Hormones Revealed – The Good And The Evil

Posted on Tuesday December, 15 2009 | 1 Comment

Just saying the word hormones in the workout/fitness world usually makes people imagine steroid pumped bodybuilders showing off of something, but the reality of it is that out bodies are awesome at producing beneficial hormones, if only we give them a nudge in the right direction. So lets take a look at the hormones that will affect us the most:

  • Growth hormone: beneficially impacting muscle growth, makes the body burn more fat
  • IGF's: hormone that plays an important role in our growth, produced in liver, having basically the same effects on the body as the growth hormone. Some sources even suggest that growth hormone triggers its production.
  • Testosterone: increases muscle growth and benefits protein synthesis, meaning your body uses up the proteins you eat more effectively.

Keep in mind that all this hormones work together, and that you don't need to take any of them by any supplements or other source, because your body is more than capable of producing them. Taking them as supplements would only ruin your hormonal balance and affect you negatively in the long run.

So those were the "good hormones". But how do we get our body to start producing them? Two easiest ways... First off is anaerobic exercise, which is a short and intense exercise like doing sprints, jump rope, boxing, brake-dancing, etc. Second one is heavy lifting. Doing strength workouts that effect the largest muscle groups, like deadlifts, squats, pull-ups, bench presses, etc. will all promote to the production of these beneficial hormones.

But! :) and there always is a but... Just as easily as your body can produce this awesome hormones that help you in your pursuit of health, it can also produce some nasty stuff... It's called cortisol also known as the "stress hormone" or the "muscle eating hormone", and as the name implies, it is caused by stress, including not resting enough after exercises, anxiety and everyday stressful situations. To avoid cortisol slowing down your progress, make sure you don't over-exercise, meaning you get at least 1-2 days rest between big workouts and that you get enough sleep every day.

So there you go, some basic guidelines and explanations on hormones, hope it was helpful, more cool stuff coming soon. :)

p.s. few more articles you might like

  • strength workouts help seniors function better - health.com. strength training can help older people function better and reduce pain for those suffering from arthritis, according to a review of the medical literature. but more information is needed on the safety of progressive ...

  • Save Ankle Weights for Strength Workouts - Ankle weights are best used as part of a strength training workout. The question of whether to wear ankle weights while running remains controversial, but most trainers don't recommend it. Some exercisers think that running with hand ...

  • Core Strength Workouts | ArticlesBase.com - Core training is a great way to strengthen and condition these muscles, along with helping to build explosive power. This type of training concentrates on developing the “core”, which consists of all of the muscles in the mid-section of ...

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