By There is a right way to exercise for the long-term benefits
One thing I hear a lot more from women than men is their complaints and frustration regarding the never-ending game of weight control. Men are more interested in building their muscle mass or competitive sports. So it hardly ever crosses their minds that they might be slightly heavy in the midsection. Many women don’t understand how practical weight training would be on their bodies and hormones. There is much more than meets the eye when we look at weight gain, weight loss and maintenance. Long-term weight training programs provide an effective way to activate growth hormones biologically. However, the role growth hormone plays in women’s muscle development is quite different from men’s. For women to activate growth hormones, they must perform moderate and heavy exercise programs for about 3–12 repetitions with various weight loads. In addition, women must lift heavy loads or tweak weight training workouts to build muscle and bone density. Bone density is essential since menopause diminishes the quality of our bones, leaving us susceptible to fractures.
What’s so special about growth hormones?
Growth hormone is produced in the pituitary gland and plays an integral part in bone and muscle development. Men rely more on muscle-building testosterone, but women rely on growth hormones stimulated by exercise to increase muscle mass and strengthen bone density. The more growth hormone you can stimulate via training, the better your outcome. Growth hormone also helps with the fight against tissue breakdown, eliminating bone fractures and improving the function of your metabolism.
Here are the different types of growth hormones discovered through a study
This study looked at growth hormone variants using two measures through an immune response. Participants were divided into two groups: one that trained the upper body and a total body training group.
Those groups were then subdivided into the following:
- Half performed heavier weights with fewer repetitions (up to eight)
- Half used lighter weights with more repeats (up to 12)
Blood samples were taken before and after the training session. The good news about this particular study is that participants continued to work out over a relatively long period (24 weeks), which allowed researchers to pinpoint some accurate results.
These were the findings upon the conclusion of the study
- Growth hormone differentiated according to the exercise
- Our bodies can produce more or less specific-size growth hormones from weight training.
- The heavier the weight lifted, the larger the size of the growth hormone is triggered.
Key take away
I didn’t have any awareness that we triggered different variations of growth hormone through the type of weight lifting we did — either heavy or lighter reps. From this study, we can conclude that lifting heavy and light is essential for triggering different variations of growth hormones to increase our strength and muscle tone and protect our bones from fractures as we age. Let’s not forget how much of a significant factor this has on our metabolism. Women must use their innate ability to trigger growth hormone through weight training and continue to do so throughout their lifetime to stay lean and healthy and prevent unnecessary fractures as menopause sets in. That shows what I’ve been preaching all along — women, you need to lift and lift heavy you should!
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