Healthy Hormones . Cardio vs. Weights . part IV

September 23, 2012

You can’t necessarily see all the benefits of strength training in the mirror, but you will definitely feel them! One reason: Regular, weight and resistance training can have a dramatic effect on your endocrine (or hormonal) system, which manages energy, mood and other components of your well-being.

Hormones also regulate your body’s immediate and long-term responses to weight training, so they not only help you burn fat and build muscle immediately after a workout, they also make you a more efficient fat-burning, muscle-building machine, 24/7.

Weight training affects dozens of hormones either directly or indirectly. Here are just a few of the key players:

Before you even start your FIT session, your adrenal glands secrete epinephrine and norepiniphrine, which aid in producing more force, blood flow, and metabolize that sugar and fat. This helps explain why you get so revved up as soon as you lace up your shoes and head over to FIT. Your adrenals are revved up (and I thought it was just because you were glad to see me :-).

Heavy weight training stimulates your anabolic (tissue-building) growth hormone and testosterone. Growth hormone boosts your immune system, increases fat metabolism, and promotes growth in your muscles, tendons and ligaments. Testosterone supports muscle growth while boosting energy. Strength training is an effective,natural way to counteract the drop in testosterone the tends to occur in men as they age.

Peptide YY, a digestive hormone stimulated by anaerobic training, can also aid in fat loss by counteracting the effects of ghrelin, a ‘diet-sabotaging’ hormone that can make you hungrier and more likely to store fat when you cut calories.

Over time, strength training has been shown to lower insulin resistance, a condition associated with type 2 diabetes that limits your ability to access and burn fat cells. The big prize? Your newly insulin-sensitive metabolism burns fat more efficiently. A fact – exercise wards off diabetes and aids in burning off all that extra sugar (calories) so your body doesn’t store it as fat or have to produce its own insulin. Nobody wants diabetes!

In good health,

Bob

“When your hormones are in control your body is far more equipped to create more muscle, fight infections, and most importantly for women create and maintain strong bones.” – Brad Longazel