How Your Hormones Are Affecting Your Performance

Introduction

Hormones are the body’s chemical messengers.

Hormones are released through the endocrine glands, such as the adrenal, pituitary, pineal, thyroid, and parathyroid glands, the pancreas, as well as the ovaries (in women) and testes (in men).

Finally, hormones are transported by the circulatory system to tissues and organs. They affect many different processes in the body, including:

• Growth and body development
• Sexual function
• Metabolism
• Reproduction
• Mood

Hormones are so powerful that even the smallest amount can cause big changes to your cells and even your whole body. Too much or too little amount of a certain hormone can have serious effects on your body.

This article will be talking about the effects of hormones on the body’s overall performance, especially when working out or when playing a particular sport.

Hormones Allow You To Perform Much Better And Longer

There are two types of hormones that are associated with exercising: cortisol and endorphin.

Cortisol is a hormone that the body releases when you’re under stress or when you feel angry, anxious, or frightened. You can think of cortisol as your body’s alarm system. It helps you control your fear, mood, and motivation. It is also the hormone that’s responsible for your “fight or flight” instinct in times of dangerous situations.

Cortisol also does a lot more for your body, such as:

• • Controlling how your body uses up fat, carbohydrates, and proteins
  • Controlling your blood pressure
  • Keeping inflammation down
  • Increasing your blood sugar
  • Controlling your sleeping and waking patterns
  • Helping boost energy so your body can handle stress
  • Restoring balance in your body after being under stress

It’s true that cortisol is helpful to your body, but, ultimately, it can become inflamed and damage your organs.

When your body is under stress, such as when working out or playing sports, it releases a hormone called endorphin, which burns cortisol. Now, endorphin is a type of hormone that creates a feeling of euphoria or “high”. It also blocks pain and reduces anxiety.

By getting your heart rate up by running or lifting weights, it will boost your endorphin levels. As you continue to run or lift weights on a regular basis, your body will have an increased sensitivity to endorphins. This is why you can see some people who can run faster and longer than an average person. Once your endorphin levels are high, you’ll be able to perform longer without feeling pain or fatigue.

Increased Hormone Levels Lead To Better Exercise

Improving your hormone levels through hormone replacement therapy, which is discussed on this website, can help you improve your performance when exercising or working out. By boosting your hormone levels through this treatment, your body will be able to do the following things much better:

• • Burn fat
  • Regenerate muscles
  • Regulate blood sugar levels

A hormone replacement therapy can also boost your immune system, as well as improve your sexual function. And, if the treatment is combined with regular exercise, it will raise the level of the neurotransmitters in your body, which will help heighten your libido.

Hormones & Exercise Go Hand-in-Hand

Hormones and exercise also go hand-in-hand. Regular exercise helps boost your hormone levels, while hormones help you exercise a lot more efficiently and produce positive results faster.

If you are going to get hormone replacement therapy and combine it with regular exercise, it will also help reduce the risks of age-related diseases, such as heart disease. And, if you do weight training exercises to improve your bone density, you can fight off osteoporosis.

Since you are exercising regularly, it will also help you lose weight faster. With hormone replacement therapy, you don’t have to worry anymore about hormone imbalance. You can work out and exercise as much as you can, and see positive results in a couple of weeks.

Increased Hormone Levels Can Make You Feel Young Again

Most people who are over 40 years old begin to notice changes in their bodies. Their bones and joints start to weaken, they start to lose some muscles,  and their eyesight starts to deteriorate, among many others. Also, their energy levels decrease, and their ability to do some physical activities, like jogging or playing basketball, becomes very limited. This is only natural since the function of the body’s endocrine system, as well as the hormone levels, decline as you age.

Fortunately, there are now treatments, like hormone replacement therapy, which aim to treat the symptoms of low hormone levels in the body. These types of treatments aim to optimize all deficient hormones, such as estrogen, progesterone, thyroid, testosterone, etc., to make your body function properly again.

Aside from addressing the physical changes in your body, hormone replacement therapy also changes the way you see yourself. It addresses the symptoms of hormonal changes that make you feel younger. Increased hormonal levels resulting from the treatment will give you more energy, increase your sexual function, and improve your mood. It can also make you less vulnerable against stress, depression, anxiety, and make you sleep better at night.

All of these benefits will make you feel better about yourself and be more confident, which will then motivate you to stay active and look after your welfare much better. People who had hormone replacement therapy after reaching their 40s actually started to feel young again.

Conclusion

You have to know that your physical performance is not just affected by your bones and muscles. Hormones, which are produced by your endocrine glands, are also essential for a much improved physical performance.

If you have noticed that your recent physical performance when working out has been lackluster, you might be having a hormonal imbalance. You will need to be tested to see if you have a hormonal imbalance or not.

If you do, hormone replacement therapy may be recommended as a part of a treatment plan to help you perform better when doing physical activities.

Don’t think of hormone replacement therapy as only for menopausal women. It is recommended for anyone who has hormonal imbalance so they can improve their overall quality of life.

About Shannon Clark

Shannon holds a degree in Exercise Science and is a certified personal trainer and fitness writer with over 10 years of industry experience.