heres an interesting read from a ruputable source
Post-exercise insulin spiking has become standard practice in bodybuilding because of the perpetuation of hearsay, nothing more. It's a case of bro see, bro do - no critical thought, no questioning of why. As a result, many people believe that unless you consume a fast-acting liquid mix of [insert the latest hyped quickie carb & protein source], you won't achieve the walloping insulin spike supposedly necessary for recovery. But here's what everyone misses or chooses to ignore: the nutrient-mediated insulin elevation from food required to max out net anabolism is relatively minor. Insulin's ability to prevent muscle protein breakdown (even in the midst of ample amino acid availability via continuous infusion) is maximal at about 3-4 times the normal basal levels of insulin.
To reiterate, insulin's suppression of protein breakdown is maximal with modest elevations; even less than what's seen during normal feeding. As a matter of fact, a properly placed pre-exercise meal will keep insulin sufficiently elevated even after your training bout is over. To put things into perspective, a regular solid meal can elevate insulin anywhere from 4-8 times fasting levels depending on size, and keep it elevated for a few hours. As little as 6 g of essential amino acids plus 35 g sucrose taken immediately pre-exercise can keep insulin elevated to roughly 4 times fasting levels 1 hour after 40-50 minutes of resistance training. What do you think insulin levels would look like with a typical preworkout meal or shake containing at least as much carbs & double the protein?
Another little-known fact is that amino acids can stimulate protein synthesis without any additional insulin output beyond that caused on their own. I'm gonna assume at this point that everyone has some protein pre & postworkout, so this is yet another reason to nix the dex or WMS & go for a more nutritious carb source whenever possible.
As for the urgency of glycogen replenishment, unless you're an endurance athlete with multiple glycogen-depleting events in a single day, you have nothing to worry about. Typical weight training workouts are not glycogen-depleting. Not that this is of any concern in the first place for folks who don't skip their preworkout meal. Your preworkout carbs are being absorbed and put to use during the training bout, and in many cases, you're still absorbing your preworkout carbs even after the training bout is done. Even in the event of total glycogen depletion, complete resynthesis will occur within 24 hrs regardless of the presence of other macros ingested postworkout. This eliminates any urgent need for special lightning-fast carbs postworkout. Furthermore, those thinking the insulin spike is going to suddenly hurry up glycogen resynthesis are wrong because the first 30-60 minutes of glycogenesis is not an insulin-dependent process.
Again, the origin of the recommendation for quick carbs & insulin spiking for recovery is based on studies that were done on folks who trained to glycogen depletion (1.5-2 hrs continuous endurance work on the quads) in an overnight fasted state. This is an irrelevant, far-fetched scenario for most of us.
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