Bodybuilding can provide many health benefits. Due to bodybuilding training regimes and proper diet you will be able to enhance cardiovascular, mental and immune health and improve weight loss. In most case there is one aspect of health which is not mentioned when the bodybuilding benefits are discussed – it is human endocrine or hormonal system. The endocrine system (from the Greek terms "endo" meaning within and "krine" meaning to separate or secrete) is comprised of chemical substances called hormones which are sending, passing information from endocrine gland to organ, to control a large number of physiologic functions. In order that these functions govern efficiently it is very important to control your hormones. Exercise is the best way to effectively assist the release and reception of hormones. It has been proved that it can actually increase the amount of circulating hormones in the body as well as strengthening the receptor sites on their target organ cells.  Here are three general classes of hormones classified by the protein or steroid chemical structure:
1. Amino Acid Derivatives: as you may understand from their name, these hormones are derived from amino acids; tyrosine in particular. Epinephrine for example is an amino acid derived hormone. 2. Steroid Hormones: here belong prostaglandins. All these hormones which belong to this group are lipids and made from cholesterol. 3. Peptide Hormones: this groups is the biggest. Peptides are short chains of amino acids. The example of peptide hormone is Insulin.
It should be mentioned that all of the hormones in human body are derivatives of proteins or are proteins themselves. The exception is the hormones in the adrenal cortex and the sex hormones, which are steroid hormones. Steroid hormones typically react with receptor sites located inside the cell. This process is slower because protein synthesis is required in this case. On the contrary protein hormones react with receptors on the surface and their reaction is more rapid. Key hormones on which you can positively affect by the exercise are:
1. Testosterone
2. Growth hormone
3. Estrogen
4. Thyroxine
5. Epinephrine
6. Insulin
7. Endorphins
8. Glucagon Testosterone
Both males and females produce testosterone. This is a main bodybuilding hormone. Its function is to increase basal metabolic rate, decrease body fat, increase feelings of self-confidence. It preserves tone, volume and strength of muscles. In fact, testosterone, along with growth hormone, causes the hypertrophy (increased size and density) of muscle cells and also repairs micro-tears in the muscle tissue. Women have only about one tenth of the testosterone males have. However it is possible to achieve powerful effects even at that level like libido and strength of orgasm. The process of testosterone release is very complex.
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