The Profound Way Exercise Affects Our Hormones, According To Science

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Hormones are one of your body’s main signaling systems and have a strong effect on how you feel and function.

They play a significant role regulating growth, development, and reproduction, and increase your body’s ability to withstand psychological and physical stress.

Which got me thinking…

What effect does exercise have on our hormones?

In this article, we will discuss the effect of exercise on our hormones, and how different forms of exercise have different effects on our hormonal response.

What are the three categories of hormones?

There are three categories of hormones: amine hormones, peptide hormones, and steroid hormones.

Amine hormones

Amine hormones stem from amino acids.

They are water-soluble and are transferred via the blood plasma.

Since amine hormones are water-soluble, they are easily removed from circulation and thus, have only a short time to perform their role.

Peptide hormones

Peptide hormones are structured by peptide bonds between multiple amino acids.

Peptide hormones, like amine hormones, are water-soluble and are transferred via the blood plasma.

They are also easily removed from circulation so they must perform their function quickly.

Amine and peptide hormones are able to perform their purpose on objective cells by binding to the membrane’s specific receptors of the target tissue.

After the initial hormone binding, a molecule called a “second messenger” is produced causing a cellular response.

Steroid hormones

Steroid hormones, on the other hand, are not water-soluble and must bind to plasma proteins in order to be transported to their target tissue.

The protein-binding ability of steroid hormones causes a delay in the amount of time it takes for them to trigger a biological response.

Steroid hormones, unlike amine and peptide hormones, do not bind to the target tissue’s membrane. They instead pass through the membrane and connect to specific steroid receptors in the cell where they travel to the nucleus to allow for protein synthesis.

hormonal response to heavy resistance training

What are the main hormones secreted during exercise?

The main hormones secreted during exercise are growth hormone, testosterone, insulin-like growth factors, cortisol, aceytlcholamines, and insulin.

Growth hormone is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and regeneration.

Growth hormone plays a role in increasing calcium maintenance, increasing muscle mass, promoting lipolysis, stimulating the immune system, and increasing protein synthesis.

Resting concentrations of growth hormones are higher in women than in men.

Resistance exercise has been shown to elevate growth hormone concentrations in both men and women similarly 30 minutes after exercise.

Factors that affect the growth hormone response are exercise selection, amount of muscle mass recruited, muscle actions used, intensity and volume of the workout, rest intervals between sets, and the total amount of sets completed.

What does the research show about Growth Hormone and Exercise?

In one study comparing low volume, heavy training, to high volume, endurance training, the low volume training protocol resulted in the least amount of growth hormone.

In that same study, growth hormone levels were increased, when an additional set of high repetitions at 50% of one-rep max was added to the end of the strength protocol.

This study suggests that a strength workout may be maximized by adding a high volume set at the end of the workout.

For the greatest growth hormone response from a strength training workout, high reps with low rest intervals should be used.

The resting levels of growth hormone, however, do not seem to be affected by resistance training.

Testosterone and Exercise

Testosterone is a steroid hormone that is part of the androgen group and is secreted by the female ovaries, male testes, and adrenal glands.

It is the main sex hormone of males and helps develop male reproductive tissues as well as increased muscle mass, bone mass, and body hair.

Although both males and females produce testosterone, males produce substantially more of this hormone than women do.

In response to resistance training, it has been shown that men have increased testosterone concentrations while women do not, which may explain the different responses that men and women have in response to resistance training.

Consistent resistance training has a higher effect on testosterone and in a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, higher concentrations of testosterone were reported in subjects who were previously resistance-trained versus subjects who were endurance-trained following resistance exercise.

The testosterone response to exercise is dependent on many factors, including the amount of muscle mass involved, the intensity level of exercise, volume, nutrition intake, and training experience.

One study showed that performing leg exercises before arm curls may have many advantages.

In the study, one group performed only arm curls for nine weeks consecutively, while the other group performed arm curls after lower body exercises.

Testosterone was shown to be elevated when lower body exercises were performed first compared to only doing arm curls.

Impact Of Nutrition On The Hormonal Response To Exercise

Insulin-Like Growth Factors and Exercise

Insulin-like growth factors are proteins that have a high similarity to insulin.

Insulin-like growth factors are used by cells to communicate with their environment.

They facilitate many of the growth hormones’ actions and they increase the synthesis of protein as well as boost muscle hypertrophy.

In the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, the serum growth hormone response of 6 non-weight-trained and 6 weight-trained women was examined.

Growth hormone increases protein synthesis and is responsible for stimulating insulin-like growth factor-1.

The study predicted that women who weight train regularly would have a higher growth hormone response than women who do not weight train.

All twelve subjects were healthy, normally menstruating, ovulatory women.

The weight trained group consisted of women that had been regularly weight training for at least a year while the non-weight-trained women consisted of women who had not lifted weights at all for the 6 months prior to the study.

The result of the study showed that both the weight trained and non-weight trained women had an acute rise in growth hormone levels following resistance training.

However, the weight-trained women were able to sustain the elevated growth hormone levels for a longer amount of time.

Since the protocol for both groups was the same, a possible explanation for the longer elevated growth hormone levels is that the weight-trained women had greater amounts of lean muscle mass and therefore, the training allowed for greater recruitment of their motor units.

This caused more stress to be put on the sarcolemma of the muscle, resulting in increases in anabolic hormone levels.

Nutrition and Hormone Response

Nutrition also has a profound impact on hormonal responses.

Carbohydrate ingestion results in elevated insulin levels.

Certain amino acids increase insulin secretion which is why carbohydrates and protein are often taken together.

This allows for maximum insulin secretion with the hope of improving post-exercise glycogen re-synthesis and protein anabolism.

According to a study regarding post-exercise muscle glycogen synthesis, there appears to be a benefit of consuming proteins and carbohydrates after intense exercise instead of just carbohydrates only.

This may be due to greater insulin secretion after combined protein and carbohydrate intake.

However, when carbohydrate intake is very high, increased protein intake does not further improve the rate of glycogen re-synthesis.

Increased levels of insulin from carbohydrate and protein intake could help protein ingestion because insulin is a stimulator of protein synthesis when sufficient amino acids are present.

Resistance training and its effect on hormones

Resistance training has been shown to stimulate an acute hormone response 15-30 minutes after exercise.

This response, however, has not been shown to have much of an effect on resting hormonal concentrations in the body as it seems to be more for tissue growth and remodeling.

The hormones shown to be elevated after resistance training are testosterone and growth hormones.

The type of resistance training shown to have the greatest effect on hormonal levels increasing is workouts high in volume and moderate-to-high in intensity combined with short rest intervals.

Insulin-like growth factor-1 has also been shown to be elevated following resistance training.

It is thought that the reason for the increase in insulin-like growth factor-1 is its response to the stimulated growth hormone.

Cortisol and resistance training

Cortisol is a steroid hormone, also known as a glucocorticoid, which is produced by the adrenal glands.

In response to stress and a low level of blood glucocorticoids, cortisol is released.

Cortisol’s sole purposes is to increase blood sugar, suppress the immune system and aid in fat, protein, and carbohydrate metabolism.

During exercise, glucocorticoids are released from the adrenal cortex.

Cortisol has been shown to be released in greater amounts in resistance programs that combine strength and endurance training.

In a study on the effect of concurrent strength and endurance training on skeletal muscle properties and hormone concentrations in humans, greater urinary cortisol was observed in women who were performing combined strength and endurance training than simply strength training alone.

Epinephrine has a high response in endurance-trained athletes

In another study, similar results were shown.

The researchers of the study found that subjects whose workout consisted of a high volume, full-body resistance training workout 4 days a week combined with 4 days a week of endurance training for 12 weeks, showed an increase in exercise-induced cortisol concentrations (Kraemer et al., 1995).

This was a result of combining resistance and endurance training.

Catecholamines and Exercise

Catecholamines include dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine.

They are derived from the amino acid tyrosine.

Catecholamines are soluble in water and circulate in the blood stream.

Factors that affect the catecholamine response include the force of the muscle contraction, amount of muscle stimulated, the volume of resistance exercise, and rest intervals.

Resistance training has been shown to increase the epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine plasma concentrations.

Many studies report a higher epinephrine response to exercise in endurance-trained subjects compared with untrained subjects after an intense exercise regimen equivalent to all-out exercise.

Key Takeaways

1. A workout high in volume and intensity with low rest intervals over a long period of time tend to have the most beneficial effects on hormones.

2. Exercise’s effect on testosterone is most prevalent in men and has little effect on women during exercise.

3. Testosterone is most beneficially affected during compound movements over isolation movements.

4. Exercise has the greatest effect on growth hormone during workouts with at least one set of high reps.

5. Workouts that consist of all high rep exercises with low rest periods have the greatest effect on Growth Hormone.

6. Cortisol’s response to exercise tends to be similar to Growth Hormone’s response, but it can be reduced with carbohydrate supplementation.

7. Finally, insulin feeds nutrients and is most affected by carbohydrates, so it would make sense to add carbohydrates to your protein after a workout.

Put It into Practice: 3 Impactful Takeaways to Implement

  • Incorporate exercise into your routine: Exercise has a profound effect on our hormones, which play a significant role in regulating growth, development, reproduction, and our ability to withstand psychological and physical stress. Incorporate exercise into your routine to help regulate your hormones and improve overall health.
  • Vary your exercise routine: Different forms of exercise have different effects on our hormonal response. Vary your exercise routine by incorporating different types of exercises, intensities, and volumes to help regulate your hormones.
  • Understand the hormonal response to exercise: The main hormones secreted during exercise are growth hormone, testosterone, insulin-like growth factors, cortisol, aceytlcholamines, and insulin. Understand the hormonal response to exercise to help you make informed decisions about your exercise routine.

Resources

  1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10751104
  2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12853908
  3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11782267
  4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7775344
  5. http://jap.physiology.org/content/85/4/1544.full
  6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15831061
  7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10871568
  8. http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/growthhormone.html
  9. http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/2000/05000/Growth_Hormone_Response_to_an_Acute_Bout_of.17.aspx
  10. http://jap.physiology.org/content/96/2/531.short
  11. http://www.purdue.edu/swo/nutrition/KnowItAll/HealthyWeightGain/InfluenceOfNutritionOnWtGain.pdf
  12. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18416594

Daniel Maman

Daniel is a certified personal trainer (ACE), has a Bachelors of Science degree in Sports, Exercise, and Wellness, and spends his free time keeping up to date with the latest research in health and fitness. In his free time, you can find him playing basketball, doing muay thai, camping, traveling, reading, and eating tomatoes like they're apples.

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  • Written by: Daniel Maman
  • ACE Personal Trainer
    BSc Sports, Exercise, & Wellness
  • Last Updated on August 4, 2023

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