The 'Magic Hormone': How Lactic Acid Helps Build Muscle, And How To Produce More
This question originally appeared on Quora. Answer by Tim Ernst, founder of TurnAroundFitness.com.
I’ve written a complete article on why lactic acid is considered a magical hormone for doing three powerful things:
- Increases Testosterone
- Increases Human Growth Hormone
- Is Used as Fuel
The world's best athletes stay competitive by interval training. Intense exercise generates big lactate loads, and the body adapts by building up mitochondria to clear lactic acid quickly. If you use it up, it doesn't accumulate.
Lactic acid is a white milky substance that creeps into your muscles during intense exercise.
I’ve created 4 training techniques (backed by scientific research) that produce loads of lactic acid that will help you reach the ‘lactic threshold’ responsible for producing testosterone and growth hormone which you need in order to build lean muscle tissue.
Here’s how lactic acid works in the body:
Special cells called “Leydig” use lactic acid to suck up cholesterol and convert it into testosterone.
In turn, this lowers your free cholesterol count and releases human growth hormone which in turn raids your fat cells for emergency fuel to strip away fat from trouble spot areas like your belly.
When lactate triggers in your muscles, you will feel that intense “burn,” and the more lactic acid you coax from your muscles, the more powerful the benefits.
And Get This...
Without lactic acid... your body refuses to do any of the exciting things such as producing more testosterone, growth hormone and energy.
Scientists took “dead” human muscle tissue and placed a drop of lactic acid onto the muscle...
Which began to swell in size and twitch back to life.
Lactic acid simply fuels your metabolism to gobble up fat cells, balances your neurotransmitters, gives you all-day energy, and revitalizes your libido.
To say it’s a waste product is not a good way to describe it.
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