Why are high levels of human growth hormone necessary for better fat loss? Human growth hormone will ensure your lean muscle tissue is protected in a caloric deficit. The last thing you want is to lose 20 1bs on the scale and have 7 of those pounds be muscle tissue.
That would put your metabolism in a bad position long-term. On top of that, your physique won’t look as good because you lost 7 pounds of muscle.
In this article, we will address:
- What is Human Growth Hormone?
- What HGH and Collagen Have in Common
- Strategies to Boost Human Growth Hormone Naturally
What is Human Growth Hormone?
Human Growth Hormone or HGH is the body’s main anti-aging hormone. It is produced by the pituitary glands and peaks during adolescence. HGH is also known as your fitness hormone. It plays a role in everything at the cellular level including:
- Metabolism
- Body Fat Regulation
- Muscle Growth
- Muscle Retention
- Collagen Production
- Brain Health
- Bone Density
- Libido
After the age of 40, growth hormone declines significantly making it difficult to lose fat while retaining muscle.
Some adults inject themselves with HGH hoping for a leaner and more youthful appearance, but that is not necessary or recommended.
There are strategies you can utilize to naturally increase your levels of growth hormone even as you age. We will get into those strategies later in this article.
What HGH and Collagen Protein Have in Common
High levels of HGH and collagen both promote ant-aging. Natural HGH production declines after 40 years old, but natural collagen production declines after 25 years old.
Collagen is imperative for muscle development, since it is the main building block of joint and connective tissue.
The most abundant protein source in your body is collagen. If you are deficient in collagen, you are at risk for all issues associated with aging including:
- Joint Pain
- Loss of Lean Body Mass
- Hair Loss
- Skin Wrinkles
- Unhealthy Nails
- Muscle loss
Issues related to growth hormone can be fixed without supplementation. However, collagen supplementation is something you should strongly consider.
If you want to learn more about the benefits of collagen supplementation, navigate to this article Why You Should Supplement With Collagen Protein If You Are Over 25 Years Old.
Strategies to Boost Human Growth Hormone Naturally
Finally, let’s talk about the best strategies you can utilize to naturally boost HGH levels for better fat loss.
1. Practice Intermittent Fasting Everyday
Intermittent fasting is the number 1 best thing you can do to boost HGH levels. When you fast, you are suppressing insulin hormone and elevating growth hormone.
Based on the research, men who practice fasting can increase growth hormone by as much as 2,000%. Women who practice fasting can increase growth hormone by as much as 1,300%.
Why is this the case? Fasting causes a switch in fuel metabolism. The body goes from burning carbohydrates or glucose for energy to burning bodyfat for fuel.
If you want to know more about the benefits of fasting and how to get started, check out this article Intermittent Fasting Windows.
If you want to learn how to naturally lower insulin levels, go to this post How to Stabilize Insulin Levels for Better Fat Loss.
2. Do Heavy-Resistance Training a Few Days a Week
Intense exercise has been shown to increase human growth hormone by 450 – 770%. How much of a boost you get in HGH depends on your gender and the type of exercises you’re doing.
Men will experience significantly higher increases in HGH from intense exercise compared to women. This is because men carry significantly more testosterone than women.
Testosterone and HGH are both anabolic hormones. They work in partnership with each other when it comes to men’s muscle development.
This doesn’t mean women shouldn’t prioritize strength training. Intense exercise is just as important for women’s fat loss and muscle building goals as it is for men’s. Women still see pretty good increases in HGH when they perform heavy resistance exercise.
On the topic of resistance training, both men and women need to prioritize compound movements. These are exercises that involve multiple muscle groups. When you train multiple muscle groups at a time, you burn more calories and stimulate more growth hormone.
A lot of these compound movements you are already familiar with.
- Push-ups
- Chin-ups
- Bench press
- Over Head Press
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Dips
- Rows
- Lunges
If you get relatively strong on all these movements, your physique will improve. Of course, you would still include isolation exercises in your training program to strengthen weak parts of your body.
Isolation training supports your performance on heavy compound lifts.
You don’t need to do a 5-6 day a week bodybuilding split to significantly boost HGH. It is not conducive for muscle recovery as a natural lifter.
A 3-day a week training program, where you’re leaving 48-72 hours of rest in between sessions is more than enough.
If you don’t understand why muscle recovery is something you should care about, give this article a read Why Muscle Recovery Is More Important Than Training Frequency.
3. Get a Deep Sleep Every Night
Most human growth hormone is secreted during deep sleep. If you are not sleeping enough, you will produce less HGH and more of the hormone cortisol. When it comes to sleep deprivation, cortisol suppresses growth hormone.
Cortisol is your main stress hormone. If your body is consistently in a highly stressed state, fat loss will become comprised.
Yes, it is true a caloric deficit is the main driver of fat loss. However, if you are producing too much cortisol, your metabolism can slow down or in some cases shut down.
In an ideal world, humans should be getting at least 7-9 hours of sleep each night. In today’s climate, people would say 7-9 hours of sleep a night is a “luxury”. Adequate sleep is not really a “luxury”. It is an essential health practice.
Many people have too much going on in their lives, which is why they think this way about sleep.
- They are working multiple jobs, in some cases, 2 full-time jobs.
- They are working a full-time job and pursuing a graduate degree
- They are working a full-time job, pursuing a master’s degree, and raising children.
People are doing all these things, while still trying to fit in a workout program.
You may be someone that gets great sleep on the weekends, but still, you need to prioritize decent rest during the week.
If that means staying off social media an hour before bed or cutting off the television an hour before bed, do what you must do to fall asleep sooner.
Conclusion
Based on the information in this article, there isn’t much you need to do to naturally increase growth hormone levels. If you follow the 3 steps laid out in this post, fat loss and muscle retention will be optimized.
You will also maintain your youth in your later years. Please don’t inject yourself with HGH or invest in HGH supplements.
Just:
- Practice intermittent fasting everyday
- Strength train a few days out of the week
- Get decent sleep
Most importantly, make sure you are still employing a caloric deficit everyday if you are trying to lose fat.
If you want to learn more about other hormones you need to control for optimal fat loss, check out this article 7 Hormones You Must Manage on a Weight Loss Program.
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