Growth hormone (GH) or growth hormone – is an anabolic (increases muscle fiber synthesis) and anticatabolic (reduces metabolic destruction of muscle fibers) hormone.
HGH (Human Growth Hormone) or Human Growth Hormone is considered a “key” hormone because it is responsible for so many functions in a person. HGH is responsible for youth, strength, energy, reduces weight by burning fat. Other names for HGH are somatropin, somatotropin, somatropin.
Human growth hormone (HGH, Growth Hormone or GH) is made up of 191 amino acids. Genetically modified recombinant human growth hormone is completely identical to the growth hormone produced by the human body. Growth hormone is secreted by the pituitary gland and is rapidly converted in the liver to its metabolite, insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1).
Growth hormone secretion, like many other hormones, occurs periodically and has several peaks throughout the day (usually peak secretion occurs every 3-5 hours). The highest and most predictable spike occurs at night, about an hour or two after falling asleep.
A significant increase in growth hormone occurs immediately after falling asleep, at any time of the day.
It is a myth that muscles are destroyed at night, supposedly due to catabolism. This myth gave rise to the following fiction about the need for nighttime snacks and snacks before bed. In fact, at night, growth hormone secretion is at its peak, which increases muscle anabolism (as well as growth in body length in young people). At the same time, under the influence of growth hormone secretion, the main energy exchange occurs at the expense of fats, and not carbohydrates and proteins (as during the day). Therefore, nocturnal catabolism is observed only in adipose tissue, but not in muscle.
At night, the muscles feed on fatty acids from fat stores, which do not allow muscle fibers to break down, and for this the evening snack is not necessary. For the same reason, it is useless to snack before bed. This need is firmly anchored in the minds of athletes thanks to marketers who have promoted casein protein. Plus, eating before bed tends to interfere with good early sleep and promotes fat storage, assuming you’re a natural athlete, of course.
Growth hormone is stimulated by protein nutrition. The more protein there is, the greater the production of the hormone. Growth hormone secretion is greater the faster protein products enter the blood. We are talking about the so-called fast proteins: boiled egg whites, low-fat fish and cottage cheese, skimmed milk. Growth hormone production is inhibited, faster carbohydrates (bakers, sweets, fresh white bread, etc.) and saturated fatty acids (bad fats) in the diet. Therefore, you should not eat fast carbohydrates and fatty foods before bedtime, when an increase in this hormone is expected.
This is what we know with certainty today. However, the effect of nutrition on growth hormone production is also controversial. In particular, according to a scientific study, the daily secretion of growth hormone is lower with infrequent meals (2 to 3 times a day) compared to frequent split meals. According to other scientists, a long period between meals (known as intermittent fasting) is a powerful stimulator of growth hormone release.
Regarding training, you should know that the release of somatotropin into the blood is stimulated by loads when we train MMV, or train the mass of BMW and PrMV, in other words, when we perform purely pump training from 8 to 12 repetitions. Strength training, on the contrary, will not contribute to the release of GH, but it will significantly stimulate the production of testosterone, and this hormone, as everyone knows, is no less important than GH itself . It is for this reason that you need to train according to the method of periodization, which will contribute to the production of all the most important anabolic and androgenic hormones, without which there will be no growth in mass and strength and, curiously, fat burning processes.
The classic long cardio lowers the GH level a lot, while the INTERVAL CARDIO in just 20 minutes of training to increase the level of somatotropin, spending much less time, you will get the result you expect. This shows us once again the uselessness of long classic cardio loads and the usefulness of interval loads, both for burning fat and for maintaining and gaining muscle mass.
An increased hormonal background is the key to muscle anabolism and the absence of muscle catabolism.
Key findings and recommendations:
Stimulates the production of growth hormone:
- Dream;
- Physical exercises with weights in the 8-12 rep range;
- cardio interval training;
- The use of L-amino acids – arginine, lysine, ornithine and glutamine;
- hypoglycemia;
- short-term fasting;
- Lack of dosed oxygen;
- frequent meals;
- Reasonable protein nutrition.
Inhibits the production of somatotropin:
- hyperglycemia;
- High carbohydrate and fat intake, especially before bedtime and exercise;
- Classic long cardio;
- Alcohol, especially beer;
- sleep deprivation;
- Excessive and prolonged physical activity.
By following all the recommendations you have received today, it will be much easier for you to achieve your goal, both in terms of fat loss, because GH itself reduces the amount of body fat, and the gain of muscular mass. In addition to the aesthetic effects, you will obtain as a bonus an improvement in the general health of the whole organism.