Maximum Muscle, Minimum Fat (cycles). Continued

So... cycles. From what I understand building tissue (muscle) and burning fat are two separate processes - opposite to each other in a way. I am not totally sure why but apparently because they require completely diffirent hormonal environments; backgrounds, if you will. Insulin plays a key role in creating/promoting anabolic environment for the new tissue to be built, however at the same time it effectively shuts down fat burning cycle as it inhibits lypolisis. Additionally, it seems that lypolisis runs most efficiently when the glycogene pool is depleted, which makes sense because it forces the body to switch from carbs to fats as the main fuel. At the same time, lack of carbs appears to slow down protein synthesis. So in theory even if it is possible for synthesis and glycolisis to run in parallel it will definitely be far from optimal.

That logically brings us to the cycling concept. Namely, that processes of building new tissue and breaking down fats for energy take place - at most optimal level - at different times.

Now I don't really believe that the only way to do that (or most efficient way for that matter) is to phase it like professional bodybuilders have been doing for years. I.e. you go muscle building in the off-season for months on end and then cut your calories drastically to trim down in pre-season for another 2 or 3 months (and those seem to be months from hell). I do believe that there is a way to utilize much smaller cycles - like 48-72 hour cycles, for example. The rates of muscle gain (as well as fat loss) will probably be smaller as you won't be able to exercise 5-6 times a week with high intensity but I feel that this can be a milder alternative which will also allow you to stay lean and still build muscle throughout the year.

For example I could imagine a cycle consisting of a 48 hour muscle building phase following an intensive resistance training session with muscle building type of diet/nutrition (proper combination of carbs, protein and calories); then switching to fat loss phase for the next 48-72 hours and so on.

...to be continued