Everybody around me always asks the same question: how to reach muscle hypertrophy, and get a more athletic, toned body. Today at Bodytech we are going to talk about the hormones that be enable us to gain muscle. The word hormone comes from old Greek, and it is simply a molecule produced by the body that signals different organs to regulate distant organs. They are the key to your body’s anatomy.
The activation of the required hormones for muscle gain isn’t rocket science. You need to combine the following elements: Proper weight training that stimulates our body, eating a balanced diet with good amounts of protein, and least but not last, good rest. Mastering these three factors will win 80% of the battle, the remaining 20%, we will have to leave it to genetics (in some cases more).
The hormones that help us
There are two hormones that we should try to activate to the limit, when our goal is to win the maximum amount of muscle, through various ways (do not think of illegal roads because at Bodytech Rejuvenation we will never recommend you to step into the “dark side”) . The two hormones are:
Growth hormone is an ideal way to gain muscle while burning fat. The way to activate it the maximum is with intense training of the entire body, but especially with strict rest, sleeping at least 7-8 hours daily.
The best training to enable growth hormone is undoubtedly the high intensity training (HIT), and NOT cardio as many race at high intensity for short periods of time to stimulate their muscles (which is known as sprint).
Testosterone: definitely the queen when it comes to gaining muscle. The first thing to consider is to have a daily caloric deficit, ie eating enough, if not levels are greatly reduced and would do its natural anabolic function.
Another very important thing is to forget about alcohol completely, as drinking alcohol will make testosterone levels plummet, and controlling your maximum intake if you are at a party, celebration must opt for beer and never cocktails.
Besides food must follow a varied diet and contain at least 20% fat if possible since unsaturated fat raises testosterone levels. So forget those diets low in fat when it comes to gaining muscle. I would still consume carbs, but only after a high intensity workout.
The wildcard hormone: Insulin
Insulin is a hormone that depending on its level, can help stimulate muscle gain as it serves the purpose of transportation for amino acids to the muscles, but you also have to keep it controlled because it can cause glycogen storage in the form of fat.
Ideally, to maintain stable insulin levels, eat every three hours, but no heavy meals, and make sure to control the intake of simple carbohydrates, as these cause a spike up blood glucose which is countered by high secretion of insulin by pancreas.
Hormone Control
There are two other hormones that we must control as well as possible because they may damage the results we’ve been working for, maybe even make us lose the muscle we worked so hard for.
Estrogen: This hormone reduces testosterone levels (that’s why women can not develop huge muscles). To keep it at bay, you need to lower your body fat index which will in turn also increase your natural testosterone levels, a win-win situation. So keep that fat off.
Cortisol: Although necessary for our bodies, the best idea is to maintain cortisol levels as low as possible because they can easily destroys muscle tissue. A good way to control cortisol is by taking Omega-3 oils (fish oils), which also helps as well to improve muscle sensitivity to insulin, which helps you to better absorb amino acids.
Hormone Effects on our Bodies
The testosterone hormone, secreted by the testes and marks manly patterns. This has two distinct characteristics:
Androgenic: Particularly with the sexual characteristics such as increased body hair, voice thicker and strength.
Anabolic: Focuses specifically on the increase in protein synthesis.
How does it improve performance?
Improves performance in the gym for their androgen action, constantly builds muscle fibers by increasing anabolism and avoid falling into muscle catabolism, detrimental to bodybuilders.
Growth hormone is secreted by the hypothalamus and is responsible for the growth of all organs, including bones, with the function to release fatty acids from adipose tissue to use as energy.
Used in exogenous form, testosterone will not have the anabolic effect of testosterone, but of increased strength, decreased injuries, better healing of injuries, and of course, increasing muscle mass. It is widely used to gain clean muscle and burn fat (especially abdominal) at the same time.
