The Original Online BODYBUILDING SUPPLEMENTS FORUM. Advanced Techniques. Pro Tips & Insights. The Best Advice!

I am interested in adding a lactic acid training into my routine but only due to the supposed HGH release. however I am sceptical of Charles Poliquins statements on tnation because there is no other study I can find that relates lactic acid training to hgh release, if fact one link on body-building dot com argued that it did not stimulate release.

Does anyone have a link or a study other than Charles Poliquins original?
It would be good to get it validated.

Thanks in advance.

tufluk wrote:I am interested in adding a lactic acid training into my routine but only due to the supposed HGH release. however I am sceptical of Charles Poliquins statements on tnation because there is no other study I can find that relates lactic acid training to hgh release, if fact one link on body-building dot com argued that it did not stimulate release.

Does anyone have a link or a study other than Charles Poliquins original?
It would be good to get it validated.

Thanks in advance.

I do this type of training every Monday in my program by John Romaniello precisely for this reason,its on a full 36 hour fast day which just followed a full cheat day on Sunday...here is his explanation:

"Lactic acid is chiral and has two optical isomers. One is known as L-(+)- lactic acid or (S)-lactic acid and the other, its mirror image, is D-(−)-lactic acid or (R)-lactic acid. L-(+)-Lactic acid is the biologically important isomer.

In animals, L-lactate is constantly produced from pyruvate via the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in a process of fermentation during normal metabolism and exercise.

It does not increase in concentration until the rate of lactate production exceeds the rate of lactate removal which is governed by a number of factors including: monocarboxylate transporters, concentration and isoform of LDH and oxidative capacity of tissues.

The concentration of blood lactate is usually 1–2 mmol/L at rest, but can rise to over 20 mmol/L during intense exertion.”

What does ANY of that have to do with MY fat?

Another good question! Hang on, I’m getting there. With specific regard to exercise, it’s important to say that ultimately, lactic acid is a chemical waste by-product that is created during certain chemical reactions that exercise creates.

Specifically, your attempt to lift weights requires the conversion of glucose into contraction and movement and oxygen demands exceed your body’s ability to meet them. As glycogen breaks down in the absence of oxygen, it creates both ATP and Pyruvate*, which in turn creates hydrogen ions, which ultimately creates lactic acid.

*Fun little side note. Contrary to popular belief, it is Pyruvate, not lactic acid, which causes the not-so-pleasant burning sensation that we associate with the approach of muscular failure.


Okay, so that’s where it comes from….
What the heck does it DO?

No need to get snippy. I’ll tell you. It goes like this. As lactic acid metabolites begin to flood the bloodstream, this increases the overall acidity (makes sense—it’s called lactic ACID after all) of the extracellular tissues, and nerve irritation occurs.

Translation: basically, some bad stuff happens and it hurts.

Now, here’s the good part. When your blood and nerves and other tissues are all acid-y, your body goes, “dude, this sucks, I’m going to fix it.” Basically, because the cycle of metabolic waste removal is breaking down, certain processes begin to regulate acidity.

Um…why is that the “Good Part”?
Simple: in order to regulate that acidity, your body starts to produce tremendous amounts of Growth Hormone—and for anyone who doesn’t know, Growth Hormone is the single most effective biological compound your body can produce to elicit fat loss or muscle gain.

Exactly how much Growth Hormone will be produced during lactic acid training? Well, it’s hard to quantify, but my estimates place it somewhere in the area of “a metric crap-load.”

And by that, of course, I mean…
“a lotta freakin’ Growth Hormone.”

Wait—so basically…
“I’m producing lactic acid in order to elicit production of Growth Hormone?”

Now you’ve got it! That’s exactly right.

Simply stated, training in a way that produces a lot of lactic acid—and thereby signals immense release of Growth Hormone—is one of the single most effective ways to trigger overall fat loss; especially if you’re in a caloric deficit.

As we covered above, growth hormone is helpful for general fat loss, but is specifically beneficial in that this hormone can counteract the effects of cortisol; at least in terms of the effect on fat storage.

In addition, it’s been posited that production of lactic acid can also create some level of localized fat loss; you know—spot reduction. That is to say, there is certain evidence to suggest that if you structure leg training to produce lactic acid, you can reduce fat stores in the legs.

While I’m not really convinced that this has all that much merit, from time to time I’ve been surprised at how quickly lower body fat storage can be offset by incorporating this style of training.

Of course, I’ve tried it on myself and dozens of my clients…but the problem is that there’s no real way to quantify whether it’s working. We primarily do full-body workouts, and we lose fat over the whole body.

Despite seeing some cool things, I’m not ready to boldly say that training lower body in this way expressly leads to lower body fat. It’s worth mentioning because there’s some empirical evidence out there. For what it’s worth.

Thanks so much matter!
just the stuff I was after

I was thinking of running a tweaked version of Ultimate Diet 2 and was only going to follow through with it if the glycogen depletion day (excessive lactic acid) did cause a significant increase in GH.

appreciate you help!