We all know that hormones influence body composition, muscle size, recovery from exercise, bone density and just about everything else. That's why so many body builders and athletes take synthetic steroids, testosterone, and human growth hormone. But is there any way to naturally stimulate production of these hormones? The answer is yes, there is, and there are side benefits rather than side effects.
Coaches and athletes have known for a long time that high intensity whole body exercise with short rest periods gives dramatic results. Exercise scientists are beginning to understand why. Enough research in the area of hormone response to exercise has been conducted to justify publication of an entire textbook on the subject, The Endocrine System In Sports And Exercise (and at a textbook price of $177.95 on Amazon). Chapter 9, "Resistance Exercise: Acute and Chronic Changes in Growth Hormone Concentrations" reports an interesting finding that has been observed repeatedly in a variety of contexts. It is that HGH (Human Growth Hormone) levels are elevated in response to high lactic acid concentrations. In plainer language that means that pushing yourself into that painful zone where lactic acid turns your muscles to jelly pays great dividends. The dose/response curve is almost linear. The higher the intensity, the greater the response.
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