For more simple weight loss tips, tactics, articles and free exercise videos to re-charge your body, re-activate sore muscles and joint, and condition your mind for extreme health, visit us at www.MikeTNelson.com.

1. Does Lactic Acid Lead To More Growth Hormone Release and More Fat Loss?
by Mike T Nelson
Here is a great question: Does lactic acid lead to more growth hormone output for fat loss training?
The Broscience answer has always been a resounding “Hell ya” followed by high fives, stomach bumping, butt slaps, and
more hard training until you puke to really get the lactic acids levels high. Rumor has it that this practice is very common at
Planet Fitness.
But do lactic acids levels lead to more growth hormone and thus more fat loss?
Leave it to my new buddy fellow hard training, uber geek (which is a huge compliment) and metal loving friend James
Heathers who is a PhD candidate at the University of Sidney, Australia for finding this study.
When he is not applying for his Roo Shooter license (I hear the kangaroos down there are just like rats here except a lot
bigger), he is looking through the literature to find awesome studies.
He too was skeptical of the Broscience touting Planet Fitness look alikes going bonkers about lactic acid leading to more
growth hormone. Let's dive in and see who is right.
Myth Busting Fact #1: Lactic Acid
A pet peeve of mine is the term lactic acid. I know it is used everywhere, but it is technically lactate plus hydrogen ion.
Why bother?
Definitions matter. Lactate can actually be used as fuel by the body and hydrogen ions are what make an acid, well, an
acid. Remember that burning sensation you get doing high rep sets? That is your body producing lactate and hydrogen
ions; thus you are producing an acid at the muscle level!
This acid appears to bugger up the actin and myosin (the moving part of the muscle) from doing their job, and your set of
concentration curls ends; despite your best efforts to go “beyond failure” even if you tried!
Your body is brilliantly designed with built in safety features, but what about fat loss you say?
Fat Loss, Lactate and Tales of Growth Hormone
Now that we are clear on lactate and H ions, does this really increase growth hormone (GH)?
You could recruit a bunch of people from Planet Fitness and have them do a crap ton (techy term) of preacher curls and
measure GH release.
You can already see the flaws with this method. If GH goes up, what caused it? Causation is always tricky, but there must
be a more elegant way to investigate this hypothesis.
When It All Goes Wrong...
I remember taking pathophysiology and realizing it is just the study of physiology gone awry!
If we understand physiology, just pick some mechanism and there is a disease named after it when it breaks.
Examples:
Type 2 diabetes = messed up glucose usage

2. Heart disease = big bugger of crap get stuck in the vessels and either break off to plug it up downstream
(vulnerable plaque) or plug it up where they are
Cataracts = the lens in your eye gets stiffer and more cloudy
You get the idea.
When you apply this idea to GH, we need to find a bunch of people that can’t produce GH during exercise.
If we believe GH is from lactate, we really need to find people that can’t produce lactate during high intensity exercise.
Further upstream, what is primary fuel source for high intensity exercise? Glucose, or the stored form glycogen.
We really need to find people now who can’t breakdown glycogen, since stores of blood glucose won’t fuel exercise very
long.
No glucose = no hard (anaerbolic) exericse = no lactate = no GH release.
Just like you can drop a physiology text book and find a pathology that reflects the process on any page, we need to find
people who can’t break down glycogen to test our little theory here.
We Have a Winner (or Loser?)
As it turns out, there is a disease process where glucose can not be broken down for fuel and it is called McArdle’s
disease. These winners of the genetic walk down the short plank do not have the the myophosphorylase enzyme, which is
required to break down glycogen.
Bingo! No enzyme = no glycogen breakdown = no lactate
If the hypothesis is correct, this would also mean no GH! .
In this study below by Godfrey RJ, et al. (2009) they investigated McArdle’s patients doing high intensity exercise.
These researchers had these poor people cranking away on the treadmill (even though their body could not breakdown
glucose, which is the main fuel for that type of exercise). When they measured the change in GH from exercise they got
bubkiss.
Zero, zippo, nada, nothing, zilch…no GH release.
While not perfect, this is great evidence to show that lactate is a raw material for GH release.
Lab vs Reality
This study appears to jive with my experience (and that of other coaches) who state that higher volumes of exercise are
more beneficial for fat loss.
Practical Tip For Fast Fat Loss
If fat loss it your goal, keeping a close eye on your density of compound exercises is a great way to get your fat loss goals
on track.
Remember that density = volume / time and it an important form of overload.
Here is an example (and stand back as I perform math (a bad 4 letter word), but it is simple math)

3. Density Example
Let's say that this past Monday you did deadlifts with 225 for 5,5,5,5,4.
The total reps adds up to 24 reps.
Volume = weight x sets x reps
Total volume is 24 x 225 = 5,400 lbs. The total time took you 17:34 for a density of 5.12 lbs/sec (total volume / total time).
Thursday you do deadlifts again with 225 and get the same number of reps (24), but this time it only took you 14:47. Your
density is now 6.08 lbs/sec and much better!
You did the same amount of work, but in less time; thus a better density of work.
Better density = more lactate = more GH = faster fat loss
While the physiology in the background can be complex, your action does not need to be complicated once you know what
to do---work to increase density in your training!
Now you have a what and a why so the only thing left is application. Get to it, but don’t do deadlifts in Planet Fitness since
you will be kicked out!
For more simple weight loss tips, tactics, articles and free exercise videos to re-charge your body, re-activate sore muscles
and joint, and condition your mind for extreme health, visit us at www.MikeTNelson.com.
Comments?
What do you think? Click here to meet me on Twitter or Facebook and let me what you think.
Rock on,
Mike T Nelson
Reference
Godfrey RJ, Whyte GP, Buckley J, Quinlivan R “The role of lactate in the exercise-induced human growth hormone
response: evidence from McArdle disease” Br J Sports Med. 2009 Jul;43(7):521-5. Epub 2008 Jan 9.