Friday, December 6, 2019
  • Home
  • Deals
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
Bodybuilding, Fitness, CrossFit, Strongman and Powerlifting
  • Workouts
    • All
    • Arms
    • Back
    • Cardio
    • Chest
    • Core
    • Legs
    • Workout Plans
    Bodybuilders Nfl

    Watch What Happens When These Bodybuilders Try The NFL Combine Fitness Test!

    Dexter Jackson

    Dexter Jackson Looks Superhuman In Recent Gym Video!

    Pin Press Exercise

    Bust Through Sticking Points With The Pin Press

    Trending Tags

    • Arms
    • Calves
    • Workout Tips
    • Back
    • Arnold
  • Nutrition
    • All
    • Essential Nutrients
    • Nutrition Tips
    Essential Nutrients Build Muscle

    Best Essential Nutrients Elements to Help you Build Muscle

    Tgitode5g7i

    WATCH: Larry Wheels Full Day Of Eating

    Plant Based Diet

    Plant-Based Diet: Is It Right For Bodybuilders? Some Think Not

    Trending Tags

    • Nutrtion
    • Diet Tips
    • Nutrition Tips
    • Ketogenic
    • Ketogenic Diet
    • Macronutrient
  • Training
  • Food FactsTrending
  • News
    • MMA
    • CrossFit
    • Powerlifting
    • Strongman
  • Videos
  • Reviews
    • All
    • Lifting Gear & Accessories
    • Supplements
    Holiday Gift Guide For Fitness Enthusiasts

    Must-Have Holiday Gift Guide For Fitness Lovers (2019)

    Best Cod Liver Oil

    10 Best Cod Liver Oil Supplements Reviewed For 2019

    Best Pre Workout Supplements 2019

    The 17 Most Effective Best Pre-Workouts in 2019

    Trending Tags

    • Ample
    • pre-workout
    • Meal Replacement
    • Pre-Kaged
  • DealsHot
No Result
View All Result
Fitness Volt: Bodybuilding, Fitness, CrossFit, Strongman and Powerlifting
  • Workouts
    • All
    • Arms
    • Back
    • Cardio
    • Chest
    • Core
    • Legs
    • Workout Plans
    Bodybuilders Nfl

    Watch What Happens When These Bodybuilders Try The NFL Combine Fitness Test!

    Dexter Jackson

    Dexter Jackson Looks Superhuman In Recent Gym Video!

    Pin Press Exercise

    Bust Through Sticking Points With The Pin Press

    Trending Tags

    • Arms
    • Calves
    • Workout Tips
    • Back
    • Arnold
  • Nutrition
    • All
    • Essential Nutrients
    • Nutrition Tips
    Essential Nutrients Build Muscle

    Best Essential Nutrients Elements to Help you Build Muscle

    Tgitode5g7i

    WATCH: Larry Wheels Full Day Of Eating

    Plant Based Diet

    Plant-Based Diet: Is It Right For Bodybuilders? Some Think Not

    Trending Tags

    • Nutrtion
    • Diet Tips
    • Nutrition Tips
    • Ketogenic
    • Ketogenic Diet
    • Macronutrient
  • Training
  • Food FactsTrending
  • News
    • MMA
    • CrossFit
    • Powerlifting
    • Strongman
  • Videos
  • Reviews
    • All
    • Lifting Gear & Accessories
    • Supplements
    Holiday Gift Guide For Fitness Enthusiasts

    Must-Have Holiday Gift Guide For Fitness Lovers (2019)

    Best Cod Liver Oil

    10 Best Cod Liver Oil Supplements Reviewed For 2019

    Best Pre Workout Supplements 2019

    The 17 Most Effective Best Pre-Workouts in 2019

    Trending Tags

    • Ample
    • pre-workout
    • Meal Replacement
    • Pre-Kaged
  • DealsHot
No Result
View All Result
Bodybuilding, Fitness, CrossFit, Strongman and Powerlifting
No Result
View All Result
Home Muscle Anabolic Hormones

How Important Are Exercise-Induced Hormones – Part 2

Justin Robertson by Justin Robertson
August 1, 2013
in Anabolic Hormones, Muscle-Building
4 min read
Ronda Rousey Breaks Silence Comments on Future in UFC
  • 32shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Flipboard

Last week in part one of How Important Are Exercise-Induced Hormones we looked at numerous studies that all pointed to exercise-induced hormones not having a role in muscle hypertrophy or strength. The evidence was pretty clear that growth hormone was not anabolic and did not have an effect on protein synthesis. Today I want to talk about what is more important than exercised-induced hormones as well as what these hormones may do for us.

I briefly mentioned last week what was much more important than exercise-induced hormones, and that is your overall hormone levels that matter the most. Not just what’s happening during our training. Our overall hormone profile is the difference between the genetically gifted people and the rest of the world. The people who can pile on slabs of muscle way faster than others doing the same things likely have very high levels of these hormones.

To show how important your hormonal profile is, there was a study done that showed in 10 weeks people who took 600 mg of testosterone but did NO weight training whatsoever gained on average 7 pounds of muscle. To put that into perspective there was a group who did weight training naturally and they gained on averaged 4 pounds of muscle during that time. So the group who got additional hormones without doing a thing gained almost twice as much muscle as the natural group who did train. Think hormones make a difference? If you were wondering there was a group that trained and got the testosterone boost, and they gained on average 13 pounds of muscle. (5)

I’m in no way advocating steroid use as I think the bad far outweighs the good, but it’s easy to see how one could get trapped into thinking its use was the way to go, and it certainly shows just how important our hormonal profile is when it comes to results. If you have high levels of testosterone you are going to be able to add muscle way faster than those who don’t. Okay, I’m not telling you anything you didn’t already know I’m sure, but I’m trying to make a point. While you can’t change your genetics, you can certainly improve your hormone levels through things like exercise, diet, sleep, managing stress and overall living a healthy life. The results we get from eating and the growth that comes from hormones go hand in hand. It’s not just the food that makes you grow.

As you can see I’m not disputing hormones play a huge role in body composition. It’s no coincidence that men have on average 10 times more testosterone than women. Growth hormone and IGF-1 play a key role in the regulation of body size especially in children, although their role in adults is not quite as clear. Certainly individuals with a growth hormone deficiency have increased body fat and decreased fat-free mass, as well as decreased muscle strength. Since these factors can all be helped by synthetic growth hormone, but changes in myofibre cross-sectional area are not. Researchers say this would suggest growth hormone does not affect muscle mass in adults. (6) What growth hormone has been shown to do is play a large role in mobilizing body fat for fuel during training, as well as aid in recovery. While it may not be associated with muscle mass, there is evidence for anti-catabolic activity of growth hormone and IGF-1. (7, 8)

As we’ve seen overall growth hormone does not show any proven benefits for muscle mass in healthy individuals with normal growth hormone levels, but it does have a role in the maintenance of muscle mass and is a strong hormone for recovery as well as using fat for fuel. It certainly increases the rate of muscle regeneration and helps the healing process via tissue repair. I’m not saying exercise-induced hormones are completely unimportant, but I do feel they have been greatly overemphasized.

After reviewing all this research I’d say if growth hormone had any major role it would be in aiding fat loss as well as helping repair broken down muscle. Its 188 amino acids on different chains and sequences help greatly with tissue repair. It’s my opinion that when it comes to pre, intra and post-workout nutrition it’s more important during a fat loss stage than it is in a muscle-building stage in terms of hormonal responses and actual results. Then again, you want to avoid insulin responses most of the time during a cutting phase anyway (helping keep growth hormone levels high) so should that be any different around training if fat loss is your goal? I’d say the fairly obvious answer would be no.

When it comes to building, I don’t see a need to worry about lowering levels of your hormones, pre, intra or post-workout. It’s training over a long period of time that increases muscle mass, not hormones released via training. You may remember from Round Table 4 that I used to think avoiding carbs pre-workout to keep testosterone levels high for a workout was a good idea, regardless if you were building or cutting. This information certainly changes my opinion on that. In fact more research I recently found has actually shown that amino acid-carbohydrate ingestion pre-workout increases protein synthesis far greater than when taken post-workout. Even more good news for the pre-workout mix was its effects were shown to last for an hour post-workout. (9) This also makes me wonder about those post-workout carbs, which is a topic I plan to research with greater detail soon.

This is what I have concluded from the research I found. There are a lot of factors out there and each person could conclude things a number of different ways. The point I’m trying to make is spending too much time trying to figure out how to increase your hormonal responses via exercise will probably end up with you running in circles and potentially cause “paralysis by analysis.” The increases in cortisol you could get from stressing about it could offset any minimal gains you could get from having the “perfect” hormonal response during training. There are more important factors in those hormones, and I believe you are better off concentrating on raising your overall hormone levels rather than worrying about what they are at from a workout.

I say do what you have to do to get in a great workout. From there rest, eat well, stay calm and watch your muscles grow.

Happy Lifting!

For the latest news and updates please follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
  • 32shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Flipboard

Join our list

Subscribe to our mailing list and get interesting stuff and updates to your email inbox.

Thank you for subscribing.

Something went wrong.

We respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously

Tags: Anabolic HormonesMuscle-Building
Previous Post

How Much Do Exercise Induced Hormones Matter?

Next Post

Fat Loss Foods And Supplements

Justin Robertson

Justin Robertson

Related Posts

WATCH: The 6’7″ Shredded Monster Aaron Reed
Anabolic Hormones

Muscle: Testosterone in Men and Women

August 21, 2018
Can ZMA Help Build Muscle And Support Sleep?
Anabolic Hormones

Can ZMA Help Build Muscle And Support Sleep?

August 21, 2018
Mr. Olympia 2018 Predictions
2018 Mr. Olympia

Mr. Olympia 2018 Predictions – Top 5

August 22, 2018
arnold schwarzenegger cardio
Muscle-Building

Build More Muscle Mass With Cardio: Part 2

August 30, 2018
Bodybuilding Cardio
Muscle-Building

Build More Muscle Mass With Cardio

May 17, 2018
WATCH: Jay Cutler’s Best Olympia Moment – Complete Interview
Diet

Muscle Building and Fat Loss: Part 3

February 23, 2018

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Gym Goer Sits On Evan Kardon Loaded Barbell in protest

Man At A Gym Won’t Allow Powerlifter To Deadlift

September 30, 2019
Olympia Athletes

Updated: List Of Competitors Qualified For 2019 Mr. Olympia In Every Division

September 15, 2019
Mr Olympia Results

2019 Mr. Olympia Results: Men’s Open Bodybuilding Results & Prize Money

September 15, 2019
Rich Piana Passed Away

BREAKING: Reports Claim ‘Rich Piana Passed Away’

Rich Piana Coma

Breaking News: Rich Piana Placed in Medically Induced Coma… After Emergency

Sifiso Lungelo Thabethe

Breaking News: Junior IFBB World Champ Dies After Botched Back Flip – Graphic Video

Bodybuilders Nfl

Watch What Happens When These Bodybuilders Try The NFL Combine Fitness Test!

December 5, 2019
Dexter Jackson

Dexter Jackson Looks Superhuman In Recent Gym Video!

December 5, 2019
Crossfit Inc

CrossFit Inc Awarded $4 Million From Court Battle

December 5, 2019

Recent Reviews

Holiday Gift Guide For Fitness Enthusiasts

Must-Have Holiday Gift Guide For Fitness Lovers (2019)

November 28, 2019
Best Cod Liver Oil

10 Best Cod Liver Oil Supplements Reviewed For 2019

November 24, 2019
Best Pre Workout Supplements 2019

The 17 Most Effective Best Pre-Workouts in 2019

November 27, 2019
Fitness Volt

At FitnessVolt.com our mission is to educate and inform you about the latest in professional bodybuilding, fitness, and sports-related content. We believe you should have the best information at your fingertips to help you reach your fitness goals and to stay up to date on everything happening in the bodybuilding, fitness and strength sports industry... Read more.


Disclosure: FitnessVolt.com has an affiliate relationship with different brands and is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. However, our reviews are based on well research backed analysis.
FitnessVolt.com - 1700 Lincoln St. Denver, CO. 

Follow Us

Trending Topics

  • Best Pre-workouts 2019
  • Mr. Olympia 2019
  • Arnold Classic
  • Phil Heath
  • Lee Priest
  • Big Ramy
  • Roelly Winklaar
  • Bubble Gut
  • Build Bigger Delts
  • Boost Testosterone
  • German Volume Training
  • Protein-Packed Foods
  • Jay Cutler Tips
  • Big Ramy Workout
  • Dorian Yates Cardio Traning
  • Ronnie Coleman Workout
  • Jefferson Deadlift
  • What Is Hypertrophy
  • Squat Vs Deadlift

Fitness Calculators

  • Calorie Calculator
  • Keto Calculator
  • Calories Burned Calculator
  • TDEE Calculator
  • Food Nutrition Analysis
  • One Rep Max Calculator
  • Macro Calculator
  • Body Fat Calculator
  • Protein Calculator
  • Carbohydrate Calculator
  • Daily Calorie Calculator

CrossFit® News

CrossFit

CrossFit Inc Awarded $4 Million From Court Battle

December 5, 2019
CrossFit

3 Reasons Why All Bodybuilders Should Try CrossFit

December 5, 2019
CrossFit

Top 10 Effective CrossFit Bodyweight Workouts

December 4, 2019
  • About
  • Write For Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Scholarship
  • Sitemap
  • DMCA
  • Copyrights
  • Terms Of Use
  • Privacy Policy

© Copyright 2010 - 2019 Europa Athletics IBC. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Workouts
  • Nutrition
  • Training
  • Food Facts
  • News
    • MMA
    • CrossFit
    • Powerlifting
    • Strongman
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • Deals

© Copyright 2010 - 2019 Europa Athletics IBC. All Rights Reserved.