Growth hormone and testosterone both have a variety of advantages for bodybuilders and civilians. Both of them have been shown to improve mood and energy, and they also kick our anabolic processes into overdrive causing us to build more muscle and burn more fat. Growth hormone also helps children to grow into adults, and can help the healing of wounds and combat the effects of aging even. Testosterone meanwhile can give us an increased sex life and for men – a longer and harder erection. Basically if you’re lucky enough to be high in both of these chemicals then you’ll pretty much encompass what is thought of as ‘the alpha male’.

This is why high Testosterone and Growth Hormone is such a desirable state and why so many bodybuilders are willing to break the law by using synthetic (that is man made) replacements for the hormones known as steroids and HGH respectively. These will give you the extreme results you’re looking for but at the same time will lead to many other health complications and side effects including heart problems and enlarged organs on top of mood disorders, acne and shrunken genitalia. Furthermore they’re illegal and will stop your body from producing the chemicals naturally.

There are legal supplements that aim to increase our natural production of both these hormones, such as ZMA, tribulus terrestris, 6-OXO and tongkat ali for testosterone and GABA for growth hormone. Unfortunately these too are expensive and are also of limited effectiveness. In the case of GABA they too come with a host of side effects. Fortunately there are simpler ways to improve both – basic lifestyle and diet changes that can trigger the buttons in your body and command them to release these miracle chemicals and grow.

There are several things you can do to increase growth hormone – the first is to squat. By engaging so many muscles in action it tells the body to release the chemical ready to repair the microtears you’ve inflicted upon your entire body. Another way to get yourself to produce it is to go for sprints, which might be one reason that runners are often so tall (that and the obvious fact that they have a greater stride). A hot bath too has been shown to trigger the release of growth hormone, as has a deep heavy sleep which is when the majority of the hormone is secreted in order to repair and make up for the day’s traumas. So if you want high levels of growth hormone – do some squats, go for a sprint, have a nice hot shower and then go straight to bed and make sure you get a deep and long sleep.

For high testosterone simply add large amounts of zinc (the key ingredient in ZMA) and magnesium to your diet which both have been shown to support its production. The other good news is that exercising will automatically increase both hormones. So if you go to the gym then chances are you already have higher testosterone than those who don’t. Feel smug.

Mack LeMouse

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