It is time to discuss the body's own fat burning hormone: HGH. There are plenty of over the counter medications that come in pill or spray form that will tell you they make a difference, but I will try to show you how to increase Human Growth Hormone, or HGH, levels with your diet and exercise.

The Essentials: What is HGH?

Your pituitary gland naturally produces the hormone HGH throughout the course of your lifetime. The reason you gain height as a child and teenager is because of this hormone. As you grow older, HGH repairs and "turns over" muscle tissue while also dreaking down any fat stored in your body. Those are all great things that this complex hormone accomplishes, but I would like to move my concentration to maintaining muscles and losing body fat.

HGH Levels Drop As We Grow Older

The reason that many celebrities inject or take pills to gain HGH is to keep the same level of the hormone that they had in their teens. Studies have shown that by 60 the level of HGH can be as low as a quarter of the level you had in your teens and early 20's. This decline starts to take a sharp turn downward around the age of 30. This can be linked to the regular weight gain of people entering their 30's. It does not have to be this way, which is a good thing.

Short and Intense Exercise Increases Levels of HGH

It may hurt, but exercising intensely with circuit training (click the link for my strategy) every once in a while will benefit you greatly by releasing your maximum amount of HGH. Doing this along with the right diet will get you fat loss results that you can be proud of, but you may want to release more HGH.

Increase HGH By Fasting

Eating a meal every few hours each day will limit your HGH levels because of your high insulin levels (click the link for easy explanation on my site). Insulin has the opposite effect that HGH has; it stores fat instead of releasing it. Insulin is what your body uses to store the nutrients in food when you eat. When you eat regularly it will produce insulin at high levels and not allow you to burn fat. When you do not eat as much you insulin levels will stay low and you body starts to produce HGH to convert fat to energy. Fasting is the easiest way to accomplish this task. You will have to eat when you are hungry, but fasting for select periods of time is a great way to lose fat while keeping muscle.

Sleep on a Regular Basis in Order to Increase HGH Production

HGH starts to release once you reach the REM cycle of your sleep. When you get 8 hours of sleep per night the amount of HGH released will be maximized. I, myself, have gone through times in my life where I wouldn't get more than 5 hours of sleep each night and it made it difficult to stay fit. Do whatever you can do, but remember that resting well will let you live longer and be happier.