How fun would it be to re-live our teenage years? It’s not exactly simple, but there are a few techniques that we can apply to help us look and feel up to 20 years younger!

[Now it’s not magic, but by increasing the level of human growth hormone (HGH) in our body we can experience psychological and physiological effects, which can leave us looking and feeling many years younger.  Find out how....]

The benefits of increased HGH don’t just help turn back the hands of time; they can also eliminate that ‘spare tire’ and burn fat in other hard to target areas.

If your goal is to burn fat and get lean then there is no better way to achieve that than to increase the level of human growth hormone in your body.  There is substantial evidence that a strong relationship exists between HGH levels and body Fat.  That being, the more HGH our body produces the greater our ability to burn fat. 

While there are ethical and unethical ways to increase HGH levels in our body, we are just going to keep it clean around here. 

 Benefits of Human Growth Hormone For Weight Loss

• Improves mood and sleep patterns
• Improves recovery time and sports performance
• Increases bone density
• Increases energy and endurance
• Increases Fat Burning Potential
• Helps Build Lean Muscle Mass

With benefits like this it is comprehensible that professional athletes like Barry Bonds would have been enticed to increase their levels of HGH to super human levels, unethically. 

The good news is that there are ways to do this naturally.  I am confident that these techniques will help us breakthrough weight loss plateaus, and shed body fat to our desired level. 

The Pituitary Gland:  Our Fountain of Youth

Our body naturally releases human growth hormone via the pituitary gland when signaled to do so.  How can we sweet talk the pituitary gland into releasing copious amounts of HGH into our blood stream, or at least a bit more of this magic potion?

From what I’ve been told the pituitary gland does not understand English, so we will need to speak a different language.  Relax, it is a language we already know!

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

As my wife says, actions speak louder than words.  So we need to communicate with our pituitary gland through our actions. 

5 Actions That Will Increase HGH Naturally!

1.  Get Enough Sleep

For males this is even more important.  Males release their highest level of HGH in the first 90 minutes of sleep, but lengthy sleep sessions lead to significant increase in HGH.  Recommended 8-10 hours a night.   

2.  Avoid Sugar (especially after a workout)

Glucose in our system acts as an inhibitor to the pituitary gland, and will limit the typical spike in human growth hormone, especially after an intense workout.  Unless you are completely taxing your body for over 1 hour, or training for elite level competition, sport drinks will likely do more harm than good.  Sport drinks like Gatorade are packed with glucose, and will decrease the flow of HGH when you need it most, that being post workout.  If your goal is fat loss, skip the Gatorade, and hit the H20 during and post workout! 

3.  Intermittent Fasting

While I love  intermittent fasting and its effect on HGH, our fat loss results could be amplified if we use it strategically.  Since intermittent fasting is an action that stimulates the pituitary gland, it will help boost HGH levels on it’s own. 

Couple intermittent fasting with exercise and you get a synergistic effect (the whole is greater than the sum of its parts).  Exercise in a fasted state and we will create the ideal situation to shed body fat and get ripped. 

4.  High Intensity Interval Training

If you are trying to lose weight and haven’t heard about HIITS, then you aren’t trying hard enough.  High Intensity Interval Training is far and away the best exercise routine to burn fat, and naturally increase human growth hormone levels in the body.  HIITS will help boost HGH during our workouts, and post workout as well.  I have followed the HIIT techniques I learned from Rusty Moore of Fitness Black Book, from his article called, An Aerobic Workout Program That Forces Your Body to Burn Fat. 

Review:  Increased Human Growth Hormone = Increased Ability to Burn Fat   

Here is a quick video explaining High Intensity Interval Training from the guru himself, Craig Ballantyne. 

The key is to have periods of work, then rest.  The part most people miss out on is the rest.  Resting allows you to really make your work periods intense.  High intensity interval training helps us reach our lactate threshold quick.  When we reach our lactate threshold a message is sent to the pituitary gland to release a wad of HGH.   The best part is that we can complete these intervals using any exercise.  Pick your favourite exercise and try it out.  Another great fitness test that will push us to reach our lactate threshold is the beep test. 

I am partial to the treadmill and will complete a routine similar to this:

1 minute walk/30 seconds intense run (total time = 15 minutes)

5.  Cold Shower

I’m not sure exactly how much HGH increase you will get from the cold hot alternating shower or bath, but it does have implications for recovery.  Whether it is an old tale or not, many athletes and body builders swear that ice baths, and /or cold showers are essential for recovery, and help ease the effect of delayed onset muscle soreness.  I think that a rotation of cold and hot water could have a similar effect to High Intensity Interval Training if taken to the extreme, but in any event it should aid in recovery after a workout.  Here is a sample of what I usually do post workout, time permitting. 

Cold Water (as cold as I can handle which does involve some screaming) 30 seconds

Hot Water – 1 minute

Continue for 10 minutes

Make sure you are getting the HGH Flush with these looks fors

-         Skin is warm to touch

-         Perspiration is evident

-         At the end of intense work, you are close to breathless

I believe we need to optimize our workouts and our lives, so I like to use any advantage I can get.  These actions will definitely put us in the best position to burn fat and feel younger.  Good Luck!

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