscle
protein for fuel. So in the morning you
want to drink the fastest-digesting
carb you can get your hands on—what's known technically as high molecular-
weight carbs. They'll get to
your liver even faster than Gatorade
and will restock your liver glycogen
levels so your liver turns off the signal
to the body to use muscle protein for
fuel. That will switch you from being
in a catabolic phase to an anabolic
phase. All that whey plus high T levels
equals muscle growth.
Molecular weight is a term that refers to the mass of one molecule of a substance. HMCs, then, are made up of very large molecules that are very heavy compared to other molecules. HMCs such as Vitargo are typically made from waxy maize starch—yes, corn. They pass rapidly through the stomach to the intestines where they're absorbed, enter the bloodstream and travel to the liver. This also helps blunt levels of cortisol (the catabolic hormone that competes with testosterone's anabolic actions and encourages muscle breakdown), which are high when you wake.
DOSE: Mix 40 to 60 grams of HMCs into your whey protein shake.
CARNITINE
This amino acid-like supplement is
mostly known for its ability to help
transport fat into the mitochondria of
cells, where it's burned for fuel. Now
science tells us that carnitine can also
increase the amount of androgen
receptors in your muscles, to which
testosterone binds to instigate growth.
Having more of these receptors means
more T can do its thing.
Since T levels are at their peak when you roll out of bed, taking carnitine can help get a higher amount of that T working to boost muscle growth.
Research also shows that carnitine can enhance blood flow to muscles, which further guides the testosterone to where it needs to be. Taking carnitine with your whey-and-carb shake is smart because the insulin spike caused by the carbs and protein will help shuttle more carnitine into your muscles. DOSE: 1 to 3 grams as L-carnitine, acetyl-Lcarnitine or L-carnitine L-tartrate. M&F
