When you start training for muscle gain, there is something very important to pay attention to: anabolic hormones. These are important for muscle growth and boosting them can go far in helping you to see gains faster at the gym.
How does one go about boosting these hormones, which you may recognize as insulin, testosterone, and growth hormones? There are various ways that you can improve your body’s production of these hormones so that you can build the muscle mass you’re hoping for.
And we’re not talking about illegal drugs.
How To Increase Testosterone
When you have enough testosterone in your body, you can be sure to gain much more muscle tissue. More testosterone means that you have more power at the gym, as well as stamina when weight lifting. In order to boost your testosterone levels, there are some helpful tips:
- Make sure that you get enough L-Glutamine in your diet. Glutamine is an amino acid that can help you to develop lean muscles. It’s often found in many protein powders, so if you are already drinking protein powder smoothies, this is a good way to boost your anabolic hormones. If you’re not sure if you’re getting enough, get some of it to add to the shakes you’re already drinking.
- Do some HIIT exercises. HIIT can be very helpful for you when you want to increase your hGH secretion, which is highly beneficial to muscle gains. Not only is it good for your training but it can be helpful to lose any extra fat that you may have. Even if you didn’t want to boost your anabolic hormones, HIIT exercises offer some of the best benefits in any kind of workout, so you might as well add some to your exercise routine.
- Eat saturated fat. While this is often considered to be a negative for those who are working out or are trying to lose weight, saturated fat can be important for your testosterone levels. Look for healthy sources of fat, so that you aren’t feeding your body unhealthy food. And don’t take this as permission to overload on junk food.
- Try not to stress. This is certainly easier said than done, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not helpful. Men who have high levels of stress produce more cortisol which is a hormone that is catabolic, meaning that it is a hormone that does the opposite of what testosterone does, which is something you want to avoid.
How to Increase the Growth Hormone
Human growth hormone is yet another important one for muscle growth. It can make a difference in your efforts at the gym, but also do so much more, like help your heart health, aid you in weight loss, and strength development. The following are a few ways you can boost your growth hormones:
- Take an L-Arginine supplement. L-Arginine is good for you in more ways than one, but especially in increasing growth hormones in your body. It’s actually really good for helping your blood and oxygen flow to your tissues, which is also important for muscle recovery, as well as endurance (check out our recommendations for muscle builders).
- Laugh a lot. It may sound like an old wives’ tale, but laughing is actually a great way to increase beta-endorphins and HGH in your body, as well as decrease stress and the release of cortisol. A good way to get yourself laughing often is to watch your favorite comedy movies. Why not? If you have a friend who makes you laugh a lot, ask them to join you for a coffee or other activity. Most of all, try to live a happier, stress-free life.
- Eat dark fruits and vegetables. Look for fruits like berries and tomatoes and vegetables like spinach and peppers, as they will help you to get an increase of vitamin C in your diet. The more vitamin C, the better the levels of the growth hormone will be in your body. It’s always good to eat fruits and vegetables, so you may as well make them a part of your daily meals, both for boosting your growth hormone and simply because they are good for you.
How to Increase Insulin
Usually you would think of insulin as a bad thing to have in your diet, but it’s actually quite beneficial for you, in the right amounts. The trick is to know how to control the levels and have the right diet to get the best benefits. How do you get the right kind of effects of insulin? Consider the following:
- Eat starchy foods after a workout. You want to be careful about which kind of starches you’re eating and also your overall diet but if you need more glucose in your diet, consider eating pasta or potatoes after a heavy workout at the gym—within reason, of course.
- Eat your carbohydrates with proteins and dietary fats. If you do this, you’re still allowing your body the levels of insulin it needs, yet making sure that your body is burning the fat for energy instead of storing it in your body, which can lead to weight gain. As you may already know, just eating a lot of carbohydrates isn’t good for you, so making sure to eat a balanced meal with the right amount of each food you should be eating is a great idea.
- Add cinnamon to your diet. Cinnamon can be very beneficial to controlling the glucose in your diet and help you to maintain a healthy level of carbohydrates while helping you to maintain a lean body and healthy insulin sensitivity level.
Conclusion
It’s important that you do your best to boost your anabolic hormones, but it’s important to do it carefully. If you overdo too many carbohydrates, you may be getting the opposite results of what you’re looking for. Too much insulin isn’t good for you either, so in your efforts to build muscle, make sure that you’re being cautious about what you’re eating and how you’re going about boosting your anabolic hormones. When done right, you can see better results than ever before from your time spent at the gym.
