Make use of your body's Growth Hormone to improve your recovery
Background: Our endocrine system chemically controls our bodies. The pituitary and hypothalamus
are small areas at the base of the brain that regulate most of the hormone activity.
Growth hormone (GH) or somatotropin is just one hormone that is released by the pituitary gland. It is
responsible for the stimulation of tissue growth, mobilization of fat as an energy source, and the inhibition
of carbohydrate breakdown. For this reason our GH secretion is increased with exercise. To put it
simply: it is a remarkable molecule that helps us repair muscle and rebuild it (super-compensation) and
causes our bodies to utilize fat (which has more than twice the energy as carbohydrate or protein) as an
energy source more efficiently.
Let’s assume a triathlete has higher than average levels of GH after a bout of exercise. This athlete will
recover more quickly and have a greater level of super-compensation within the muscle. She will
therefore become stronger (assuming appropriate recovery period) in a shorter period of time and burn
more fat (thus becoming leaner) to repair/rebuild the damaged tissue.
Critical Point: Researchers have found that the amount of GH released is independent of the duration
of the exercise, and is solely dependent on the intensity level reached during the session. This can be
most useful on active recovery days and on the last days of a taper before a race. The last two or three
days before a race, implementing a few short intervals of high intensity each day can cap off a perfect
recovery by allowing an excessive release of GH without a serious tax on the soft-tissue. For longer
races, intervals of 30-90 seconds at or around lactate threshold (15-20% below max HR). For shorter
races (<1 hr), 15-45 second intervals on the upper end of lactate threshold (closer to 10% below max
HR).