YOUR FITNESS HORMONE - The bodys ultimate fat-burning, muscle toning & building, anti-aging, anti-middle-aging, synergistic agent
Human growth hormone (HGH) is very powerful. Some researchers consider it the most powerful hormone in the body.
HGH is a natural substance produced by the body. Its released in pulses - about twelve a day. And what it does to your body is miraculous!
As children, HGH makes our bodies grow taller. Think about that for a moment. HGH is the substance produced by the body that makes children grow several feet taller in only a few short years. Thats a powerful hormone!
After puberty, HGH begins to decline. Actually, it takes a nose dive downward until we reach the mid 30s. With this dramatic decline of HGH, the body begins to add body fat and some other not-so-positive things.
We joke about this stage and call it the "middle-age spread." But its a real condition. Medical researchers call this the "somatopause." And its related directly to the decline of HGH during middle-age.
Symptoms of the sagging somatopause are; body fat increases, muscle tone and size declines, good cholesterol goes down, bad cholesterol goes up, bone density begins to thin, and the skin begins to wrinkle.
Will the Real Fitness Hormone Please stand up?
For children, HGH is truly the "hormone of growth" as it was initially named by Dr. Harvey Cushing in 1912, because it makes children grow.
Once we reach adulthood however, HGH changes roles and it actually becomes the adult "fitness hormone." If you think about it, HGH doesnt make adults "grow" after puberty. Researchers show that when HGH is released during fitness training, it targets and actually shrinks body fat for two hours after training. Sounds like the "fitness hormone" to me!
After the first edition of this book was published, the number one question from people on talk shows was, "will growth hormone make me grow." And I would spend valuable air time explaining the history of HGH research rather than telling people what they needed to know - how to increase the fitness hormone to cut body fat, tone & build muscle, and restore energy.
New Landmark Research
When I completed the research phase for the first edition, the research was complete enough to draw hard conclusions about the type of fitness program that would make the body release HGH. However, the research didnt specifically test high-intensity sprints until later. Now we have the details.
In a new study, researchers compared HGH produced by anaerobic exercise in several ways - resting (for a baseline measurement), after a 6 second cycle sprint, and after a 30 second cycle sprint.
Researchers also measured growth hormone for hours afterwards to see how long HGH stayed in participants bodies after exercise, (The time course of the human growth hormone response to a 6s and a 30s cycle ergometer sprint, 2002, Stokes.
The Results are Incredible!
The 6 second sprint method did move HGH some, but didnt come close to the bodys potential to release the fitness hormone.
The 30 second all-out effort sprint increased HGH by 530% over resting baseline and 450% over the lesser intensity sprint.
Like earlier research studies, HGH stayed elevated for two hours after the sprinting program. In the earlier landmark study, researchers at the University of VA, show that once HGH is released during exercise, it targets body fat for up to two hours after training. (Impact of acute exercise intensity on pulsatile growth hormone release in men, 2000, Pritzlaff).
Now we can conclude that it is possible to increase HGH by 530% with anaerobic sprinting. And once released, HGH will target body fat like a heat-seeking missile for two hours after training. This is fitness synergy!
The Synergy Fitness anaerobic sprinting workouts can be performed in many different ways cycling, swimming, skiing, running, XC skiing, or even power walking. It can be performed in the gym on an elliptical trainer, stationary bike, recumbent bike, or a treadmill.
Whatever the method, the goal is to reach all FOUR critical HGH-release benchmarks during fitness training.
It Takes More than Fitness Training to Maximize HGH Release
There are some tricks to the trade to maximize HGH once its released during exercise.
The importance of all hormones produced by the body is obvious. However, the way you stimulate the release of HGH naturally - through diet, inexpensive nutritional supplements, sleep, and HGH-releasing exercise - will typically determine the functional outcome of many other hormones.
The gland that releases this hormone, the pituitary gland,
is called the "master gland" because of its impact on so many other hormones. If your fitness and nutrition plans are on target to maximize HGH, then many other hormones in your body will typically be well managed, too.
HGH may do more than you ever imagined. This hormone impacts every aspect of life and does so over an entire lifetime. HGH affects your career, appearance, selfimage, ambition, energy, and performance - physically and mentally. Even relationships with family and friends are affected by HGH.
Understanding how HGH functions will impact the way you think about fitness training. And may it lead you to modify your diet, add specific nutritional supplements, and perhaps even change your sleeping habits.
The Somatopause - The Ultimate Baby-Boomer Bummer
Its been called the "middle-age spread" and the "middle-age blimp-out." But whatever its called, its a physical reality for 80 million middle-age adults.
Officially, medical researchers call this condition the somatopause (sa-mot-a-pause). Are you middle-age and experiencing weight-gain, nenergy decline, and loss of muscle? Are lab reports showing bad cholesterol going up and good cholesterol going down? These are all symptoms of the somatopause that typically begins in the 30s. Medical researchers report that the somatopause is related directly to the decline of HGH.
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There are 300 photo-illustrations and 368-pages in the 2nd Edition of Ready, Set GO! Synergy Fitness. Get Your copy today!
