No, no, this is not that mentally quoted word from the slang of professionals, which in all languages means one thing: doping, stimulants and all that… I am going to tell you about the natural chemistry of the human body, including sensational ways to increase the production of the most important hormones that accelerate anabolism by your body!
First, let’s revive the knowledge of the school course: the brain controls all vital functions of the human body with the help of the nervous system, as well as highly active chemicals – hormones, which are produced in the endocrine glands. Hormones have strict selectivity of action, affecting only “swap” organs and functions. They are characterized by distapthnost, i.e. they affect organs distant from the glands, coming to them with the bloodstream.
Stop! Just don’t yawn! You are not in anatomy class! Everything I say is directly related to what keeps us awake at night: your desire to become Mr. Olympia !
So, how does the hormone affect the organ under its care? In response to an external stimulus, for example, a danger signal, the brain sends a nerve impulse to the adrenal gland – a tiny gland located at the upper pole of the kidney. In total, more than 40 different hormones are produced there, in the adrenal gland. They help the body recover from fatigue, neutralize toxic substances that have entered the digestive system, increase muscle performance, help adapt to cold, increased radiation, starvation, lack of oxygen in the air, etc. In our case, the adrenal gland will secrete the hormone adrenaline into the blood. Its molecules will penetrate living membranes – cell membranes – and will have a direct effect on intracellular processes, radically changing the mode of operation of certain organs: the heart will begin to beat faster, muscle tone will increase sharply, additional energy will be released during the breakdown of glycogen in the liver, the motor activity of the stomach and intestines will stop…
WHAT AND HOW?
Even with straight convolutions, it is easy to guess that the increase in muscle volume after strength stress occurs under the influence of hormones. Which ones exactly? Well, yes, of course, those that stimulate the growth of muscle cells anabolism. The answer seems quite obvious, so from the many hormonal drugs on the pharmacy shelves, “bodybuilders” without a tremor choose “anabolic steroids” synthetic analogues of the male sex hormone, in the very name of which they seem to have a promising hint of the desired muscle growth.
Considering that regular use of steroids causes impotence, causes cancer and destroys the liver, every fact of purchasing these drugs by a bodybuilder should be regarded as an expression of the greatest stupidity and deep ignorance!Because anabolic steroids actually have nothing to do with muscle growth!
As a pharmacological agent, steroids are prescribed to those who have undergone major surgeries and are at risk of dystrophy due to immobility. As practice has shown, steroids successfully stimulate the restoration of fallen muscle tissue, but they are fundamentally unable to cause new muscle growth!
And yet, many who took steroids, indeed, note some acceleration in the rate of muscle growth. What is the reason? To explain the phenomenon, we should make a small digression.
Although each endocrine gland is responsible for its own, clearly defined functions, it, along with other glands, is part of a single, so-called endocrine system, since a change in the activity of one gland entails changes in all the others. The endocrine gland system has a control center – an area of the brain called the pituitary gland. It not only produces hormones that regulate the body’s vital functions, but also hormones that stimulate the endocrine glands. Figuratively speaking, the pituitary gland is an endocrine minicomputer that ensures the hormonal well-being of the human body.
It is clear that the introduction of an artificial sex hormone, extremely biologically active, into the body causes severe stress to the endocrine system. The pituitary gland in panic begins to send random signals about the release of various hormones into the blood, including the one that omnipotently controls muscle growth and on which the fate of champion titles depends – GROWTH HORMONE. The accidental entry of GH into the muscles causes the same indirect effect of steroids that has misled more than one generation of bodybuilders.
By the way, the formation of growth hormone in response to steroid use depends on individual characteristics and is not a rule. That is why the use of anabolic steroids in many athletes does not cause any reaction.
Long-term use of “anabolics” creates a special kind of drug addiction. The pituitary gland, like the liver of a drug addict or alcoholic, tries with all its might to maintain the internal status quo, as a result, its activity as a complex biocybernetic device is unpredictably distorted, causing painful changes in cells, mainly of a cancerous nature. When a bodybuilder decides to stop using steroids, it often turns out that the pituitary gland has lost its ability to function normally, including the natural production of growth hormone. That is why stopping taking “anabolics” often causes a precipitous drop in muscle volumes, which cannot be restored by any training methods!
GROWTH HORMONE
Since we know that strength stress causes muscle growth, it is natural to assume that weight training stimulates GH production. However, the rule “the more, the better” does not apply here. Excessive overexertion inhibits GH release. Physical and mental fatigue, sleep disorders, changes in diet, medications – all of these, as experiments have shown, affect the growth hormone. It turned out that heat, as well as short high-intensity workouts, stimulate the release of GH, while cold, high blood sugar and long low-intensity workouts inhibit it.
How many times a day do you need to stimulate GH release for it to affect your bodybuilding results? Two? Three? Or ten? Scientific studies have reliably shown that an excess of GH dramatically reduces its effect, but muscle sensitivity to growth hormone is exacerbated if there are sufficiently long intervals between peaks of GH release, during which the previous portion of the hormone is utilized, and the blood is completely cleansed by the time of the next peak.
Conclusions? Break your workout into 2-3 short, high-intensity sessions. Do 2-3 workouts a day!
SLEEP
After-lunch fiesta is usually considered a sign of laziness. And yet, this is exactly what a bodybuilder needs to do, sleep in the afternoon. As studies have shown, sleep causes the appearance of a special hormone in the blood, which in turn entails the release of GH. The release of growth hormone occurs during the first four hours of night sleep, and during daytime sleep, if it lasts at least an hour.
NUTRITION
The fact that frequent, up to six or even seven times a day, meals stimulate the release of GH is unlikely to surprise an experienced bodybuilder. Professionals have long noticed that multiple meals accelerate muscle growth. Another question is why this happens? According to one hypothesis, the reason is in the diet itself. According to another, in the improved synthesis of amino acids , certain types of which have a positive effect on the formation of growth hormone.
EXPERIMENTS
Scientists have not yet come to a conclusion about the optimal number of GH peaks per day. The Swedes claim that the best results are achieved with 4-6 peaks, and with 10 peaks, muscle growth slows down. Meanwhile, American researchers have evidence that 9 peaks of GH secretion are most effective.
However, in any case, one thing is important: stimulating the secretion of growth hormone in natural ways will bring you great benefits in your work in the field of bodybuilding!
Please note, the old bodybuilding truth about the importance of daily routine, proper nutrition and sleep has been confirmed again. Oh yeah, I almost forgot! The most powerful stimulator of the release of growth hormone into the blood is joy. More precisely, the hormone adrenaline, which you already know, is an obligatory companion of all strong emotions. So, more pleasures: pleasant companies, films with Arnold , exciting detectives, walks in natural beauty and, of course, romantic acquaintances. The latter, I will tell you a secret, is the most powerful illegal “doping” that exists in bodybuilding.
