Endocrine Response to Exercise

The endocrine response to exercise is the coordinated release of hormones that mobilises fuel, defends blood glucose and fluid balance during a session, and drives recovery and adaptation afterwards.

The endocrine system works with the nervous system to make this happen. For sport and exercise medicine (SEM) the physiology underpins:

• •Relative energy deficiency in sport (REDs), where low energy availability disturbs the hormonal axes
• •Exercise as treatment for type 2 diabetes, through improved insulin sensitivity
• •The endocrine changes seen with overtraining
• •Anti-doping, since many prohibited substances are hormones