Weight Loss: Exercise Promotes Growth Hormone Secretion, Healthy Height Growth and Fat Reduction Simultaneously

How Does Physical Exercise Promote Height Growth?
Physical exercise promotes height growth for three main reasons.

(I) Increased Growth Hormone Secretion
There are three main endocrine hormones that control height: growth hormone secreted by the pituitary gland, luteinizing hormone, and sex hormones. Among these three hormones, growth hormone is the most effective; it is an essential substance for ensuring normal human growth and development. Experiments have shown that 90 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity doubles the amount of growth hormone secreted in the body compared to resting. The positive stimulation of physical exercise also ensures deeper sleep. Scientists have found through electroencephalography (EEG), electrocardiography (ECG), and oculomotor monitoring that when children and adolescents sleep for one hour, the secretion of related hormones (growth hormone, luteinizing hormone, sex hormones, and prolactin) is extremely vigorous, especially growth hormone, which reaches its peak, with a concentration of up to 20 micrograms per milliliter of blood, 5 to 7 times higher than during the day. Increased growth hormone secretion promotes normal growth and development in children. According to reports, a 23-year-old woman grew nearly 3 centimeters in height after being in a coma for two months due to illness. Insufficient growth hormone secretion can severely affect a child's growth and development, and may even lead to dwarfism. Dwarfism patients are 12-16 centimeters shorter than normal children of the same age, or even more. The normal height for healthy children aged 7-12 should be: Height (cm) = (Age × 5) + 75. Any height significantly exceeding or falling below this standard is considered pathological.

(II) Increases the proliferative capacity of the epiphyseal cartilage. The "height" of short stature depends primarily on the length of the long bones of the lower limbs and the growth and development of the spine. Anatomically, the long bones of the limbs are tubular bones, with cartilage (in infancy, each bone has a growth point or ossification center) between its ends and the bone body, called vegetal cartilage (Figure 5-2). From infancy to maturity, a person's height increases several times over, mainly due to the growth of the epiphyseal cartilage. Once the epiphyseal cartilage has ossified, a person stops growing taller. The growth and development of epiphyseal cartilage is controlled by growth hormone. Regular physical exercise not only increases the secretion of growth hormone but also promotes vigorous metabolism and faster blood flow. At rest, it takes 20-25 seconds for blood to circulate throughout the body; during exercise, this is shortened to 8-9 seconds. Physical exercise can also increase oxygen uptake by 7-12 times. In adolescents aged 15-20, the respiratory rate can increase from 18-20 breaths/min at rest to 30-40 breaths/min, and lung ventilation increases to 70-120 liters. Sufficient blood oxygen and increased blood flow provide bone cells with ample raw materials.

Appropriate exercise not only provides ample raw materials for the proliferation of medullary cartilage, giving it a beneficial "mechanical massage," but also plays a positive role in changes to bone morphology, structure, and function. For example, bone compaction thickens, making bones stronger and more robust; the arrangement of bone trabeculae becomes more orderly and regular according to different pressures and tensions; and the muscle attachment protrusions on the bone surface become more prominent. These changes greatly improve the tensile, compressive, torsional, bending, and fracture resistance of bones.

(III) Increased Vitamin D and "Air Vitamins" Most mass sports activities are conducted outdoors, where there is ample sunshine and fresh air, allowing the body to obtain more vitamin D and "air vitamins." Physicists have discovered that sunlight passing through a prism emits seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet. Beyond these seven colors, there are many invisible rays, which account for approximately 50-70% of sunlight. Red light excites the nerves and improves the function of the cardiovascular, respiratory, and muscle systems; yellow and green light have a calming effect; while blue and violet light have an inhibitory effect. The length and intensity of sunlight vary with the seasons, thus significantly impacting growth and development. For example, in terms of height and weight, height growth is fastest in spring, with the three months from March to May showing 2 to 2.5 times more height increase than the three months from September to November. Conversely, weight gain is fastest in autumn, with September to November being the period of fastest weight gain throughout the year. The main reason for the rapid height growth in spring is that the sun is closer to the earth in spring, resulting in increased infrared and ultraviolet radiation in sunlight. Infrared rays have short wavelengths, strong penetrating power, and contain a large amount of heat energy. They can evenly warm human skin, reflexively causing vasodilation and increased blood flow, providing sufficient blood oxygen for the proliferation of bone marrow and cartilage. Ultraviolet rays can convert a substance called "ergosterol" in human skin into vitamin D. Vitamin D enters the bloodstream and promotes the absorption of calcium, phosphorus, and other substances in the gastrointestinal tract, providing more bone-forming materials for bone cell growth.

Active sports activities outdoors, breathing fresh air, can provide more "air vitamins." The evergreen and colorful landscapes of the south and the vibrant spring, summer, and autumn of the north create environments with a significant increase in anions. Anions are essential "elements" for maintaining the normal growth and function of human cells; scientists call them "air vitamins." In a study, mice were divided into two groups and fed with identical nutrition. Group A was fed normal air, while Group B was fed air filtered through cotton. Four weeks later, Group A showed no changes and remained healthy; Group B had a high morbidity rate, with some facing death. The key reason was that the anions in the air breathed by the mice in Group B had been completely absorbed by the cotton. This shows that an increase in the number of anions in the human body not only helps children grow taller but also improves the body's function and health.

III. Which exercises help children grow taller? During childhood, the skeletal system grows rapidly, and bones contain a large proportion of organic matter and a small proportion of inorganic matter, making them fragile and highly flexible. Children's spines are highly elastic, but their muscles and ligaments are weak, and their joint fixation is weak. Children's nervous processes are characterized by excitation being more dominant than inhibition; the cerebral cortex nerve cells have poor working capacity and are easily fatigued, but they react quickly, recover quickly, and have good flexibility. During childhood, especially during the pubertal growth spurt, height increases rapidly, while chest development lags behind. The heart's development cannot keep up with the growth rate of other parts of the body, resulting in relatively insufficient blood and oxygen supply, and unstable cardiovascular regulatory function. Given the above characteristics of children, when exercising, choose exercises with a large range of motion, high frequency, strong rhythm, and short duration. Try to avoid exercises that are too tense, long in duration, or require breath-holding endurance and static strength.