Manipulating hormones can help improve your performance, but it's very dangerous. Learn about lethal insulin injections in bodybuilding. All our actions trigger a corresponding hormonal response in the body. Every athlete should be fully aware of the role that hormones play in gaining mass and destroying muscle tissue. Hormones are a kind of vehicles that are produced by the endocrine system.
When these substances are in the bloodstream, they are able to interact with certain receptors. If you want to make constant progress, then you need to have at least minimal knowledge about hormones and their mechanisms of work.
Through training, you can influence and regulate these mechanisms. The first step towards gaining mass is to reduce the rate of catabolic reactions leading to the destruction of muscle tissue. This is possible by reducing the production of cortisol. At the same time, anabolic hormones, for example, insulin-like growth factor, testosterone, increase the speed of anabolic processes.
How hormones work
We have already said that hormones have the ability to interact with receptors. When this happens, the cell receives a signal to perform a certain action. The genes located in the cell accept it and begin to synthesize or destroy protein compounds. After the adaptation process is completed, the cell stops responding to the hormone. Thus, we can say that receptors contribute to a change in cellular metabolism.
There are two types of homons: polypeptide and steroid. With their help, you can produce any effect on the cells of muscle tissue. After the hormone penetrates into the cell, those departments that are responsible for the production of protein compounds are activated. After processing, RNA is sent to the sarcoplasm and converted into protein compounds. This is how steroid hormones work.
Polypeptide substances, Insulin or Somatotropin, consist of a large number of amino acid compounds. They are insoluble in fat and for this reason they are not able to penetrate into the tissue cell. But they can act on receptors, which trigger the necessary processes.
In addition, hormones carry a large amount of information. Under the influence of resistance training, the secretion of hormones increases. At the same time, the intensity of exercise has a rather large importance for the amount of hormones produced.
With strength training, the body produces more anabolic hormones compared to cardio. At the same time, cardio and solo training trigger various mechanisms and motor functions. Provided that the degree of load on the muscle tissue is great, sarcolemmas receive severe stress and, as a result, the sensitivity of their receptors decreases. It should also be remembered that various hormones are synthesized during the exercise and after its completion. With high physical exertion, a large amount of cortisol is produced in the muscle tissues, which leads to their destruction. With enough time to rest, the body triggers recovery mechanisms, which, as a result, lead to muscle growth. You will be able to dramatically improve your training performance by varying intensity, rest time, working weight and exercise.
Assigning various hormones
As mentioned above, hormones can only start working after they enter the bloodstream. Otherwise, they simply cannot interact with receptors. At the same time, even with a high concentration of substances, it is not always possible to obtain the expected result. Now let's talk about the main hormones.
Testosterone
The male hormone cannot directly affect protein synthesis. First, it activates the synthesis of somatotropin, and then insulin-like growth factor. Often, the level of anabolism is talked about after determining the concentration of testosterone in the blood.
The pause time between sets (it is better to rest less than 60 seconds), a large working weight and training, the duration of which does not exceed 60 minutes, have the maximum effect on the acceleration of the synthesis of the male hormone.
Growth hormone (Growth hormone)
This hormone is primarily necessary for children, since it is under its influence that all tissues grow. With age, the rate of its secretion and tasks change. In the adult body, growth hormone accelerates the production of protein compounds, promotes fat burning, and reduces the body's ability to use carbohydrates for energy. With a high concentration of Growth hormone, most of the energy is obtained from fat.
The restorative role of growth hormone is also very important. Its maximum production rate is observed at night. That is why you should always get enough sleep for the best recovery of the body. Also, the level of hydrogen ions affects the rate of hormone production. This metabolite can only be produced under the influence of strength training.
Insulin
It is also a powerful anabolic hormone. However, it may not only be useful. One of its negative properties is the creation of fat reserves. Among the main functions of the substance, it should be noted the ability to reduce the concentration of glucose in the blood, to increase the rate of absorption of carbohydrates and proteins by cells. Fat mass can be gained at a high concentration of the hormone.
Many athletes today use an exogenous hormone to enhance their performance. This is very effective, but care must be taken as excessive doses of insulin can be fatal. Also note that growth hormone and insulin are antagonists. For this reason, with a high concentration of insulin, the level of growth hormone decreases and vice versa.
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