Have you ever wondered what sort of hormone health you were improving while staring at the time on the elliptical, 22 minutes, 30 minutes…40 minutes, let’s call it good.
The truth is, not much is coming from the steady comfortable pace at which most of us go, even when we think we are “pushing it”. If you are like me, most of the time it is a check list item accomplished for the day. Thank God I am a group exercise instructor and my students push me to keep things out of my comfort zone.
If you are looking to keep your brain active and fresh, then high intensity training is the way to go. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotransmitter that helps stimulate the production of new cells in the brain. In order to activate BDNF, you need to push yourself to fatigue with medium to heavy weights, do explosive training, or cardiovascular exercise at or above the onset of blood lactate. This is above your aerobic threshold. It is difficult to do this sort of cardio on your own, at least for me.
Another hormone that is stimulated by High Intensity Training (HIT) is HGH, Human Growth Hormone. That has got to be good, right? HGH works with specific receptor sites and can produce a number of responses, including increasing muscle protein synthesis responsible for muscle growth, increasing bone mineralization, supporting immune system function and promoting fat metabolism!! Wow sounds good, but again doesn’t come easy. The good news is after your HIT workout you can go right to sleep and produce more of that HGH. That’s right, easy stuff, HGH is produced during REM sleep, YAY we all love sleep, right?
So just remember, “Eat, sleep, HIT (High Intensity Training), Repeat”