Short Intense Workouts Spike Maximum GH in Men Over 40

Short Intense Workouts Spike Maximum GH in Men Over 40        

by

Paul T. Burke, M.Ed.

            There are two distinctly different ways that Growth Hormone is excreted into the blood stream. One: During Stage 4 Sleep. Two: After intense exercise. There is no debating this, it has been studied and tested for the last two decades, extensively.

            Many men over 40 have decided to buy and inject growth hormone (GH) because of the onslaught of information about it, and many anti-aging doctors believing strongly in the use of it. I have no issue with this because it has therapeutic benefits and at low doses seems to help many people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, MS, Parkinson’s and many other debilitating diseases. On the flip side, many bodybuilders and your average guy wanting to get in shape are (ab-) using GH. The problem with using doses above biologically correct doses is simple, but in a very complex system; once you begin, you have to continue for life—if you want to ever maintain any muscle. What? For Life?

Yes, once you inject GH into the blood stream, within two weeks (actually with 48 hours) the Hypothalamus senses that this new spike in GH levels is going to be ongoing. Now, if they are small doses this isn’t a major problem (small dose, 0.2. mg., once a week), but with higher doses (the doses most people are using); this giant spike in sensed in the blood by the Hypothalamus and tells the pituitary (through feedback loops both neurologically and through the blood) that GHLH (Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone) will not be necessary any longer. GHLH must be released to “make” GH with other endocrine system mechanisms. Making no GHLH isn’t the worst physiological problem, since you are injecting GH itself, and so long as you have lots of money, you will be all set…Right? Wrong? The real problem starts with a little known endocrine hormone called Somatostatin. When a normal person, (not on synthetic GH) is injected with a high dose of Somatostatin the response would be an increase in body fat and loss of muscle tissue. It would be doing the exact opposite of what injecting GH will do. The person on GH synthetically will physiologically over ride the Somatostatin/GH axis, which allows for the decrease in body-fat and an increase of lean muscle mass (the obviously positive results); however, they stand a high probability of becoming diabetic with high doses. Why diabetes? Because once you disrupt the natural endocrine axis of GH and Somatostatin, then it drastically decreases the balance needed to ensure cyclic Amp hitting its targets (cells and organs). When cyclic AMP cannot be sent (or accepted) into (from) target organs and cells, then insulin resistance isn’t far behind. In fact, this is a form of insulin resistance. Although the increase in synthetic GH will continue to build lean muscle mass (especially if you lift weights), since the second half of this endocrine axis is now not able to keep homeostasis in this very complex system, cyclic AMP won’t be able to penetrate cells and organs properly. Cyclic AMP may continue to be made, but if it cannot penetrate a cell, the Hypothalamus will sense this through feedback loops and call for more insulin—because insulin is the ultimate storage hormone. And, naturally, if this person using synthetic GH increases their intake of dense high glycemic carbs, they will make more insulin and the vicious cycle of Type II diabetes begins to wreak havoc on the entire body.

So what is the alternative to this?

            This answer must come in two parts. First, the more intense you train with weights and other forms of fitness, the more you will excrete GHLH and ultimately GH. If you take it easy at the gym, you won’t get the same GH spike that the person who is all business in there with a short but intense workout will. So, as I have always preached to Over 40 men, train intense, short and not too often.

Secondly, you must eat hormonally supportive. That means to learn to eat the proper amount of lean protein, low glycemic carbs and small amounts of monounsaturated fat with each meal. You should eat a minimum of four small meals a day like this.

If GH is excreted during exercise: Why not workout everyday?

Those of us over 40 know that you cannot train with weights everyday because of the time it takes to recover. I tell all my clients not to train with weights if they are sore anywhere on their body. That would be a day to take a nice walk. Why a walk?

Walking is important to neuromuscular and neurological function. Not only does it give you a small spike of GH; it rejuvenates the nervous system and the brain. Think of locomotion as the “awake state” that heals the nervous system, organs, and the brain, as does the REM stage of sleep. My program usually allows for someone over 40 to walk almost everyday, training with weights 3 times in 8 days, and swimming at least twice a week. Swimming is great for aerobic capacity; but even better, it elongates the muscles better than stretching on a matt because the body is buoyant and you can relax and stretch while exercising.

Editor’s Note: Contact Paul Burke via email at www.paulburkefitness.com . Burke has a Master’s Degree in Integrated Studies from Cambridge College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is presently in a Doctorate Degree Program at A. T. Still University, and will be a Doctor of Health Education upon completion. Paul has been a champion bodybuilder and arm-wrestler; and, he is considered a leader in the field of Over-40 fitness training. You can purchase his book, “Burke’s Law,” A New Fitness Paradigm for the Mature Male, from any online book store and Barnes & Noble.

** His second book: “The Neo-Dieter’s Handbook,” A Guide to Finding Your Nutritional Root; Past, Present and Future, will be out in March, 2009 and his third book, “Burke’s Law II,” Quantified Bodybuilding; Finding Your Greatest Muscular Potential through Musculoskeletal Designation (Book Surge/Amazon Publishing, 2009) will be available soon.

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