How to Boost HGH

Human growth hormone (HGH) is a chemical produced in the pituitary gland.
As the name implies, it's responsible for growth of the body at childhood. As you get older, it remains responsible for many other functions in the body such as vitality, energy and weight maintenance. To boost HGH, people often resort to synthetic hormones, but they can cause side effects. But you can use a natural approach instead that involves diet and exercise.

Step 1

Eat multiple meals throughout the day. When you eat two or three big meals that are high on the glycemic index--a rating of how fast carbohydrates enter your bloodstream--your insulin levels become elevated. That can blunt your release of growth hormone and increase fat storage. Eat five to six small, balanced meals every two to three hours.

Step 2

Have a pre- and post-workout meal. Eat a meal that contains both carbs and protein about two hours before you work out, such as a turkey breast sandwich. When you get done working out have a whey protein shake with juice or honey added. Eating before and after your workouts can help boost HGH and another hormone, testosterone.

Step 3

Do not eat a big meal before going to sleep. Growth hormone release is very high the first few hours that you sleep. If you spike your insulin levels right before you go to bed, you hurt your HGH release.

Step 4

Get enough sleep. If you're deprived of sleep, you're not going to be able to function properly in your daily life. But there is another problem: According to Walter Thompson, Ph.D., director of the Center for Sports Medicine, Science and Technology at Georgia State University in Atlanta, not getting enough sleep regularly can lower the amount of growth hormone your body produces daily. To promote HGH, get at least eight hours' sleep a night.

Step 5

Work out at a high intensity with compound exercises. Working out can build muscle, which can help increase metabolism. But if you amp up the intensity, you can boost your HGH levels as well. Do this by taking shorter breaks between your sets and lift heavy weights. Compound exercises are more intense than isolation exercises because they involve more than one joint range of motion. They also recruit more muscle fibers. Examples of these exercise are push-ups, pull-ups, bench presses, deadlifts, shoulder presses and squats.