GROWTH HORMONE FOR BODYBUILDING Lean & HardHormones and bodybuilding are inextricably linked! To build muscle, your body has to go through numerous processes and those processes happen more efficiently because of hormones. Ergo, the more hormones you have available (the right kind anyway), the better your results will be. There are several important hormones in bodybuilding and the study of hormones and their actions is called endocrinology. While you don’t need to be an endocrinologist to get the most from bodybuilding training, a little knowledge about the relevant hormones can be useful. Let’s take a look at the matter of Hormones:
1) HOW DOES TESTOSTERONE SUPPORT BODYBUILDING? Testosterone is an anabolic and androgenic hormone which means it is responsible for muscle growth (anabolic) as well as the development of masculine traits such as beard growth and a deep voice (androgenic). Men have approximately ten-times more testosterone than women which is why they generally have an easier time building muscle. Exercises like squats and heavy deadlifts have been shown to increase testosterone levels significantly, as has a diet rich in healthy fats. Steroids are synthetic testosterone. 2) HOW DOES INSULIN IMPACT BODYBUILDING? Insulin drives nutrients into your cells such as amino acids and glucose into your muscles. This speeds up your recovery after exercise which means insulin is an anabolic hormone. Unfortunately, insulin can also interfere with fat burning so it’s important to try and make insulin work for rather than against you. The best way to do this is to time your carbohydrate intake around exercise. Carbs before training ensure you have plenty of energy to work out and carbs after kick start your recovery. The rest of the time, carbs will interfere with fat burning and are likely to be stored as fat. If you are predominately sedentary, other than hitting the gym, avoiding carbs (except before and after training) can help keep you lean. If you are interested in an overview of the interaction between insulin / blood sugar / carbs can be found in this excellent article by Harvard School of Public Health 3) CORTISOL – NOT GOOD! ESPECIALLY NOT GOOD FOR BODYBUILDING!
Cortisol is a catabolic hormone meaning it promotes muscle break down. Subsequently, it’s important to try and minimize its production. Cortisol is produced when you are stressed, not getting enough sleep or haven’t eaten enough food. To get the most from your training, try to keep a lid on cortisol by avoiding stress, getting enough sleep and eating every few waking hours. 4) ADRENALIN Adrenaline is your “flight or fight” hormone. If you want to perform at your best in the gym, you need adrenaline. You’ll do more reps or lift more weight is you are “psyched up”. The key to harnessing the powerful benefits of adrenaline is being able to turn it on and off at will. This comes with practice. For some people, this means imagining life or death scenarios in your mind or conjuring up aggressive images. For others, it’s almost like flicking a switch. Either way, increased adrenaline and aggression in the gym or on the sports pitch will result in better performance. 5) OESTROGEN Every hormone has an opposite and for testosterone, its opposite is oestrogen. Where testosterone is masculine, oestrogen is feminine. Oestrogen promotes fat gain which is why women tend to have more body fat than men. A bad diet, too many environmental toxins, too much soya and damage to the testes can lead to a man having elevated oestrogen levels and, subsequently, diminished testosterone levels. Needless to say, this can make losing fat and gaining muscle very hard indeed. 6) HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE Human growth hormone or HGH for short is an anabolic hormone but unlike testosterone, is not androgenic. That means it influences muscle growth without effecting masculinity. Men and women both produce growth hormone. HGH is most abundant during your teen “growth spurt” years and production decreases with the advancing years which is one of the reasons we age. Of all the hormones, HGH is arguably the most important for bodybuilding because it is responsible for muscle growth and fat burning. That’s why many people take growth hormone pills. Growth hormone pills DO NOT contain actual growth hormone but are designed to increase your natural production of HGH. HGH injections on the other hand, while often administered in anti-aging clinics under strict medical supervision, are not guaranteed to be safe or effective and can cause systemic tissue growth which is why you might see professional bodybuilders with massive guts despite the fact they have very low body fat. Quite literally, their internal organs have grown!
HGH can also effect the size of your nose and ears, feet and hands and can give you a large, protruding jawline and forehead if taken in large doses. These side-effects are not usually reversible. Growth hormone is also very expensive and, if you buy it on the black market, there is no guarantee you are getting a legitimate product. Rather than expose yourself to the risk using HGH, there are several supplements designed to maximize your body’s ability to produce growth hormone naturally, so-called HGH boosters – such as Hyper GH 14x. By maximizing your own HGH production you can the benefits of increased amounts of growth hormone with none of the risks. Here again is the link to Hyper GH 14x. OPTIMIZING HORMONE LEVELS While supplementation can help optimize your hormone levels, a healthy diet is equally if not more important. Plenty of protein, healthy fats, fruit, vegetables and whole grains plus nuts and seeds will ensure you have all the nutrients necessary to keep your endocrine system functioning properly. Success in bodybuilding is not just about training and pill-popping, it’s also about health so eat for health and you’ll get much better results from your training. Source Paul Willis http://www.kickassbodybuildingguru.com/