NK and the physiology of exercise, muscle gain, etc.

I hope Phillip weighs in on this because I think he has looked into it quite a bit.

But I can explain it I think (if I understood what I googled when I was trying to figure out what the heck Punkin was babbling about in one of her many long scattershot posts over yonder).

The reason for the high carb meal, as far as actually building muscle mass, is to promote insulin release because insulin is integral to muscle hypertrophy. The reason that an NK'r or LC'r can build muscle mass without carbing up is that the key issue is not insulin production but insulin sensitivity. LC promotes insulin sensitivity so you don't have to carb out to build muscles because your body is far superior at handling insulin than a SAD eater.

Competition level athletes are in a completely different category. If you are going to win contests you are probably going to have to use Lyle McDonald's approach or one of the myriad other approaches that include carb spiking. But these people are trying to reach a singular state - not maintain it over a long period of time. They will stay in shape and continue some sort of standard woe but they won't do it to the nth degree until they are prepping for a competition. So those people could be strictly NK when not training for something specific.

Ah-ha!  Thank you, Darin!  That makes perfect sense. 

I also vaguely remember something in Life Without Bread about how a LC diet increases your body's production of growth hormone, so I wonder if that might play a role as well.  I really need to read that book again. 

From what I can tell there is no one answer to this question. A lot depends on your body - hormonal responsiveness, potential for muscle grown, sex, age, current fitness level, etc.

Anywhere from two pounds to five pounds a month, initially, is probably a reasonable range with a diligent and effective workout routine. You will reach a plateau at some point and then it is hard slogging to keep increasing in size. You are also going to be limited by your phenotype. For example, a petite woman will not bulk up the way a bigger woman (bigger in body size). A person with a runner's physique won't bulk up the way a stouter built person would.

A person that goes from not having worked out to working out will bulk up faster than someone that that is already a gym junky. It is easier to build muscle mass for noobs strange as that sounds. And usually the increase is very noticeable.

Body builders that have been at it for a few years work very hard for very small progress. But by that time they are living what they are doing and that is the same for almost all of them so it isn't a big bummer when it happens. More like a welcome to the inner circle type situation I think.

I haven't read the book but if you are interested in gaining muscle mass you should check out McGuff's book Body By Science. He also has some videos on YouTube. The long and short of it is that less is more for actually building muscle mass (outside of competition level type stuff). His plan is a 12 to 15 minute a week intense workout with a three to six day rest period between workouts. That is what he does and you can see from his vids that he is in shape.

McGuff is a paleo guy so he may or may not be a big carb person. I kind of doubt he is, considering the workout he promotes. You've got to be on your guard for the carb-centric nutritional propaganda in the exercise community. Most of them fervently believe what they are saying about how essential carbs are so they can be very convincing. Never forget, there are essential amino acids (protein), there are essential fats, but there are zero essential carbs.

Also, Greta has a book that she says is very good for using your own body weight as your gym (and resistance = strength training = muscle growth).

Entering this conversation late in the game. My niece via her trainer suggested that a person is to eat/drink protein within 30 minutes of working out, followed by a small carb, perhaps a few grapes, half an apple, then followed again by protein with a small portion of rice/potatoes within an hour of that.

I have tried following that principle. Worked for a while. Just doing the protein drink and have recently switched to low carb.