The Role Of Hormones And Gaining Muscle (2)

Glucagon

Glucagon’s job is the opposite of insulin. Whilst insulin’s purpose is to lower blood sugar levels when they’re too high, glucagon’s purpose is to raise blood sugar levels when they’re too low. When your blood sugar levels are too low, your body is running low on glucose (and, therefore, energy) and your pancreas releases glucagon to bump up glucose and energy levels.

Glucagon raises glucose levels many ways. Firstly, it breaks down glycogen stores in the liver and pushes them into the bloodstream to be used for energy. It then helps to release stored fat in the body into the bloodstream to be used for energy (which is great for losing body fat and sculpting your six pack! We’ll come to that later in the course though). However, when blood sugar levels are very low, glucagon will cause amino acids from muscle tissue to be converted into glucose, which means muscle breakdown and wastage…

Like I said before, glucagon and insulin are opposites. High insulin levels promote high muscle and fat building, and high glucagon levels promote fat burning and muscle burning (for energy). When one is high, the other is low and during fat loss diets, high glucagon levels are important, as it helps to burn stored body fat for energy (there are ways we can limit muscle burning when on our fat loss diet and glucagon levels are high, but again, we’ll talk about that later in the course).

IGF-1

IGF-1 stands for insulin like growth factor 1, and some fitness experts believe it is the key factor to gaining muscle (even more important than testosterone). IGF-1 stands for Insulin Growth Factor 1 and this special hormone is released by the liver at times when both insulin and growth hormone levels are high at the same time (like right after a workout when you have that large protein and carb shake). When released, IGF-1 causes increased protein synthesis and muscle tissue growth.

Always remember though - naturally, when insulin levels are high, growth hormone levels are low. Therefore, the only time you can manipulate these hormones into being released together to cause the release of IGF-1, is right after a workout when your growth hormone levels are naturally high and you have that large protein and carb shake to blast your insulin levels up. This is the most important meal (or meal replacement should I say?) of the day on workout days, so never forget about it!

Cortisol

Cortisol is the hormone we want to produce as little as possible as. Cortisol is released from the adrenal cortex when the body and/or mind is under stress. When cortisol is released, it causes muscle breakdown and fat storage. When you’re training, you’re putting your body under stress, and this causes cortisol levels to rise. This is why you should keep your training sessions under 70 minutes long, as cortisol levels will begin to take over and start burning muscle for energy at around 70 minutes into your training session. When you have your post workout shake, cortisol levels will start to fall again. Rising cortisol levels also supress beneficial hormone production, so beware.