When it comes to working out, more is more, right? Actually, wrong. Too much exercise can wreak havoc on your hormones. But how would you even know if your hormones weren’t, in fact, ticking along perfectly? Okay, picture this: You’ve been hitting it hard at the gym but just not getting the results you want. Or, is that excess fat just not budging, no matter how many HIIT sessions you rack up on ClassPass? The likelihood is that your hormones are out of sync. Keep reading to find out how to balance your hormones through a structured exercise week. 

Hormones are chemical messengers that keep our bodies in a happy state of equilibrium. Unfortunately, crossed wires and miscommunications happen, and before you know it your hormones are all over the place, and you’re drowning your sorrows in vats of wine and ice cream (it’s okay, we’ve all been there). So what causes our internal communication system to go haywire? It could be work stress, a high-sugar diet (probably driven by that work stress), or even too much exercise.

Vix Erber is a Bondi’s leading female personal trainer who has built her method, Bikini Athletix, around boosting the “thin” hormones and suppressing the “fat” ones. She does group fitness training, as well as private consultations and sessions, teaching her Bikini Athletix formula. We asked Vix to explain the different hormones worth knowing about and how they affect us, plus how the right exercise can get everything back into balance.

“I used to suffer quite severely with PMS and was always astounded at how fabulous I felt after a workout. The PMS would almost always totally disappear,” Vix says. “Since then, I have always been interested in the endocrine system and the role it plays in our health and wellness.”

The endocrine system consists of glands around the body that are responsible for secreting our hormones at the correct levels to keep everything in our bodies flowing along nicely. All hormones play a valuable role in our day to day lives—including cortisol, which gets a bad rap being known as the “stress hormone” but is actually vital for helping us get up in the mornings and dealing with any life and death situations.

But, Vix has identified that some hormones serve us better than others. Certain hormones, like the human growth hormone, help keep us strong and healthy, so we should do what we can to optimise that hormone. Others, like cortisol, are best kept at a minimum so it can just do what’s needed, rather than being triggered to spiral out of control, causing side effects like weight gain around the tummy.

Vix works with many women at different stages of life, be it early on or during peri-menopause or menopause, to help bring their hormones back into balance. “It’s a big part of my job to help women with the menstrual mayhem. Exercise really goes a long way in balancing their hormones.

“I’ve identified the crucial hormones that make you fat and the ones that make you thin,” says Vix. “Exercise has a powerful effect on balancing, suppressing and increasing these hormones. Excess oestrogen, insulin and cortisol are the hormones responsible for weight gain, while HGH, testosterone and progesterone are the ones responsible for keeping us lean,” explains Vix. “Leptin is another hormone, which, when too low, signals your body to store fat. Your body produces leptin while you sleep, so bad sleeping patterns can drastically lower the levels.”

Insulin

Made by the pancreas on the arrival of glucose into the bloodstream, it rises and falls according to what you eat, but increases particularly with processed carbohydrates and sugary foods.

If there’s too much insulin in your system, your body will store fat, and much of it will present itself on your hips, thighs and tummy. The more weight you gain, the more insulin your body pumps out, creating a vicious cycle.

Cortisol

Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress, low blood sugar and exercise. Did you know cortisol supports energy metabolism during long bouts of exercise by facilitating the breakdown of fats and protein to create the glucose necessary to help fuel exercises? Excess cortisol leads to a raging appetite, typically for the wrong foods.

Oestrogen

A wonderful hormone in the right amount, it makes conception and pregnancy possible. It’s also a natural mood lifter. However, oestrogen works in sync with progesterone, and both hormones need to be in balance. Progesterone helps balance oestrogen and in the right ratio, the two hormones help burn body fat, act as an antidepressant, assist metabolism and promote sleep. But if you don’t have enough progesterone, you can become Oestrogen Dominant, which causes all manner of problems, from a sluggish metabolism and bloating to mood swings.

Human Growth Hormone

Quite simply one of the most powerful hormones. It’s a fat burner, which forces your body to draw energy from your fat reserves first. HGH is produced in bucket loads after HIIT (in particular), strength training and plyometrics. This is why they cannot test sprinters for HGH, as it is naturally produced in the body after intense exercise.

Testosterone

Even though testosterone is commonly associated with men, it’s vitally important for women too. It builds muscle, burns fat, increases energy and sex drive, strengthens bones and lifts depression.

Any strength training program longer than eight weeks seems to be the precursor to endocrine adaptation for increased testosterone levels. The best formula for increasing women’s testosterone response is a mixture of cardiovascular exercise, HIIT, and resistance training.

Progesterone

As mentioned earlier, this is a hormone that regulates menstrual function and pregnancy. Excessive strenuous or high-intensity exercise has been shown to lower fertility in women through reduced levels of progesterone, which has a direct effect on the menstrual cycle. Therefore excessive exercise can be counterproductive in the production of this amazing hormone.

How to Use Exercise to Balance Your Hormones

As you can probably tell, getting your hormones all back to good or optimum levels is a balancing act. “While intense workouts improve your body chemistry, including levels of HGH and testosterone, you have to keep cortisol in check,” explains Vix. A HIIT class after a stressful day at work is probably the last thing you need, however a Strength class or toning class can balance your cortisol after a high stress day. A typical workout week needs to be structured correctly to have a positive impact on all the hormones, Vix explains.

“Know this: The right exercise will positively boost HGH, testosterone. Both of these are lean-making and youth-boosting hormones. It will balance progesterone, which is key to avoiding weight gain and energy drains. High levels of progesterone will have you burning more calories at rest. Exercise will also drive insulin (a fat hormone) down and levels will normalise while keeping cortisol (another fat hormone) in check to prevent it from taking over your body. Fit and healthy people can more easily deal with elevated cortisol,” explains Vix. For most women, she advocates the following, which will have a positive influence on all the above hormones.

HIIT: 1 – 2 x 45 minute sessions per week. There is no need to do any more than this. Bondi Vixen has 3 HIIT classes available LEAN: Functional HIIT, LEAN: Box HIIT and BURN: HIIT 30

Strength training: A general full-body routine two to three times a week. I prefer light weight and high reps for women, with lots of functional training (squats and lunges) for the lower body. Bondi Vixen has 4 Strength Training classes to give you a balanced approach – STRONG: Total Strength (total body), STRONG: Shape Shifter (Upper Body/Core), STRONG: Booty Sculpt (lower body), BURN: Core 30 – 30min abs blasting session. 

Stretching: Five minutes after every session. Or, attend a yoga class, which will help with flexibility, and, of course, to lower your level of stress hormones. Vix offers two classes on the timetable dedicated to flexibility training – TONE: Total Barre and TONE: Yin Yoga are a perfect way to destress and elongate the muscles.  

Walking: Four to five days a week, trying to achieve 10,000 steps a day. Walking is an amazing exercise to add to your existing program and so easy to do in the Bondi lifestyle, walking your dog, walking to the gym, walking along the beach it all adds up. 

Don’t sit still: If you sit at a desk all day, get up every hour, and do something for two minutes, be it making a tea or walking over to chat with a colleague rather than emailing them or use your lunch break for a quick walk around the block – just keep some comfortable walking shoes at the office. 

“Acknowledging the hormone factor has been profound. Knowledge is everything and having the understanding of hormones has kept my clients motivated and, in turn, the results have come remarkably quicker.”

Let’s book in a fitness consult and discuss how we can best structure your workout week. Alternatively check out our Zone 21 Kickstart to get started now.