HGH or Human Growth hormone is an anabolic hormone that is very popular among the bodybuilders for obvious reasons.
The bodybuilders were the only people that were able to understand the anabolic properties of this hormone. Hence, they best used it to get an attractive, chiselled and ripped body.
For years bodybuilders had been trying to find out substances that could help them to enhance their strength, muscle and endurance.
There were bodybuilders that came up with anabolic steroids that helped them to get bulkier and chiselled. Further, search for having a better substance that can be more effective led to HGH or human growth hormone.
What is HGH or Growth Hormone?
Scientifically, HGH or otherwise known as Growth hormone is a substance that is created by the pituitary gland that is present in our head. (1) It is a single-chain peptide consisting of amino acids (191 amino acids to be exact) and has a molecular weight of an estimated 22 (kDA) Kilo Daltons.
The hormone is needed by human for the growth and development in the young. Along with this, the peptide also helps in the overall health and wellbeing of an individual.
The secretion of the Growth hormone begins in our body since the time we are born. It keeps increasing as we grow till 20-22 years of age i.e. when the hormone secretion is at its peak. It starts falling as we grow older. This leads to loss in muscle mass and also reduces bone mineral density.
Being precise, the Human growth hormone is a natural hormone. It is produced by the pituitary gland and is considered to be very essential for cell regeneration and maintaining healthy tissue.
HGH secretion in the body reacts against the effects of insulin and increases the blood glucose levels by breaking down the glycogen formed in the cells. HGH also stimulates the body to gain energy from the stored up fats in the body, instead of turning towards glucose for energy. Thus, it helps you to burn fats even while you are asleep.
HGH does not simply function by burning fats, but also increases your energy levels. It also helps to enhance performance, gain lean muscle mass, hair growth and create denser bone strength.
How does Growth Hormone support bodybuilding?
Once the HGH is secreted in the body, it then travels along the blood stream to the liver.
HGH here stimulates the production of growth factor, IGF 1 or insulin-like growth factor specifically. The IGF-1 assisted with HGH plays an important role in building muscle mass and helps to gain muscle. (2)
1. It helps in protein synthesis
Similar to HGH, IGF-1 is a single chain hormone that is made up of amino acids (71 amino acids); it functions by enhancing the process of protein synthesis in the body. (3) It is found that the growth hormone works simultaneously with the insulin levels. Being precise, the lower the levels of insulin in the body, the more growth hormones are secreted by the pituitary gland.
IGF-1 has the tendency to bind themselves to specific receptors in the muscle tissues. (4)It stimulates the body to divert the calories you consume towards protein synthesis.
It is a well-known fact that proteins play an important role in muscle building;they are also commonly referred as building blocks of the body. (5)
Proteins are very important for bodybuilding individuals that want to get bigger and stronger muscles and have a good overall health.
Hence, the growth hormone produced in the body helps the body builders by increasing the absorption of proteins from the food.
2. It helps in muscle building
Muscle Hyperplasia is a very common process, generally found in the body of a bodybuilder. The process involves rapid formation of new cells, helping the muscle to become bigger.
HGH plays an important role in Muscle Hyperplasia. (6)
The growth hormone doesn’t simply help a tissue or cell to become bigger, but it also helps the body to increase the production of new cells. It assists the cells to multiply at a rapid rate, which further leads to having more lean mass.
However, it is also found that too much increase in HGH in the body can also lead to severe medical conditions.
3. It helps in burning excess fat
HGH or growth hormone helps in reducing the fat content and fat accumulation in the body. Lower levels of HGH can lead to weight gain in people.
Studies do suggest that maintaining the levels of growth hormone in the body can help with weight loss, which also includes the adults as well. (7) HGH stimulates the body to look for body fat for energy, instead of storing it. Hence, it increases the fat burning capacity of an individual.
Hence, it helps the bodybuilder to look leaner, more muscular and attractive.
4. Additional benefits of HGH or Growth Hormone
Another effective way in which Growth hormone supports bodybuilding is by enhancing the cartilage (soft bones) strength. It helps in getting strong joints and increasing bone strength.
Moreover, it also helps the body as a recovering agent. Thus, having good levels of HGH also ensures you are quick to recover or heal from injuries.
Although the body secretes the hormone naturally, after reaching a certain age the production of the Growth hormone starts declining.
Now, for bodybuilders it becomes important to be in shape and thus, becomes essential to maintain the levels of the growth hormone. This can be done by following different ways of increasing the growth hormone secretion or by looking for effective supplements. This shall help you to counter the decreasing levels of Growth hormones.
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