Love at first sight, love passion: we often talk about a mysterious chemistry that pushes us towards each other. Chemistry, and especially hormones, play an essential role in romantic relationships.
So, why does the passion last 3 years on average? And why do we say that love is blind?
Hormones certainly affect this, as we will see.
In addition, if we know that hormones are essential to progress in muscles, so could a romantic relationship be beneficial to muscle development thanks to the cocktail of hormones it provides?
The encounter
"Love at first sight, the beginning"
Love at first sight, or how you can feel sudden feelings at a glance for a perfect stranger. It is a real chemical encounter in addition to being sensory.
The bodies release pheromones, volatile substances which are real warning signals to the partner. By evacuating from our body by the armpits for example, the pheromones penetrate through the nose of our interlocutor to reach his brain. If he is sensitive to this chemical message, love at first sight operates.
It is then that the brain is invaded by an explosive cocktail of hormones and neurotransmitters, including norepinephrine which pushes us to focus on the being who causes the thunderbolt. The noradrenergic system has awakened their vigilance and we therefore retain all the characteristics of the environment and the details of the encounter. This extreme concentration causes a freeze frame.
Love at first sight activates around 250 substances, including 2 hormones that will complement and contradict each other. Serotonin, the hormone responsible for regulating our emotions, and the pleasure hormone dopamine. This has an impact on our judgment. The very strong increase in dopamine gives a feeling of well-being, pleasure that we do not want to lose and leads to the collapse of serotonin.
Serotonin is critical thinking. We do not see the faults of the loved one, we find him perfect. This drop in serotonin which will last for several days or even months explains why we say that love is blind. Indeed, our brain is unable to perceive the faults of the other. We can thus give up everything for love, then 3 weeks later when we are sober, we can change our mind completely! It can be noted that it is phenylethylamine which is at the origin of the release of dopamine. This neurotransmitter acts as the amphetamine of love, making you addicted and causing withdrawal in the absence of your loved one.
Passion
"Passion ... for a time only"
For love at first sight to become great love, we have a role to play.
Studies show that passion lasts 3 years on average, yet couples that last and love each other, it exists. We can explain it. If there are hormones of love passion, there are others, those of attachment to a person, which will take over.
The ardor of the first days dissipates, the passion gradually dulls. Indeed, after the overproduction of endorphin, the pleasure hormone making us "blind", the balance returns. The secretion of these hormones takes place over time and there is a saturation of the receptors. Dopamine then drops and serotonin, responsible for regulating our emotions can again play its role, which explains why passion decreases.
Does that mean that love stops? No. Only passion, all this energy concentrated on one being, diminishes and goes out. The feeling of love will not disappear, but something more serene, more peaceful, will be built.
Again, it is an oxytocin hormone, which will participate in the transformation of passion into deep love. And for good reason, oxytocin is the attachment hormone. This hormone is for example released in large quantities during childbirth. It is she who creates the link between mother and baby.
This attachment hormone, a guarantee of complicity and fulfillment, would therefore be one of the secrets of couples who last.
These hormones have virtues on our body certainly, but they are dependent on external stimuli that will cause them to be released. It is important to know this, because it must be maintained in this way. So to stimulate the production of attachment hormones, you have to take care of your relationship.
Thus, couples who do not talk to each other, who do not stimulate themselves cannot stay together for a long time while couples who are always looking for small opportunities to meet and share moments together, maintain their hormonal capital by a importantly.
The sexual act
"Sex hormones"
Making love with the person you love is a source of pleasure and it's good for your morale. However, the act of sex has other consequences on our body, including the delaying of aging of the skin and it is only one of these unexpected and beneficial effects.
Indeed, in addition to being equivalent to a brisk walk in relation to the intensity, it is an excellent anti-stress. You noticed, after having made love, we feel much more relaxed, but how to explain it?
We will release, when we feel pleasure, hormones that will repair the damage done by stress, and at the same time we collapse the stress hormones.
Clearly, cortisol and adrenaline are two hormones that we secrete when we are stressed. They speed up the heart rate and increase blood pressure. At too high a dose, they can be harmful for our organism. The secret to combating the negative effects of stress is therefore the production of another hormone, oxytocin. Oxytocin, which is often said to be the hormone of lovers, a hormone that we secrete when we take someone in our arms, we secrete it in even greater quantities during sexual intercourse and more the level of oxytocin increases in the blood, the more the cortisol level will drop. However, this is rather good news for bodybuilders, because cortisol is the sworn enemy of muscle anabolism and therefore of muscle development, because it has the effect of destroying muscle tissue by catabolism.
The sexual act is effective against the small ailments of everyday life, so the excuse of headaches is over. The “hugs” would even have an anti-pain effect. In scientific language, they are said to be analgesics. The endorphins which are secreted during sexual relations are powerful analgesics, which will cause a magical disappearance of headaches for example. We are even currently studying the possibility of giving these natural analgesics which have the enormous advantages of being devoid of any side effects. They are felt after intense training by the feeling of well-being that it provides.
Last astonishing effect, sexuality would make us more beautiful. According to a study, regular sexual activity increases the secretion of sex hormones like testosterone and estrogen in women. They are the ones who would make us look better. These hormones have an action on lots of targets, especially in the skin where they promote cutaneous vascularization but also the production of certain fibers, elastins and collagen. Collagen and elastin are two proteins that make the skin more supple and younger. Clearly, the more we “cuddle” the firmer our skin would be and thanks to better blood circulation, our complexion would be more radiant. Likewise, when we think of fibers, it is indeed muscle fibers that are involved, the Testosterone is thus a very important hormone for bodybuilding.
Another advantage, the hugs would also retain DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone. This famous hormone of youth preserves the youth of our organism. DHEA promotes libido, vital energy. These are hormones which fight against asthenia, fatigue and which will develop more muscle tissue to the detriment of adipose tissue. This is another ally of muscle development. However, although with age the level of DHEA decreases, regular sexual activity would keep this hormone longer. You should know that this hormone is currently considered a doping product by theWorld Anti-Doping Agency.
Finally, peptide hormones like oxytocin, from the peptide class, are distinguished from steroid hormones.
Conclusion
"A natural dopant"
It is incredible how we can be subjected to the effects of these hormones which have in reality only one ultimate goal during the romantic relationships, that we can ensure our descent. Also, we can be reassured therefore to know that love can last beyond 3 years, as a result of this pleasant but ephemeral passion. On the other hand, it is necessary to maintain the flame and the hormonal stimuli. Finally, now you know the secrets about the doping power of love and sexuality on bodybuilding skills, and maybe you already benefit from it. For those of you who are still free, try to stay yourself, no study has been able to prove the fact that bodybuilders are endowed with a particular attraction towards the opposite sex, but it could be that your pheromones and the hormones help you a little in your search for love!
