How to Stimulate Hormones for Bodybuilding

Diet and Workout Strategies to Build Muscles Naturally

Athletic Male Picking Up Dumbbells in Gym

Mike Harrington / Getty Images

Several hormones play a critical role in bodybuilding and strength training. Testosterone, growth hormone (GH), and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) increase strength and stimulate muscle growth. Other hormones, such as cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and glucagon, increase the availability of glucose, your body's primary source of fuel. Insulin facilitates the storage of glucose in muscles for future use.

All of these hormones are part of the body's natural endocrine response. If your goal is to gain muscle mass, there are ways to stimulate hormone production without illegal supplements.

When used for doping purposes, all of the above hormones are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and most major sports organizations in the United States.

Key Hormones in Bodybuilding

Hormones influence muscle growth and strength in different ways. Some specifically promote muscle growth, while others influence the way we use and store glucose for training and competition.

Testosterone 

Testosterone is a male hormone produced mainly by the testicles but also by the adrenal glands, which are situated on top of the kidneys. Testosterone is responsible for the development of male physical characteristics, muscle mass, strength, fat distribution, and sex drive. In women, testosterone is produced by the ovaries and adrenal glands, albeit in lower quantities. 

Testosterone is classified as both an androgenic and anabolic steroid hormone. Androgenic refers to male characteristics, while the term anabolic refers to the growth of body tissue. Testosterone is arguably the most important hormone for bodybuilding. The amount the body produces gradually wanes with age.

The use of supplementary anabolic steroids to build muscle has been popular for decades. They work very well, but also carry potentially serious health risks. It is for this reason that any form of testosterone supplementation is banned in sports.

Growth Hormone and IGF-1

Growth hormone is produced by the pituitary gland and stimulates the liver to produce IGF-1, the hormone ultimately responsible for anabolic muscle growth. As with testosterone, the production of GH declines with age. Both hormones have an inverse relationship to body fat, meaning that the less GH and IGF-1 you produce, the more body fat you will accumulate.

Insulin

Insulin is the storage hormone produced by the pancreas in response to food. When food is eaten, it is broken down into glucose, fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. Insulin warehouses the stored form of glucose, known as glycogen, in muscles and the liver. It also enables amino acids to repair damaged tissues and build muscle mass.

These effects are considered anabolic. Insulin production is largely influenced by exercise and diet, especially the consumption of carbohydrates and protein.

Cortisol

Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands. It is often called the "stress hormone," because physical and/or emotional stress triggers its release. Hydrocortisone and cortisone are the manufactured forms of cortisol.

Cortisol is a catabolic hormone, meaning that it breaks down tissue. In addition to controlling inflammation, cortisol makes glucose available by breaking down muscle whenever the blood sugar is low. This commonly occurs during endurance sports when the circulating glucose supply has been used up.

Epinephrine

Epinephrine (adrenaline) is called the "fight or flight" hormone because it acts quickly at times of stress to constrict arteries and raise blood pressure. This increases the heart rate to deliver oxygen more effectively. Epinephrine also constricts airways so that respiration is more efficient.

On top of this, epinephrine directs the muscles and liver to surrender their glucose stores during strenuous activity. In this sense, epinephrine is a catabolic hormone like cortisol.

Glucagon

Glucagon acts like a mirror hormone of insulin. When you fast or eat a low-carb diet, glucagon responds more efficiently than insulin to replenish low glucose supplies.

Glucagon works by instructing the liver to give up its glucose stores. It also breaks down muscles to increase cortisol, which stimulates the production of glucose. If insulin is anabolic, then glucagon is catabolic.

Natural Supplements

With respect to bodybuilding, the goal is to keep anabolic hormones high and catabolic hormones low. While some bodybuilders will try to shortcut the process by using illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), there is increasing evidence that they not only harm your health but may be far less effective than previously thought.

While some supplements manufacturers have tried to take advantage of the WADA ban by marketing "natural" supplements to bodybuilders, most of these products underperform. Examples include Tribulus terrestris, zinc-magnesium supplements, ginseng, bovine colostrum, beta-alanine, and DHEA (a prohormone banned in most sports).

There are no non-food supplements other than creatine that exhibit anabolic-like effects. Even with regards to creatine, the actual effect on muscle growth is limited. According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition, creatine supplements increase endurance capacity in high-intensity training rather than inducing physiological changes in the muscles themselves.

Avoid cortisol-reducing supplements regularly marketed to bodybuilders. There is no proof that they work and, at roughly $30 a bottle, you can do better by eating strategically during exercise.

Enhance Hormones Naturally

It is possible to influence the production of these hormones with nutrition and exercise. Growth hormone, IGF-1, testosterone, and cortisol all respond to the intensity of weight training.

Insulin and glucagon are also influenced by exercise and diet, often in contradiction to the anabolic hormones. The are several approaches to diet and training that can enhance the anabolic response while mitigating the catabolic response.

Improved sleep hygiene, including maintaining a regular sleep schedule, enhances the production of GH, which peaks during deep sleep and can persist well after waking. By contrast, irregular sleep contributes to drops in GH levels.

Pre- and Post-Exercise Nutrition

The foods you eat before, during, and after exercise can make a big difference in your training. Eating carbohydrates before and during exercise can help minimize increases in cortisol. The reason is simple: When your blood glucose supplies are maintained, cortisol does not need to be released and your muscle tissues won't get burned up.

Exercise also increases testosterone levels. Once exercise stops, testosterone will invariably drop as cortisone levels rise. To mitigate this effect, you need to eat protein after a workout to balance the testosterone-to-cortisone ratio in your bloodstream. For hormone enhancement:

  • Before: Consume 20 grams of easily digested protein up to 45 minutes before a workout. Around 20 fluid ounces (600 milliliters) of skim milk with a little sugar will do.
  • During: Sip a sports drink during workouts, especially if you go beyond 60 minutes.
  • After: Within 30 minutes of completing your workout, consume another 20 grams of protein with around 40 grams of carbohydrate. Choose your favorite protein-carb powder or protein-fortified milk drink. Your carb-to-protein ratio should be between 3:1 and 4:1 if you have had a heavy workout.

Alcohol consumption increases cortisol production and should be avoided during heavy training and competition.

Overall Diet

For natural hormone enhancement, pay attention to the macronutrient composition of your regular diet. Eating a diet that’s neither too low in fat nor too high in protein can help enhance your testosterone output. Ultra low-fat diets (like the Pritikin or Ornish diet) or high-protein/low-carb diets are not advised when bodybuilding.

Bodybuilders should be consuming enough calories so that body weight losses are about 0.5 to 1%/week to maximize muscle retention. Most but not all bodybuilders will respond best to consuming protein at a rate of 2.3-3.1 g/kg of lean body mass per day, 15% to 30% of calories from fat, with carbohydrates making up the rest.

Some bodybuilders endorse diets comprised of 40% protein. Not only is there little evidence to support this strategy, but it may also cause harm over the long term, increasing the risk of kidney damage and proteinuria (excess protein in urine).

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the American College of Sports Medicine recommend that athletes consume between 1.2 and 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day to build muscle, depending on how hard the athlete is training.

In addition, creatine and zinc are potentially important components of an anabolic diet. Creatine builds bulk, while zinc is necessary for testosterone production. Meat protein is a good source of both of these nutrients.

Workout Strategies

High-intensity training raises testosterone, GH, and IGF-1 levels but also promotes spikes in cortisol. While diet can temper cortisol production to a certain extent, how you exercise may also help.

High-volume, high-intensity workouts with short rest intervals tend to produce the greatest increases in testosterone, GH, and cortisol, while low-volume, high-intensity workouts with long rest intervals tend to produce the least. That means bodybuilders should rest for three to five minutes between sets rather than the one to two minutes endorsed for regular fitness programs.

These rest periods appear to restore a high-energy compound known as phosphagen that is stored in muscles and excreted during strenuous activity. Resting also promotes the production of testosterone with less of the mitigating effects of cortisone. So, in a way, you can get more out of your training by pushing less strenuously.

Do aerobic training, like running or anaerobic interval training, on separate days from your bodybuilding training. Doing both on the same day promotes inflammation and the adverse effects of cortisol. Evening workouts are preferable to early-morning workouts since cortisol levels tend to peak in the early hours of the day.

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Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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By Paul Rogers
Paul Rogers is a personal trainer with experience in a wide range of sports, including track, triathlon, marathon, hockey, tennis, and baseball.