thebear
09-07-2020, 01:57 AM
Myth: Always Design Workouts To Maximize Testosterone Release
A common belief, especially among body builders, is that workouts should be designed to maximize the release of hormones, especially testosterone (T) and growth hormone (GH). T and GH are considered “anabolic” hormones that will enhance muscle and strength gains from training.
The theory didn't come out of nowhere. It was based on the fact that when trainees take steroids containing huge pharmacological doses of testosterone in conjunction with strength training, they experience large increases in strength and muscle gains.
However, the exercise-induced increase in testosterone is short-lived. The magnitude is inconsequential in comparison to that experienced when steroids are taken.
Sports scientists explain the exercise-induced increase in hormones is an acute, transient stress response that doesn’t have any effect on protein synthesis or muscle development. For example, in 2009, researchers compared strength, muscle, and protein synthesis responses to two different exercise protocols. The training protocol had active young men train a Low Hormone condition and a High Hormone condition.
In the Low Hormone condition they did unilateral biceps curls only on one side of the body. In the High Hormone condition they trained the opposite arm with the same biceps curls followed immediately by a bout of 11 sets of leg exercises. The High Hormone condition significantly elevated testosterone, GH, and IGF-1. The Low Hormone condition did not.
Results after the single workout showed that protein synthesis in the biceps was elevated by 78 percent following the Low Hormone trial compared to only 61 percent following the High Hormone trial (1). Then, they had the subjects perform the Low Hormone and High Hormone workouts twice a week for 15 weeks to see if there was any difference in muscle or strength development in the biceps (2). Results showed that there were NO differences in 1RM elbow flexion strength or muscle fiber cross-sectional area between the two groups.
Take Away: Instead of planning training programs to produce a large hormone response, design them to maximize athletic performance and enhance protein synthesis through muscle fiber loading and nutrition.
1. West, D., Kujbida, G., et al. Resistance Exercise-Induced Increases in Putative Anabolic Hormones Do Not Enhance Muscle Protein Synthesis of Intracellular Signaling In Young Men. 2009. Journal of Physiology. 587(21), 5239-5247.
2. West, D., Burd, N., et al. Elevations in Ostensibly Anabolic Hormones with Resistance Exercise Enhance Neither Training-Induced Muscle Hypertrophy Nor Strength of the Elbow Flexors. 2010. Journal of Applied Physiology. 108, 60-67.
3. Frank, A., et al. The role of hypothalamic estrogen receptors in metabolic regulation. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology. 2014. 35(4):550-7.
4. Ignacio, D., et al. Thyroid hormone and estrogen regulate exercise-induced growth hormone release. PLOS One. 2015. 10(4):e0122556.
5. Lizcano, F., Guzman, G. Estrogen Deficiency and the Origin of Obesity during Menopause. Biomedical Research International. 2014. 2014:757461.
6. Staples, A., et al. Carbohydrate does not augment exercise-induced protein accretion versus protein alone. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 2011. 43(7):1154-61.
7. Aragon, A., Schoenfeld, B. Nutrient Timing Revisited: Is There a Post-Exercise Anabolic Window? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2013. 10(5).
A common belief, especially among body builders, is that workouts should be designed to maximize the release of hormones, especially testosterone (T) and growth hormone (GH). T and GH are considered “anabolic” hormones that will enhance muscle and strength gains from training.
The theory didn't come out of nowhere. It was based on the fact that when trainees take steroids containing huge pharmacological doses of testosterone in conjunction with strength training, they experience large increases in strength and muscle gains.
However, the exercise-induced increase in testosterone is short-lived. The magnitude is inconsequential in comparison to that experienced when steroids are taken.
Sports scientists explain the exercise-induced increase in hormones is an acute, transient stress response that doesn’t have any effect on protein synthesis or muscle development. For example, in 2009, researchers compared strength, muscle, and protein synthesis responses to two different exercise protocols. The training protocol had active young men train a Low Hormone condition and a High Hormone condition.
In the Low Hormone condition they did unilateral biceps curls only on one side of the body. In the High Hormone condition they trained the opposite arm with the same biceps curls followed immediately by a bout of 11 sets of leg exercises. The High Hormone condition significantly elevated testosterone, GH, and IGF-1. The Low Hormone condition did not.
Results after the single workout showed that protein synthesis in the biceps was elevated by 78 percent following the Low Hormone trial compared to only 61 percent following the High Hormone trial (1). Then, they had the subjects perform the Low Hormone and High Hormone workouts twice a week for 15 weeks to see if there was any difference in muscle or strength development in the biceps (2). Results showed that there were NO differences in 1RM elbow flexion strength or muscle fiber cross-sectional area between the two groups.
Take Away: Instead of planning training programs to produce a large hormone response, design them to maximize athletic performance and enhance protein synthesis through muscle fiber loading and nutrition.
1. West, D., Kujbida, G., et al. Resistance Exercise-Induced Increases in Putative Anabolic Hormones Do Not Enhance Muscle Protein Synthesis of Intracellular Signaling In Young Men. 2009. Journal of Physiology. 587(21), 5239-5247.
2. West, D., Burd, N., et al. Elevations in Ostensibly Anabolic Hormones with Resistance Exercise Enhance Neither Training-Induced Muscle Hypertrophy Nor Strength of the Elbow Flexors. 2010. Journal of Applied Physiology. 108, 60-67.
3. Frank, A., et al. The role of hypothalamic estrogen receptors in metabolic regulation. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology. 2014. 35(4):550-7.
4. Ignacio, D., et al. Thyroid hormone and estrogen regulate exercise-induced growth hormone release. PLOS One. 2015. 10(4):e0122556.
5. Lizcano, F., Guzman, G. Estrogen Deficiency and the Origin of Obesity during Menopause. Biomedical Research International. 2014. 2014:757461.
6. Staples, A., et al. Carbohydrate does not augment exercise-induced protein accretion versus protein alone. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 2011. 43(7):1154-61.
7. Aragon, A., Schoenfeld, B. Nutrient Timing Revisited: Is There a Post-Exercise Anabolic Window? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2013. 10(5).