Major Muscles: Four Ways to Produce More Growth Hormone!

Filed under: Fitness, Guys' Guide, Men's Fitness

No matter what genetics have dealt you, there is a way to get a bigger and more muscular body. Just a few small tweaks to your everyday routine can spike your growth hormone levels through the roof, giving your body more than enough to build larger, stronger muscles. Here's your all-day schedule to tricking your body to eke out more of the hormone every guy wishes he had more of!

Here's how it works, guys: Before you can have any brawn, it all starts with your brain. That's because inside it is your anterior pituitary gland, a thumb-sized organ that is responsible for secreting growth hormone into your bloodstream. It's the chemical that ultimately tells your muscles to grow bigger and stronger. It's also the chemical that helps transform excess fat into energy. In other words, the more you have coursing through your veins, the more muscle -- and less fat -- you're likely to see in the mirror. Getting your brain to dispense even more than usual takes the right combination of tricks throughout the day -- tricks that are so simple, anyone could do them.

Here are the four ways you can get more growth hormone today, so you can look even more impressive tomorrow.

1. Sleep eight full hours.
Not getting enough shut-eye actually shuts down the amount of growth hormone your body releases, and since many people are often sleep-deprived, odds are, you're probably limiting how much GH your body should be getting.

2. Eat six to seven small meals a day.
Maybe you already know that eating six to seven smaller meals daily -- as opposed to eating three bigger meals daily -- can prevent your insulin levels from spiking (which can cause your body to store more excess calories floating in your system as fat). But that insulin surge also lowers the release of GH into your bloodstream. Eating smaller meals every few hours can prevent that insulin spike, so you store less fat while your body simultaneously releases more of the hormones you need to grow.

3. Make your workouts as intense as possible.
Research has shown that the amount of growth hormone your body releases depends on the intensity of your workouts. Exercising at a higher intensity can cause the release of more GH more often, so to maximize how much your body generates, stick with workouts that utilize more explosive, high-intensity anaerobic exercises. Performing certain multi-joint exercises that allow you to lift more weight-such as squats, clean and presses, deadlifts and other compound movements also force your anterior pituitary gland to release a greater amount of growth hormone.

4. Never eat heavy right before bedtime.
The reason is simple: Your anterior pituitary gland releases its largest amount of GH for the day during the first two hours of sleep. By eating before bedtime, it causes the same elevation of insulin that eating larger meals during the day does, which can suppress how much GH gets released into your bloodstream. So, instead of growing muscles as you sleep -- and how great is that -- you're silently holding yourself back from seeing serious muscular growth.

If you're looking for even more muscle-building tips, discover how you can build muscle even faster by eating enough protein, as well as how to get more from every workout.

Fitness expert Myatt Murphy is the author of the best-selling books, The Body You Want in the Time You Have, Ultimate Dumbbell Guide and co-author of The Men's Health Gym Bible and Face It & Fix It: A Three-Step Plan to Break Free from Denial and Discover the Life You Deserve.

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Source: That's Fit