growth is dependent on various hormones – some promote it, while others inhibit it. Find out which hormones you should take during the muscle-building phase and how to keep them in balance.
In addition to intensive strength training, a healthy, balance diet, and a calorie surplus, the hormone balance plays a decisive role in target muscle building.
Table of Contents
Insulin for Muscle Building
The main task of insulin is to keep blood sugar levels constant. Insulin is a storage and satiety hormone secret in the pancreas in response to food intake.
Insulin is release not only when carbohydrates are consumed but also when eating a high-protein diet.
Amaze? The amino acid leucine specific, which is found in lentils, soybeans, peas, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, cashew nuts, cheese, and eggs, for example, is known to stimulate the pancreas and thus promote insulin release
Your Body needs These Amino Acids after Hard Workouts
Food is broken down into the individual components of glucose, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals using insulin and then transport to the particular muscle, fat, and liver cells.
While carbohydrates immediately stimulate insulin release, the increase insulin level also ensures that the amino acids can be better absorb by the muscles – also known as protein biosynthesis.
Benefits of insulin in muscle building:
- Carbohydrates (glucose) are store in the fat and liver cells – during training, these glucose stores are use for energy expenditure, and the muscle mass is spare
- Insulin has been shown to inhibit exercise-induce muscle protein breakdown
- Amino acids are transport to the muscles to be store there and promote muscle growth
- Insulin keeps you full longer, so grab good carbs and plant and animal proteins
Testosterone for Muscle Building
Testosterone is the male sex hormone, which is also essential for growth hormones. It is produced in the testicles by men, in ovaries in women, and to this extent in adrenal glands.
Testosterone anabolic will benefit muscle building.
For making or building muscle, testosterone is essential for both men and women, but the difference is that in men, it produces high quantities.
Important to know: Testosterone is present in both bound and free form in the body. You can find that only the free testosterone is used for muscle building. By restoring the testosterone booster, you can increase its levels naturally.
Increase testosterone production naturally:
- Getting enough sleep: The more hours you sleep, the more testosterone is release. A night’s rest of 7 to 8 hours is ideal. Anything below that leads to increase production of cortisol – the stress hormone and counterbalance to testosterone.
- Reducing stress: Speaking of the stress hormone – if you are expose to stressful situations over a more extend period, be it professionally, privately, or in sports, cortisol production automatically increases. As a result, less testosterone is release, the muscles do not regenerate optimally, and muscle growth is inhibit.
No Success in Training? It Could be this Hormone
- More healthy fats: If you want to gain muscle mass, you should not go on a low-fat diet. Healthy body fat should make up about 30 percent of your daily calorie balance. Testosterone is only increasingly produce through the intake of healthy fats such as avocado, coconut oil , olive oil, almonds or walnuts.
- Pay attention to zinc and vitamin D: testosterone needs various vitamins and minerals to be release more intensively. Studies by the Medical University of Graz originate that the lower the vitamin D intake, the less testosterone is produce. Vitamin D is absorb 80 percent from sunlight and 20 percent from food.
If you sweat a lot though exercising, you lose a lot of zinc. Be careful not to become zinc deficient, which will impact testosterone production and your muscle-building success. - Use soy products sparingly: Half of the protein intake must consist of vegetable protein sources such as kidney beans, lentils, or wheat bran. But caution is advise when consuming soy products: Scientists at Deakin University in Melbourne found that eating tofu reduces testosterone production.
- High training intensity: With the help of high-intensity interval training ( HIIT ), the growth hormone can be produce more intensively. So put in short, crisp workouts that challenge you. But be careful: You shouldn’t walk for more than 30 minutes; otherwise, the stress hormone cortisol will be re-release, which will prevent active muscle building.
- Rugge strength training: Week by week, put a little more weight on the dumbbells and do exercises like squats or deadlifts for just a few repetitions. Regular, intensive strength training promotes absolute muscle building. This also leads to an increase release of testosterone.
Growth Hormone HGH
The human growth hormone (HGH) is an endogenous protein produce in the pituitary gland.
With the help of the blood, it reach the individual cells directly, where it is bound, and immediately starts metabolic process. The growth hormone stimulates the liver cells to produce the messenger substance IGF-1 – an insulin-like growth factor in the liver.
This hormone then affects the protein and sugar metabolism and the bone and cartilage metabolism. Therefore, it is responsible for the anabolic, muscle-building effect of growth hormones such as testosterone.
The more growth hormones are produce, the more the body uses existing fat reserves.
However, as HGH production decreases with age, just like testosterone, it becomes more challenging to keep your body fat levels down. Therefore, it is recommend to counteract the reduction with the help of the right diet, plenty of sleep, little stress , little sugar, and varix training.
Adrenaline
Like cortisol, the catabolic hormone epinephrine, also known as adrenaline, is an indicator of stress. It is an endogenous hormone that is produce in the adrenal gland.
Adrenaline increases the oxygen supply in the short term, and more oxygen reaches the cells. This causes blood pressure and blood sugar levels to rise simultaneously, the heart to beat faster, and breathing to increase.
Nevertheless, there is a striking difference between the stress hormone cortisol: instead of breaking down muscle mass, it draws its energy from the glycogen in the fat reserves.