Hormonal Response to Exercise in Women

4 Easy Ways to Fuel Growth Hormone On your Workout

As women, we want to look good and have a healthy and fit body. But our hormones don’t always cooperate with us! PMS, menstruation or a skewed ratio of growth hormone vs cortisol production can make things difficult. While the first two are not really in our control, there are easy ways to get the growth hormone working for you!

Contrary to what some believe, a rigorous workout routine may not always be beneficial. Research has suggested that strenuous exercise may even speed up the ageing process! This is because of the love-hate relationship between our hormones – something we must tweak to our benefit.

Want a Balanced Workout Routine for Women? 4 Ideas to Explore

1. Be Clear About The Growth Hormone vs. Cortisol Equation

Before setting out to exercise, it’s important to understand the specifics of hormones and the part they play in helping you stay fit. For instance, what is human growth hormone and what significance does it have when you exercise? GH or youth hormone is the ‘magical’ hormone that is produced during a workout and assists your body in burning up excess fat while building lean muscle. But on longer workouts, another hormone called cortisol is released. This lowers the metabolic rate of the body and makes it difficult to burn fat!

2. Take Sufficient Breaks Between Exercise Sets

A workout is only effective when you can maintain the optimum balance between these two hormones. The trick is to increase the production of GH and suppress production of cortisol. When we are talking about conflicting hormones, what maintains this balance and how to reduce cortisol? Split your workout routine into several short duration and high-intensity sessions rather than going for longer workouts for women

Take sufficient breaks between exercise sets

3. Make Sure You Get a Good Warm-Up

Theories suggest that the growth hormone gets stimulated with just a couple of 30-second bursts of extremely high-intensity workouts like sprinting. If you can manage to do this multiple times a day, your body releases GH multiple times too. And, such short sessions will also ensure that your body doesn’t have to suffer the negative implications of cortisol release. Before a rigorous workout, stretch, sprint or just dance! Space your exercise out according to your schedule and job.

4. Keep a Watch Out for Messed Up Hormones

Are you experiencing water retention, bloating or complete failure to feel fitter despite exercising? These could be signs of excessive cortisol production. On the other hand, weakness or tiredness could be signs of inadequate cortisol. Be on the lookout for these signs and if you feel something is not quite right, consult with your doctor.

When you understand the hormonal response to exercise, you can be smart and plan your workouts to get the desired effect from them like greater fat loss, a leaner and more sculpted body, and anti-ageing benefits. Sweat it out smartly at your next exercise session!

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