This newsletter is about how certain exercise can allow your body to produce a hormone that keeps you looking and feeling young. It is also about getting the most bang for your buck when you work out. While some exercise is better than none, there are more effective ways than others. The good news is that done properly, an effective workout can be done in a very short period of time.
Here’s how it works. Of your muscles there are some that are for slow movement and some that are for fast movement. Most traditional workouts – cardio (running, biking, swimming) and weight lifting – work only the 50% of your muscles that are for slow movement. This means most workouts only work half of your muscle fibers…and half of your heart. It is a good reason why you may spend hours on the treadmill and not see the results you’re looking for.
To workout all of your different muscle fibers and to fully workout your heart, you need to do something that pushes your body to the max. This means something of high intensity! An elliptical machine is a great way to start. Warm up for a bit, then go about 30 seconds as hard and fast as you can. Rest for a minute or two and repeat for another 30 seconds. Go through 4 – 8 cycles and then you can call it quits for the day. That’s all you need! You can apply this same idea to running, biking…anything where you can push yourself to high intensity for 30 seconds. The key is you must go ALL OUT. If you hold back, it won’t have the same effect.
What this type of activity does is to cause your body to release HGH – human growth hormone. HGH is considered “youth hormone” or “the fitness hormone” for a few reasons. One, it is found primarily in your body when you are young, and starts to drop quickly around age 30. Two, it helps your body build strength. Three, it helps your body burn fat. While I don’t recommend taking HGH artificially or as a supplement, I do recommend giving your body the tools to produce it naturally. And guess what? High intensity exercise helps your body create large amounts of HGH…naturally…all on its own!
If you’d like to learn more, I’d love to have you at our March workshop. We’ll be discussing how to maximize your exercise to get the most done in the shortest time. We’ll teach ways to exercise that boost HGH that involve both cardio and strength training. Also, we’ll explore how to eat after a workout to promote the most HGH release and burn the most calories.
Add some intensity to your workouts, feel young, and look fantastic!
Dr. Tye