Testosterone is an important hormone for functions in our health besides just muscle. Testosterone is the main hormone when it comes to increasing the amount of bone density and lean muscle.
There are multiple symptoms of a decrease in health if you are lacking in this hormone. It’s natural for men to have roughly a 1% drop in each year after the age of 30. Symptoms of low testosterone can include depression, obesity, and a low sex drive.
- Compound heavy lifts
- Sprinting for cardio
- Rest and recovery
- Leg exercises
- Stress reduction
It sounds simple but you would be surprised how many people do not follow these tips. Having lower levels of testosterone can wreak havoc on your health and there are many different things that can influence it. Exercise can have a key role in increasing it.
Compound Exercises
I’ve made the mistake of doing higher reps with lower weight because that it was all the rage in the bodybuilding magazines back in the day. Ironically, this way of training doesn’t work when trying to increase testosterone. There are multiple studies that prove that it takes heavier weight to move the needle on your T levels.
Compound exercises are generally best to increase testosterone. Exercises such as Bench press, Deadlifts, Squats, Shoulder Press, Pull-ups, where you are working multiple muscle groups at a time.
As far as intensity goes you should be trying to aim for 85-95% of your 1 rep maximum. As far as the frequency to see results should try to lift weights at least 3 times per week for improvements.
It can seem like a daunting task to start out with these types of exercises if you are a beginner. Always start out with lighter weight and try to perfect your form first.
Form overweight! Your form will actually train the right muscles and also decreasing your chances of injury. Yes, you will want to eventually use heavier wight but you have to crawl before you can walk.
Cardio for Increased testosterone
It’s pretty clear if you were to look at a sprinter and a marathon runner and try to decide who has the most testosterone. Cardio exercises such as HIIT type training can help increase testosterone and HGH levels. Doing too much cardio can actually lower testosterone.
If you are looking to raise your testosterone naturally it’s best to focus on sprinting. Not only will high amounts of cardio lower your T levels but it will also raise your cortisol levels (stress hormones.) It simply can put too much stress on your body and can make recovering more difficult, especially on top of resistance training.
One study shows that just by simply doing an all-out sprint for 6 seconds with high intensity. They even come to find out that these people who did this type of cardio had elevated levels of testosterone even after they recovered.
Getting some shut-eye to make you a manly man
Sleep is very important for rest and recovery for the simple fact that your body is repairing itself while you sleep and building new hormones. you are not getting enough sleep you could possibly even be raising your stress hormones which is your cortisol.
This is bad because cortisol will lower your testosterone levels and cause you told on two extra fat on your body. this all goes hand-in-hand because if you are obese or have too much fat, it’s been shown that you will typically have lower testosterone as well. Try to aim for at least 7 hours of sleep a night.
We now have enough crew from studies to prove that overtraining and not getting enough rest recovery and Recovery can be a link to lower testosterone. One study even showed that the connection between hormone levels, fatigue, and overtraining cause of lower testosterone levels.
The athletes who overtrained too much add a drop 50% below normal testosterone levels while The remaining 30% dropped below the normal range as well.
This is a pretty big decrease in testosterone levels it just goes to show that you should definitely listen to your body when you’ve trained too much. if you’re supposed to go workout that day and your body just feels like it hasn’t recovered in your energy levels are low, just skip it and go the next day.
however, this isn’t an excuse to not go to the gym if you don’t feel like it but if you truly are feeling overtrained run down and moody its best to take a break.
Don’t Skip Leg Day
Never Skip Leg Day, even though sometimes I do and I know I shouldn’t. I’m 6ft 2 and not a fan leg day naturally. I know most or not a fan but it’s crucial to do it at least one day a week. your legs are your biggest muscle group, therefore will provide the best response for building muscle and increasing testosterone.
There was an interesting study done that look at the relationship between weight training and the hormonal response. These subjects were a group that only trained arms and a group that trained arm plus leg. for the group that added leg day into their upper body training had a significant increase in testosterone.
It is pretty common and all too enticing do you want to just focus on bench press in doing exercises like bicep curls to try to build muscle increase testosterone.
Where’s that being said, you’ll notice greatly improved results and fat loss, volume muscle, energy, and improved sex drive when doing compound exercises such as squats for So here’s an example of a full-body workout you could do 3 days per week to boost testosterone:
Here is an example of a good workout program for more advanced lifters.
Push
- Standing Barbell Overhead Press 3x 6-8 reps
- Incline Dumbell Press 3x 6-8 reps
- Dips (weighted if normal dips are too easy) 3x 6-8 reps
- Reverse skull crushers 3x 6-8 reps
- Cable Crossovers 3 x 6-8 reps
- Lateral cable raises 3x 6-8 reps
Pull
- Romanian Deadlift 3x 6-8 reps
- Barbell row 3x 6-8 reps
- Pull-ups 3x 6-8 reps
- Barbell curls 3x 6-8 reps
- Cable face pulls 3x 6-8 reps
- Dumbell shrugs 3x 6-8 reps
Legs
- Squat 3 x 6-8 reps
- Leg Press 3 x 6-8 reps
- Leg extensions 3 x 6-8 reps
- Lying Leg curls 3 x 6-8 reps
- Seated calf raises 3 x 6-8 reps
- Lunges(with dumbells when body weight becomes easy) 3 x 10-12 reps
For all beginners give this one a try. Remember to focus on your form versus lifting too heavy in the beginning.
- Barbell Squat 3 x 5-6 reps
- Barbell Bench Press 3 x 6-8 reps
- Deadlift or Romanian Deadlift 3 x 6-8 reps
- Bent-over Barbell lift 3 x 6-8 reps
- Upright Barbell row 3 6-8 reps
- Ab work 3x 8 reps
*Remember to consult with your doctor before following any exercise or health tips from Wellneos.
Of course, exercise alone may not correct your low testosterone. It’s best to get tested by your doctor and see where your levels are. After the age of 30, it’s thought that men’s testosterone drops by 1% each year. There are many key factors that affect your testosterone levels.
Here is another great post on how to raise your T levels naturally from someone who did a before and after an experiment with his T levels.
Don’t sweat the small stuff
Seriously, stress kills. I used to not believe in stress as I thought it was just a word and didn’t affect your health and something people would just say to blame something on. These beliefs were when I was much younger and not as wise.
Stress plays a huge role in our health and there are more and more studies coming out to prove this. Also, too much stress kills our testosterone levels. As guys in these modern times, we tend to stuff down our stress and take it on the chin while not managing our stress levels. I know this sounds like woo-woo hippie talk but bare with me.
What exactly is stress, it’s when our bodies are in the fight or flight mode too often or for too long. This, in fact, raises our cortisol levels which is our stress hormones. Cortisol gets a bad wrap but when elevated too much can negatively affect your testosterone.
Proven ways to reduce stress
Ever had anyone said just relax when you are stressed to the max? I’m sure you have, probably made things worse. Let’s go over some proven ways to reduce stress so that our Wellneos readers can stay or become manly men.
This will not knock your socks off but your body can’t tell a difference between negative thinking and something bad really happening. Cortisol is released once these thoughts are signaled.
Practicing self-awareness helps a lot with this way of thinking. It takes time and effort but catching those negative actions or thoughts and replacing them with more realistic or positive ones.
This can be achieved through meditation or CBT therapy. It takes time but I practice this to challenge negative or limiting beliefs. It works, it’s quite normal to have negative thoughts as it kept us alive when predators chased us in primal days.
It’s been thought that our biology has not changed since those days while we were running and screaming from saber tooth tigers. That sounds promising…On the contrary catching those thoughts and when they arise and replacing them.
“In 1985, medical research conducted at the University of Maryland School of Medicine showedhow internal and external dialogue significantly affects our blood pressure, hearts, and alter the biochemistry of individual tissues at the farthest extremities of our bodies.
In 2005, the National Science Foundation published an article regarding research about human thoughts per day. The average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of those, 80% are negative and 95% are exactly the same repetitive thoughts as the day before and about 80% are negative.”
Food that can boost Testosterone
- Beef
- Tuna
- Oysters
- Shellfish
- Eggs
- Low-Fat milk with Vitamin D
- Beans
Food that may Lower Testosterone
- Soy Products
- Alcohol
- Certain Fats
- Bread
- Desserts and Sweets
- Some Fats
While a healthy diet and exercise can have a positive effect on your overall T levels, it’s may not work for everyone. It’s best to always get a blood test and work with your doctor.
Can Supplements Raise your T Levels?
There is a lot of grey area when telling someone to take supplements to raise testosterone, especially for a quick fix. I’ve been there and wanted a quick fix by taking almost everything on the market when I was in my 20’s.
Which is the worst time to do this because your levels should be optimal and if they are not you should work with your doctor. While I don’t recommend taking supplements to rais your testosterone because the industry isn’t really regulated and you don’t know what is truly in them.
I would get it approved by your doctor first if you do decide to try some. Especially if you do have any health issues.
With all of the hype and marketing out on these products, here are some scientific studies for some. The ingredient with the most studies is called ashwagandha.
They found an increase in men’s sperm count levels by 167% with a 17% increase in their testosterone levels.
an added benefit is that it can reduce your cortisol levels up to 25% which is good for stress. and your T levels.
Another supplement that can oddly increase your Testosterone levels is Ginger Root Extract. The studies have been mainly done in animals but they have shown a 17% increase in Testosterone.
Some other popular names that have some supported studies in both humans and animals are horny goat weed, Tongkat Ali and mucuna purines.
I personally have taken all of these before and did notice a positive effect on my hormones. I didn’t do before and after blood test to check my levels.
So, while it did have an effect I’m not sure how much. Your doctor may be okay with some of these supplements just do your research and buy from a reputable company.
Fasting effect on Testosterone
Testosterone is a male dominant hormone that is produced and plays critical roles in Men’s health. Women also have testosterone but in much smaller amounts. Shorter eating windows can increase Testosterone.
How does Fasting Increase my Testosterone?
Short periods of fasting cause your GnRH (Gonadotropin-releasing hormone), this is done by the brain sending signals down to your testicles to produce more testosterone.
Short durations of fasting can increase testosterone as well as your HGH (Human growth hormone) levels. There are some studies that show an increase in HGH levels by up to 200%!
To keep your Hormone levels optimal, eating in smaller tighter windows are best. The reason being is every time you eat, your testosterone levels are can drop.
Intermittent fasting also works by increasing your testosterone levels by improving your insulin sensitivity and lowering your blood sugar levels. Insulin sensitivity is essentially how sensitive the body’s cells respond to insulin.
If you have high insulin sensitivity, that is good because your body is able to use glucose more efficient and will cause your blood sugar to lower. On the other hand, if your sensitivity is low it’s what’s known as being insulin resistant. Insulin is another hormone and plays a role in testosterone levels.
Let’s face it guys we need our testosterone levels elevated, it’s not a meat headway of living. It affects your mental state and overall health.
Increasing your testosterone is more than improving your overall body aesthetics, it’s also about being healthier.
A study was done in non-obese men and showed the benefits of short term fasting and was able to raise the LH (Luteinizing-Hormone) a testosterone precursor up by 67%. There was an overall spike in regular Testosterone up to 180%! These are pretty big increases when you are talking about raising your levels naturally.
Final Thoughts
While these are all great ways to increase your Testosterone, I’ve said it many times throughout this article, work with your doctor. Get a blood test to get your levels checked. It doesn’t take that long and will take the guesswork out of it.