Originally Posted by
Chicagotarsier
When people "diet" they do not consider why they have a macro. What macro you use is not just something you pull out of a hat. It heavily depends on your level of activity over time which macro you should use. This is the center of understanding how your body works.
Carbs have two paths. First is to glycogen. Glycogen is stored in your muscles and is used first for energy. You go to the gym and push your first few sets strong? That is glycogen being used. The other path is carbs go to the liver and are converted to fat.
Proteins have two paths but you truly only want to use the first one. First path is broken down to aminos and used for muscular repair. Second is aminos are broken further down into glucose and used for energy (not efficient) and the unused glucose to fat if glucose stores are full.
Now in a healthy and strong body you have a balance of protein, carbs, and fats. During ordinary activities (walking, cleaning house, mowing the yard) you are receiving energy from all three groups of energy and retain a nitrogen balance. Your body does not have to do anything special and you still get your muscle pump and you do not feel like you are taxing your body to a high degree muscularly (unless you have a bad back or injury).
Now lets jump to when you do long cardio exercises and exceed the stored energy in your muscle. You use your glucose in muscle and you continue on with cardio (45 minute point at 70% max heart rate). Then your body looks to see what it can break down. Assuming an empty stomach you then go to stored energy. What is your stored energy? Fat and muscle. Cringing yet? So to get energy from fat is NOT easy. The 5 terms to know
Lypolysis Lypo-fat Lysis -Breaking down
Lypogenesis Genesis-creating
Ketogenesis Keto- Ketone
ketolysis
Blood-Brain Barrier / During starvation the energy production is dictated in order of what the brain can use for energy and what it cannot. Two types of fatty acid chains...long and medium. Due to bonds the medium can cross the barrier and be used for energy and the long..well it cannot. The long chains go to the liver and are broken down into ketones. Two are used for energy and one is acetone and is expelled from the body. During Ketogenesis the energy to break down the fatty acids come from.....drum roll....your muscles being broken down and the amino result being turned to glycogen. (your body is in starvation mode)
So...ketolysis. Breaking down of Ketones for energy. This occurs in the citric acid cycle, which happens to be the same end result cycle of breaking down proteins for energy.... (cringing more yet?) Keeping citric acid cycle simple...during starvation mode it gets energy to break down ketones from the end results of breaking down proteins. It takes amino precursors and uses them for energy to do the cycle.
So now you have your energy from fat via ketones being supplied by protein.
That is the rocket science portion. So yes..ketolysis...the breaking down of ketones in the Kreb's cycle (citric acid cycle) for energy uses protein (amino precursors) for fuel of the cycle. Now say that 100 times fast. You are burning muscle to burn fat. It happens and there is a way to get around it and will get to that. Right now know your Nitrogen balance is out of whack.
SO here is where Clen comes in. Clen for our discussion raises metabolism so let's go back to our original macro. IF you plan to do long cardio over multiple days (not on Clen) you should have a 35%-40% minimum carb macro. So 40% protein 20% fat and 40% carb. Expect to feel hunger pains like a big dog with low fat diets but you are sacrificing to get rid of your fat. REMEMBER the premise long cardio for multiple days in a row no clen and this would be your macro. You would see good to great losses with this macro and long (1x 3 hour cardio session or 2x2hour cardio sessions).
Now we add Clen
Clen basically replaces your normal metabolism from cardio and does the following:
1. During light exercise (walking to store, cleaning the kitchen, moving boxes, etc) your heart rate is now about 70% of max vs 30-40% of max normally. Remember that item I said about fat loss after 45 minutes at 70% heart rate? You reach that target heart rate number now in about 20 minutes (more or less depending on the person and exercise). Why less time? Because your metabolism is higher and your glucose stores are lower at your base resting metabolism. When you get to your target heart rate for about 20 minutes every minute you spend there is 5x more powerful than without Clen. Good right? Awesome right? Citric acid cycle like a mofo right? What we wanted right? Yes and no.
Now is where you have to be smart. Now is where testosterone (sorry ladies) is your best friend. As you run that Citric Acid Cycle like a big dog your amino precursors and muscle are being torn apart. How can I stop this bad thing? Testosterone is the front item in MANY amino precursors and can jack up production. It also promotes nitrogen retention in the muscle (Nitrogen Balance promotes Nitrogen Retention.) You have no nitrogen balance at this point so extra testosterone will help this to a degree. You will not save all your muscle. You can protect it to a decent degree.
So in the end let us review:
1. Burn stored fat for energy takes ketogenesis and ketolysis.
2. Ketolysis to energy takes amino precursors and the Citric Acid Cycle (Kreb's Cycle) which without amino precursors for muscle growth will stop muscle growth and cause muscle wastage.
3. During Nitrogen Balance you have glycogen as your primary energy item and it 90%+ comes from carbs.
4. During long cardio that reaches a certain mark of length and heart rate you lose Nitrogen Balance and switch to Citric Acid Cycle for using ketones for fuel.
5. Clen shifts resting metabolism and glucose stores to allow reaching the 45 minute at 70% heart rate level more quickly.
6. Clen WILL give increase to muscle wastage and not promote Nitrogen Balance.
7. Testosterone WILL increase Nitrogen Balance while in the Citric Acid Cycle.
This is the logic and solid theory behind Clen. Understanding how much Clen and how to use Ketotifen (Beta2 receptor reset mechanism) is key to using this advantageously to reach goals. Every major bodybuilder uses it. Many of these BBs dedicate up to 30% of their books on how to use Clen to promote muscle growth. (WHAT BUT YOU JUST SAID) Yes there are techniques (Advanced) on using Clen to scar (waste) muscle in the presence of proper Estrogen (Estrogen protects muscle) and get incredible growth from it. I have outlined this theory in previous posts on other threads. Hope all of this helps someone reach their goals!
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