Heavy Lifts and Hormones

      2019. A brand new year. New insights to our inner selves and new observations of the world in

which we live. One of those observations is there are dozens of people at the gym. Far more than there were prior to the turning of the new year. New Year resolutions, no doubt. Getting fit and exercising is a noble goal. Lifting weights is one tremendous way to attain that goal.

     In this series of pieces, we are going to look at several compound exercises. Compound exercises are those which engage more than one joint to complete. For this series those exercises will include squat, bench press, deadlift, and bent row & upright row. These five movements will use every muscle in your body.

Before going into the exercises, I want to clarify one point. That being the question on whether or not certain exercises do or do not increase production of testosterone. This belief has been around for decades. Anecdotally, it has held up. Scientifically, there are a plethora of studies on each side on the matter.

I stand with those that believe that heavy weight resistance training does, in fact, increase production of testosterone, human growth hormone, and cortisol. One of the many studies I have gone over in researching this is also in the book Advanced Strength and Conditioning: An Evidence Based Approach. This was put together by Anthony Turner and Christian Cook. They were quite exhaustive in their research.

Our muscle cells have receptors for various chemicals and other compounds. Included in this litany are testosterone and growth hormone. When an athlete, and anyone who goes to the gym or runs or participates in physical activity exercises, muscle cells are torn apart. This causes the pain felt afterwards. It is traumatic, yes. When this happens, more receptors are made available for hormones like testosterone, human growth hormone, and cortisol.

Clearly, there is the opportunity for the body to use more of these compounds. That does not correlate to anything being produced, some would argue.

Anecdotally, strength athletes have used squats and deadlifts as the mainstay of their routines for decades. Why? Because these have continually proven to work when it comes to packing on pounds of muscle, enabling the lifter to move more metal, and improve their performance in their chosen field. Time and again the winning routines start with common features; the compound exercises of squat and deadlift are first on their given days. These are then followed by other compound movements. The routines are finished with a few isolation exercises.

As I am writing this, I am still trying to understand the why resistance training increases testosterone and growth hormone release. What I am seeing, though, is the increasing pile of reports and evidence that shows that heavy resistance training does increase these hormones and cortisol, too. Squats and deadlifts are the more potent and effective in producing these hormones than bench press, shoulder press, and other compound movements. This is precisely why, when we get to designing routines, these two lifts will come first.

The inferred reason why these two movements have the greatest impact on hormone production is the size of the muscles involved and the overall amount of body mass/muscles being engaged. Remember that exercise is trauma for the body. It is tearing of the muscle fibers. This tearing opens new receptors in the cells for more hormones to attach to. Consider the shear size of the muscles in your legs. These muscles include the glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves. Ideally, these should be far larger than either one of your arms and the attending shoulder. The idea being along the lines of what was said in that old movie Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” If you tear apart muscle tissue in large enough of a quantity and in the proper manner – healthy exercise – the body will respond with the increased release of testosterone, growth hormone, and cortisol.

The larger muscle groups mean there will be more cells torn apart. More trauma equates to a larger quantity of new receptors for these hormones. This is essentially equivalent to having a few extra sets of bleachers or new seating sections put in. More seats available should mean that more people will come in.

In short, the larger the muscle group that gets exercised, in this case it begins with the legs, the greater the injury to the body. That triggers a response for the body to release a greater amount of the growth-related hormones to attach to the open receptors.

This tells us that the exercises that are going to increase hormones the most, in decreasing order, are deadlift, squat, bent row, bench press, shoulder press, upright row, and then the isolation movements. Clearly, this list does not include Olympic-style lifts. That modification would appear in this order: snatch, clean and jerk, deadlift, squat, bent row, bench press, shoulder press, upright row, and then the isolation movements. As I am not an Olympic lifter, nor do I have experience in those lifts, I am not going to cover them. This series of articles going forward will look at the proper form for those lifts.

Now, you have it, heavy lifting in compound movements, will increase the production of growth and strength related hormones. Cortisol is, in the immediate sense, a fight or flight related burst of power and strength hormone. It becomes detrimental after extended time periods.

Next time, Squat and Deadlift, how to.