AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH ARTICLES
Testosterone And Growth Hormone Workouts
By Mike Mahler
I had an immense response from last week's newsletter article on the "Secret connection between hormones and training." (See article here.) It is a very exciting topic that I am super passionate about as optimizing hormones is critical to well being and reaching your strength and conditioning goals. To think otherwise is only to delude yourself. Think that you will feel strong, powerful, and confident with low Testosterone levels? Think again. Think you will recover from workouts and have a strong immune system with low Growth Hormone levels? You have another thing coming. I like the topic so much that I incorporated a one hour lecture on the topic at many of my kettlebell workshops. Just the lecture alone is worth the price of admission so click here to sign up today.
Personalization is the future. Generic programs will only take you so far as they do not take you as an individual into account. They do not take your GH and T levels into account, your personality type, your stress, quality of sleep, and diet. When I design training programs for clients, I like to organize workouts into two primary categories: Workouts that optimize Testosterone and workouts that optimize Growth Hormone. A balanced program that addresses both hormones evenly would be two heavy weight training workouts per week to optimize Testosterone and two high intensity cardio workouts per week to optimize Growth Hormone. Now one of the main reasons why I encourage my clients to get detailed blood work done is so I know which hormone if any needs more work than the others. For example, I have had clients that have IGF-1 levels of 230ng/dl and total testosterone levels of 350ng/dl. The GH levels are decent and the Testosterone levels are horrible! If they did not get the blood work done, I would not know what the ideal program is for them and what needs to be addressed. Guess work becomes science with blood work. Once the blood work numbers are revealed, we can address the needs of the client. Using the above example, we can get the T up with lifestyle changes, diet modification, and a few carefully picked nutrition supplements if necessary. This will be determined by seeing how much Free Testosterone is available, how much T is being converted to Estrogen, how much is being converted to DHT etc. In addition, training has to be adjusted as well. The individual above needs an emphasis on T workouts and a moderate amount of attention on optimizing GH.
Here is a sample program for someone that has decent IGF-1 levels and terrible T levels.
Monday and Friday (Testosterone Workouts)
- A-1: Barbell Clean and Press 3x5 (85% of one rep max)
- A-2: Weighted Pull-up 3x5 (85% of one rep max)
Do A-1 and A-2 back to back and take ninety second breaks in between each set. Do a set of A-1, rest 90 seconds, then do a set of A-2, rest 90 seconds and so forth. Continue until all the designated sets are completed. When you can do 3x5 with the same weight, add five pounds.
Rest two minutes and then do:
- Barbell Deadlift 4x3 (90% of one rep max and two minute breaks. When you can do 4x3 with the same weight, add five pounds)
- Finisher (For GH Release): Hindu Squat: 100 reps as fast as possible. Shoot for 100 reps in two minutes. Other options are Double Clubbell Swipes for 4x25 with one-minute breaks, or Double Kettlebell Swing for 2x15 and one-minute breaks. Basically something that builds up a lot of lactic acid and is intense. The key is to set number and achieve it in less time to build up lactic acid and intensity.
Wednesday (Moderate Strength Workout)
- A-1: Medium Grip Floor Press 3x3 (85% of one rep max)
- A-2: Barbell Bent-over Row 3x3 (85% of one rep max)
Do A-1 and A-2 back to back and take ninety second breaks in between each set. Do a set of A-1, rest 90 seconds, then do a set of A-2, rest 90 seconds and so forth. Continue until all the designated sets are completed. When you can do 3x3 with the same weight, add five pounds.
- GH Optimizer: Barbell Squat: 1x15 (start with 50% of your one rep max and add five pounds at every workout. Squat all the way down, pause for a second stand up, pause at the top and take two to three deep breaths before doing another rep. These are brutal but very effective. You can also do these with Double Kettlebell Front Squats or weighted Vest Hindu Squats (watch your knees). I like Double Kettlebell Front Squats as you can dump the weights if you get in trouble.
On your off days do a one to two mile walk. Great reason to have a dog around as it makes the walks much more enjoyable and gives you a reason besides yourself to do the walk. I live in an apartment on the third floor and always race my dog Mona up the stairs. to ensure that I win, I give her a treat before I take off. Yet, she always manages to beat me. I take Mona for two to three workouts per day so get some nice GTG sessions in without thinking about it.
To lower cortisol while walking, breathe in through your nose and out slowly. These are cortisol lowering workouts to enhance recovery. A walk around the block before you got to sleep is a great way to clear your head before bedtime. Of course, this may not be safe, so proceed with caution. Some yoga stretches or chi-king at home is probably a better option. Check out John DuCane's great DVD. Just remember that high T and high GH are not likely to exist with high cortisol levels. Forget about getting rid of abdominal fat with surging C levels as well. More stress often equates to stronger urges for sugar.
To further increase results follow a low carb diet during the day to keep GH levels high. Have a high protein high carb protein shake thirty minutes after you workout to enhance recovery. Make sure to get a thirty minute nap in after workouts. Put on some relaxing music to help you relax. Get 8-9 hours of deep sleep at night and you are doing a great deal to improve your health.
Now what should you do if your T levels are pretty good and your GH is below average. Well, you should grab your credit card and send me some money to help you out right away. I am only partially joking. Here is a sample program for an athlete that has T levels of 700ng/dl (optimal is 650 to 900) and IGF-1 of 180ng/dl (optimal is 250 to 350):
Monday and Friday (Testosterone Workout)
- A-1: Barbell Clean and Press 2x3 (85% of one rep max)
- A-2: Weighted Pull-up 2x3 (85% of one rep max)
Do A-1 and A-2 back to back and take ninety second breaks in between each set. Do a set of A-1, rest 90 seconds, then do a set of A-2, rest 90 seconds and so forth. Continue until all the designated sets are completed. When you can do 3x5 with the same weight, add five pounds.
Rest two minutes and then do:
- Barbell Deadlift 3x3 (90% of one rep max and three minute breaks)
- Finisher: Hindu Squat: 100 reps as fast as possible or Double KB swings for 2x15 and one-minute breaks
Tuesday and Thursday (GH emphasis workouts)
Ten rounds of:
- 30 Hindu Squats as fast as possible: (breathe out as you squat down and breathe in deep as you stand up)
- 10 One-arm Kettlebell Snatches l,r (with a weight that you can do 15 times)
Take one-minute breaks in between each workout and work on decreasing the breaks over time. Long-term goal is ten rounds and thirty second breaks. The more intensity the higher the GH release. Of course this is assuming that you do not burn out and over train so ease into it.
Additional Tips for increasing GH And Testosterone Levels
- Get 8-9 hours of sleep every night. Forget everything else if you cannot make this happen. Turn the TV off, stop talking on the phone and go to sleep.
- Take a 30 minute power nap after you workout on an empty stomach (you can take glutamine and BCAA, but no food. By the way do not ask me what amount unless you are one of my online clients. Do your own research if you want free info.)
- Take ZMA before you got to sleep on any empty stomach. Zinc is critical for T production and Magnesium is a muscle relaxant which will help improve quality sleep. Warning: Get ready for some bizarre dreams!
- Follow a high protein and high healthy fat diet during the day to keep insulin low and GH high. Save your carbs for after your workouts.
- Relax and do not stress out so much. Every time you stress out, cortisol levels go up which lowers DHEA (anti-aging hormone)
- Do not let people push your around at work or in your personal life. Every time that happens, your T levels go down. Stick up for your self and surround yourself with high quality people. Get rid of all of the losers like a bad habit.
- Every time you achieve a goal or a success that you care about, your T levels go up. Make goals and achieve them to get your T levels up.
- Yes there are supplements that can help but do not even think about taking them until you do all of the above and get your blood work done. Here are the tests again:
- Testosterone (free and total)
- DHT
- Estradiol
- PSA (for men)
- SBGH
- DHEA (saliva test)
- Cortisol (saliva test)
- Thyroid
- IGF-1 (more stable measure of GH)
Now do not be a jackass and decline from doing the above because your insurance does not cover some of the tests such as IGF-1 (Usually runs $189.95). It always amazing me that people spend hundreds of dollars on their cars every year but when it comes to their health, they put the cheap ass hats on. You only have one body so make the best of your physiology or be prepared to pay the consequences. Nothing is more expensive than regret. Get rid of cable, do not wat out for a month, stop going to starbucks everyday and save that money for your blood work. Also, do not wait until you have problems to get your blood work done. Every man and woman should be required to get blood work done at age 25. That is usually your last good year of hormones before things start going down hill slowly. Get it done early so you know what your ideal levels are.
The future of training is personalization. The more you know about yourself, the better your results will be. Hell, you may not even get results at all if you do not know your numbers. Do not take this lightly.
If you need help which you most likely do, sign up for my online program design services at: Aggressive Strength Services or figure it out on your own. Best of luck.
Live Life Aggressively!
Mike Mahler
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