HGH And Athletic Performance

Athletes rely much on their performance for their success in life. They have different needs from that of normal people. It is said that in addition to training, athletes must also focus on their diet. A healthy diet significantly influences athletic performance. An adequate diet in terms of quantity and quality, before, during and after training and competition, will maximize results for athletes.

Why is this so? This is because athletes should be able to build immune resistance to maximize their performance in sports. They should be able to resist stress and strain, so they should employ ways on which to reduce their chances of acquiring injury and heal faster, if ever they acquire injury. This is why athletes need a supplement which enhances their body’s metabolism. They could only achieve peak performance by training and eating a variety of foods.

However, if athlete metabolism is slow, they end up getting fat instead of gaining muscle. Athletes should gain most from the amount of carbohydrates stored in the body. They also need a faster metabolism to burn fat because fat provides body fuel. When you eat enough food to meet basic requirements, you provide your body with just enough nutrients for energy and to maintain health and normal function.

Another thing is that exercise may increase the athlete's need for protein. Growth, tissue damage, repair and stressful environments can increase nutritional needs.

But what exactly are the benefits of HGH on athletic performance?

HGH and Athletes

Before we delve further on the benefits of human growth hormone on athletes, let us first review on how human growth hormone reduces chances of injury for athletes and makes their metabolism faster.

Human growth hormone affects the body by two mechanisms. Because polypeptide hormones are not fat-soluble, they cannot penetrate sarcolemma. Thus, human growth hormone exerts some of its effects by binding to receptors on target cells, where it activates a second messenger. Through this mechanism GH directly stimulates division and multiplication of chondrocytes of cartilage.

Human growth hormone also stimulates production of insulin-like growth factor 1 which has growth-stimulating effects on a wide variety of tissues. Additional IGF-1 is generated within target tissues, making it what appear to be both an endocrine and an autocrine/paracrine hormone. IGF-1 also has stimulatory effects on osteoblast and chondrocyte activity to promote bone growth.

Through these two mechanisms, it not only builds and repairs new muscles, bones and connective tissue but also burns fat and maximizes protein synthesis and energy generation.