Testosterone is the main male hormone that is responsible for good mood, determination and motivation, potency, maintaining and building muscle mass. With age or under the influence of various factors, the concentration of testosterone in the body decreases. And knowing about the correlation of the hormone and muscle growth, many men ask themselves a natural question: is it possible to increase testosterone with the help of sports, and what exercises to increase testosterone in men are most effective?
Can you increase testosterone through exercise?
Exercise to increase testosterone do exist, moreover, any significant regular physical activity allows you to maintain the level of the hormone in the norm necessary for good health.
But you need to know a number of rules, without which exercise to increase testosterone not only ineffective, but also harmful.
- Sports activities should not last more than 45 minutes. The optimal duration of a workout is 30-40 minutes. The reason for this is that approximately 45 minutes after the start of intense strength training, the body begins to produce cortisol, which is an antagonist of testosterone, and, as a result, reduces its concentration. Long exercises to increase testosterone bring the exact opposite effect, reducing the concentration of free hormone in the body.
- Efficiency exercises for testosterone is determined by the degree of load on the muscles, their fatigue after training. Therefore, the muscles need to be given rest, training not daily, but three times a week, every 48 hours.
- The most pronounced effect is exerted by training large muscles. That's why exercises to increase testosterone, first of all, should be aimed at working out the muscles of the back, hips, chest.
- During classes, the muscles should be tired first of all, and not the person himself. Therefore, the number of repetitions should not exceed 3 times, in the number of repetitions - 8-10 times. In this case, the last repetition in each approach should require more effort.
- Regular ones require sufficient general physical fitness, that is, not only the muscular, but also the cardiovascular system should be trained.
Thus, it is obvious that intense physical activity has a positive effect on the hormonal balance, and, therefore, on the physical health and psychological status of a man. But how and why this happens should be analyzed separately.
Why do men experience a rise in hormone levels after a workout?
Before understanding how they work exercises that increase testosterone in men, you should remember what testosterone is and where it is produced.
Testosterone is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands and testicles. Of the total amount of testosterone, only 2 percent exist in a free, unbound form, and it is they that produce the same positive effect in the form of good potency, cheerful mood, and a developed muscular system.
The remaining 98% are present in the body in protein-bound form: albumin and globulins. With intense physical activity, especially strength, testosterone is released from proteins. At the same time, albumins are involved in the process of muscle formation (which is due to effect of testosterone on muscle growth), and globulins promote the release of adrenaline.
Thus, exercises that increase testosterone, work due to stress for the muscular system. And the release of testosterone, that is, the conversion of the bound hormone into free, is a consequence of the load on the muscles. That is, the answer to the question does barbell squatting affect height, unequivocally positive, while other intense loads have a positive effect.
On the one hand, this process is natural from an evolutionary and physiological point of view. If a man is subjected to regular beneficial stress and load on the muscular system, he needs more testosterone than a man who leads a calm and measured lifestyle. After all, it is testosterone that gives a man the necessary tone, provides him with motivation for activity, the desire for success, and a craving for healthy competition. Therefore, interest in what exercises produce testosterone, very useful.
On the other hand, any load should correspond to the physical capabilities of a person. If a man has never played sports before, then reinforced exercises to increase testosterone most likely to cause injury, heart attack, and other unpleasant consequences.
Therefore, it is best to train with a trainer who can objectively assess the level of physical fitness of his client and assign him the necessary set of exercises. And also there are exercises to increase testosterone in men at home.
Squats, bench press, power load, static muscle work: choosing a sport for androgen production
Choosing exercises to increase testosterone in men, it is important to understand that it is not the exercises themselves, not their technique, frequency or intensity, that directly affect the hormone level, but the fact of muscle stress, in other words, their fatigue.
For a person who has never played sports before, you need to start training with exercises that will increase overall muscle tone and allow you to correctly perform more complex and hormonally beneficial exercises. For this purpose, you can use:
- slow squats with legs wide apart and arms extended forward, while at the deepest point of the squat, the knees should not go to the tips of the feet; thus a person works out all the muscles;
- statics - including Kegel exercises, tension of the gluteal muscles for the maximum possible time, as the muscle corset strengthens - raising the knees in the sitting simulator.
For optimal load, it is best to use 3 approaches, but the number of repetitions can and should be varied. Starting with 8-10 repetitions in the approach, you need to gradually walk up to 50 times. As you master physical activity and get used to it, you can move on to exercises that directly increase post-workout testosterone levels.
Most popular exercises
There are 4 most popular types of exercises that involve the largest muscles in the body of a man, therefore, the hormone is produced much more actively during their performance.
- Lunges are a traditional exercise that effectively loads the buttocks and quadriceps. You can do them with or without weights. In the first case, a person lunges forward, keeping his hands on his waist or in front of him. In the second case, he holds a barbell or dumbbells with a weight reaching his own body weight. Which method to prefer depends on the degree of physical fitness of a particular man. But exercises without weights have the greatest effect on the cardiovascular system, and lunges with a barbell or dumbbells load the muscles themselves, providing the desired effect - testosterone growth.
- Push-ups are exercises that involve the muscles of the arms, back and chest. In order to achieve the release of testosterone, you need to work with large muscles - the chest, reducing the load from the muscles of the shoulders. To do this, it is better to put your hands closer to the body and reduce the range of motion.
- The dumbbell or barbell press from a lying position also has a positive effect on the chest muscles. Unlike push-ups, the bench press requires the use of additional weight. To do this, you must already have sufficient training experience and good muscle tone. For people who have recently started training, it is better to train in pairs, insuring themselves when working with large weights. Rod ejection should be smooth and continuous. What weight barbell is better to choose in order to increase the concentration of testosterone depends on the individual characteristics of the person. The optimal solution is to increase the mass of the bar, coupled with a decrease in the number of repetitions in the approach.
- Deadlift is a universal exercise in which almost all muscles are involved, so testosterone is released into the bloodstream more actively. This exercise is a squat, at the bottom of which the thigh and lower leg are at a right angle. The arms are extended along the body, in each hand there is a weighting agent (dumbbells or a barbell). Both the squat and the rise should be as slow as possible, during the exercise the muscles of the arms, shoulders, chest, abs, hips and back should be involved.
An indicator of a properly conducted workout, after which testosterone in the blood increases - fatigue in the muscles is greater than general fatigue. Therefore, it is better to do a short workout (about 30 minutes), but intense, with a heavy weight load.
To testosterone after workout evenly distributed throughout the body, you can perform an easy jog lasting no more than 2 minutes. Jogging should be at a comfortable pace, its goal is to restore blood flow in tense muscles and release tension from the body.
Complex for increasing testosterone
In order to start effective training it was easier to start, you can use a ready-made set of exercises.
Any complex, even with a sufficient level of preparation, should begin with a warm-up. It is necessary for the prevention of injuries and a more productive workout. What kind of warm-up will be - each person determines for himself. You can do a five-minute jog, stretch, or do light exercises. A sign of a properly performed warm-up is a feeling of slight warming up in the whole body.
The universal structure of the lesson is as follows: one exercise should have at least three approaches, each of which includes up to 10 repetitions. When working with weight empirically, you need to determine it yourself. The last two repetitions should be given with difficulty, require great effort - it is at this moment that testosterone will be released from the binding with proteins and, accordingly, its increase in the body.
Rest between sets and exercises should average 2 minutes.
Push-ups should be done as slowly as possible, feeling strong tension in the muscles of the chest, shoulders, and back.
Push-ups can be replaced with a bench press. In this case, the complexity of the execution varies solely by the weight of the bar. As the last reps of each set become easy, gradually increase the weight.
The bench press is traditionally performed in the gym, since it is difficult to install such equipment at home. But it can be replaced with a dumbbell press. To do this, lie on the floor, bend your knees so that the main load falls on the muscles of your back and chest, pick up dumbbells and slowly pull them forward to a position where your arms are slightly bent at the elbows. Then also slowly lower your arms to shoulder level. It is important not to pause and stop during the approach: this reduces the level of stress on the muscles, therefore, reduces the production of testosterone.
Another option for the dumbbell press, which can be alternated with the chest press, is to raise the arms to the sides from a prone position. The difficulty of this exercise is the need to control muscle tension so that the main load falls on the chest, and not on the arms.
End your workout with a cool down, such as a light jog.
Boosting testosterone with yoga
For a long time, yoga was considered as a way to increase the level of physical fitness of a person, which does not have a significant positive effect on hormonal levels. That is, the correlation between squats and testosterone noticeable immediately, and the effectiveness of performing asanas for a long time remained in question.
But a 1974 experiment found that men who practiced yoga regularly had a 60 percent increase in free testosterone levels in their blood. Therefore, yoga is no less useful than strength training, and for a certain category of men who cannot perform intense workouts or lift weights. That is, exercises to increase testosterone in men over 40 of yoga are the most preferred.
The advantage of yoga over strength training is to increase the production of total testosterone by the adrenal glands while inhibiting the production of cortisone, which is a testosterone antagonist.
Asanas to do at home
What exercises increase testosterone from yoga practices, should be known to every person who is not indifferent to their health and well-being. There are 6 effective exercises, after which testosterone increases.
| Asana | Execution technique | Additional effect |
| Bhujangasana |
|
Energizes, calms. |
| Dhanurasana |
|
Develops flexibility, strengthens the heart. |
| Setu Bandhasana |
|
Eliminates depression, reduces stress. |
| halasana |
|
Increases diuresis, helps to lose weight. |
| Shalabhasana |
|
Calms the nervous system. |
| Utthita Trikonasana |
|
Improves the activity of digestion, soothes. |
Thus, knowing what exercises increase testosterone levels in men, you can choose for yourself the optimal set of exercises that will not only raise testosterone levels, but also improve well-being, improve health and cheer you up.
To become a man one hundred percent, you need to be, first of all, healthy. One of the indicators of the health of the stronger sex is the normal level of testosterone. The amount of this hormone is not only responsible for the full life of men, but also for its ability to have offspring. If there are violations in the production of this hormone, then the man becomes lethargic, gains weight, sleeps poorly, becomes irritable. In addition to changing the nutrition system, training aimed at producing testosterone can help in this case.
What types of training affect testosterone production
Currently, men are actively interested in how to raise the level of the main male hormone in the blood. Normal testosterone production has a positive effect on muscle growth and fat loss throughout the body. In the blood of an average man, it is produced 10-12 times more than in the body of a woman. How to increase testosterone levels in men without resorting to drugs?
Scientists have proven that almost all types of physical activity increase the level of this hormone. The peak of its production falls on adolescence, when puberty occurs, and decreases significantly with age.
Therefore, its increase has a positive effect on men of almost any age:
- loss of muscle mass is prevented;
- increases endurance and strength;
- sexual functions improve, and libido increases.
The most effective physical activity for testosterone production is weight training. This is because when pumping muscles, protein synthesis is carried out in the body of a man.
One of the main factors for the effective implementation of such exercises is the regularity of training. These include:
- all types of push-ups;
- exercises with a barbell and dumbbells;
- pull-ups using the crossbar;
- bench press in the prone and standing position;
- deadlift;
- squats with dumbbells or barbells.
Basic strength training for testosterone production
In order for the training to be effective, you should consult with your doctor about the absence of contraindications, the site reminds. It would also be nice to find a trainer for the first time in order to properly master the technique of doing the exercises.
We will consider the most popular of them:
1. Deadlift. Place your feet shoulder-width apart, you should feel how the weight of the body is distributed over the entire foot. The bar should be located at a distance of 10 cm from the level of the socks. Grasp the bar at shoulder width. The back should be perfectly straight, the body slightly tilted forward. Bend your knees. Start slowly lifting the bar, as if on the surface of the legs. Movements must be slow. Then you should linger at the highest point for a few seconds. We return to the starting position.
When doing this exercise, keep in mind that:
. You need to keep your back extremely straight, a slight deflection in the lower back is allowed;
. You can not throw the barbell when you lower it down;
. Use an orthopedic belt so as not to overstrain the lumbar region;
. Do not bend your arms when lifting the barbell.
You can see the correct implementation here:
2. Squats with weights. Place your feet shoulder-width apart or slightly wider, you should be comfortable. Your feet should be on parallel lines. Keep your back straight, chest slightly rounded. Put the barbell on the trapezoid, sit down so that the thigh is parallel to the floor. Now rise slowly until your legs are fully extended. Please note that:
. The back should be clearly fixed and straight;
. Heels should be on the floor during the entire exercise;
. The head is slightly raised to the ceiling.
You can hone this exercise by reading:
3. Rise for biceps with a barbell. Feet, as usual, shoulder-width apart, pick up the barbell. Hold it at the hips with straight arms. As you inhale, lift the bar to your collarbones. Pause for a few seconds, then return it to its original position. Exhale.
4. Hanging leg raises. Grasp the bar, hands should be slightly wider than shoulders, legs straight. Raise your straight legs slowly. Try not to swing while doing this. When the legs are at the highest point, pause a little and return the legs to the starting position.
As practice shows, the more muscle volume is stimulated during exercise, the faster and better testosterone production occurs.
Strive to do exercises regularly and add your own, be courageous with the site.
For every man, a decrease in libido and sexual activity is a tragedy. But do not give up prematurely, because there are a lot of different drugs that can restore male power. Along with medications, urologists or andrologists recommend doing testosterone-boosting exercises to speed up the effects of medications. Complex treatment is much more effective, so read this article to learn all about activities that increase the production of the male hormone.
What is testosterone
This is an important hormone in the human body, which is responsible for the formation of the bone and muscle frame, the specifics of mood and the functionality of the genital organs. If it is not enough, then the work of the whole organism may be disrupted, erectile dysfunction will begin to develop, and subsequently impotence and infertility.
To determine the insufficiency of testosterone, you need to visit a doctor and pass a series of tests. But you can recognize the symptoms yourself, only by listening to your body. Body signals to watch out for:
- fatigue, depression
- irritability
- forgetfulness, carelessness
- decreased libido (sex drive)
- weak erection or lack of it
Causes of low testosterone levels
Before you make a diagnosis yourself, think about whether you have any reasons why this could happen. Just like that, testosterone production does not decrease, so think and select from the list the reasons why your male hormone has decreased.
- zinc deficiency
- genital injury
- thyroid disease
- alcohol abuse, smoking
- taking steroids
- excessive consumption of glucose
- fatty foods, unhealthy diet
Features of the male hormone
Slightly increased testosterone levels will positively affect the development of muscle mass and burn fat. With its help, you can prevent diseases: obesity and osteoporosis. If you achieve an increased level of the hormone, you will get the proper functioning of the genitals. Testosterone has anabolic properties, affects protein synthesis.
Every year more and more people are looking for the answer to the question: what are the ways to increase testosterone levels? There are many techniques and procedures that can increase the level of the substance in question. To protect yourself from the adverse effects of medications and side effects from taking them, you can use a simple system of physical activity. Simple exercises for the production of testosterone will help normalize its production.
I'm going up
In several countries, scientists have conducted studies on the basis of which it can be concluded that any type of physical activity has a positive effect on the production of testosterone in human blood. For example, if you ride a bike for 3-4 hours, then after passing the tests, you can observe the activation of the male hormone.
Increasing testosterone is very beneficial for middle-aged and older men. This prevents premature atrophy of muscle tissue, making it more elastic. Even thanks to the increase in the hormone, the functions of the genital organs are always on top. Testosterone is at its “peak of fame” only in teenagers, and over time, its level begins to decline.
Along with medication, doctors often recommend regular exercise. Exercise slows down the aging process and improves overall health. It is important to perform the manipulations correctly and in no case use anabolic steroids. This can lead to the destruction of all body systems.
In practice, strength exercises proved to be the most effective. It is in such exercises that various weighting agents are used, due to which complete warming of each muscle is achieved. In addition, the process of generating significant protein synthesis in the male body is launched.
The process itself, the quantity and quality of physical activity are very important. Experts have identified several basic strength exercises that effectively increase testosterone levels:
- bench press from the chest, lying on the back
- squats with weights
- all types of push-ups
- pull-ups on the bar
- bar exercises
- standing barbell lift
Fundamentals of physical activity
In order to start performing exercises that increase testosterone, you need to know what they are based on. Bench press in a horizontal position, squats with it and deadlift are the basis of power loads. The clarity and rhythm of performing these manipulations is very important. Before starting any exercise, you need to consult a doctor and find a good trainer. It will help you to master the technique of performing these exercises correctly.
Barbell bench press. To exercise with a barbell, you must have a special sports bench. The fidelity of the task requires a horizontal position of the body on this subject. The legs should be bent at the knees, and the feet should be placed a little wider. Straighten your chest forward, and bring your shoulder blades together as much as possible. It is important to correctly grasp the bar of the bar (wider than shoulder level). After the position is fixed, the projectile is removed from the rack, lifted up until the arms are fully extended, then smoothly lowered down until the neck and chest lightly touch.
Squat with projectile. To get the desired result, this exercise must be performed strictly according to the rules. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, keeping your back as straight as possible. The chest must be moved forward. Put the barbell on the top point of the trapezius muscle and sit down smoothly. It is also necessary to monitor the position of the hips, they should be parallel to the surface on which you are standing. After the squat, straighten your knees, wait 2-3 seconds and repeat the same.
Deadlift. Position your feet shoulder-width apart, stand at a distance of 10 cm from the bar. Lean forward and grab the bar of the projectile wider than the position of the shoulders, make the chest a “wheel”. Smoothly guide the bar along the front surface of the legs to the end point, which will be determined when the knees are fully extended. Hold the position for a couple of seconds, then slowly return to the starting position. Technique Requirements:
- do not bend back at the end point
- emphasis should be on the heels
- the presence of an athletic belt
- flat back
Experts recommend performing these exercises for testosterone 2-3 times a week. Avoid overexertion of the muscles, this can lead to a long recovery after training. A visit to the pool, proper nutrition and activities, which we talked about in this article, will help to significantly increase the production of the male hormone.
Monitor your health, do not ignore obvious symptoms, consult a doctor in a timely manner. Only the right treatment will help solve this delicate problem. Do not rush to take medications, try to deal with the lack of testosterone in natural ways. Exercise will increase your chances of recovery.
Overcoming video stagnation
Testosterone, a hormone produced primarily by the testicles, is often associated with masculinity, although it is also synthesized in women. Below are 9 ways to increase testosterone levels in men naturally.
In fact, testosterone plays a big role in the sexual and reproductive function of a man, is responsible for increasing muscle mass and hair growth. In addition, it has not so “noticeable”, but no less important functions: maintaining bone density, maintaining the number of red blood cells at the right level, and many others.
Around the age of 30, testosterone levels in men begin to decline naturally. A variety of chemicals, including the use of drugs such as statins, have a negative effect on testosterone levels in men. At the same time, estrogen levels tend to rise due to the widespread use of estrogen-like compounds in food, water, and environmental pollutants. And the question immediately arises, how to increase testosterone?
If you have erectile dysfunction, decreased sex drive, depressed mood, difficulty concentrating and memory, and you think this is due to low testosterone levels, this can be easily checked by taking a blood test. Since hormone levels fluctuate throughout the day, you will need other tests to get a true picture of the state of the body.
If testosterone levels are really low, there are a number of synthetic and bioidentical testosterone agents, as well as dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which is the most abundant androgenic prohormone (precursor) in the human body. This means that it is the most important raw material that the body uses to produce other hormones, including testosterone in men and estrogen in women.
More physiological is the use of bioidentical hormones. You can use them only under the guidance of a doctor who will monitor their level to be sure that you really need hormone replacement therapy.
But before you opt for synthetic substitutes, here are a few ways you can use to boost your testosterone levels naturally. They are suitable for almost everyone, as they have only positive "side effects".
9 Ways to Boost Testosterone Naturally
1. Lose weight
If you're overweight, according to a study presented at the 2012 Society of Endocrinology meeting, losing extra pounds can increase testosterone levels. Overweight men are more likely to have low testosterone levels, so losing excess weight can be an important factor that will help increase the production of the hormone in the body.
If you are serious about losing weight, you should strictly limit the amount of refined sugar in your diet, as excess sugar and fructose have been proven to be a major factor in the transition of obesity to a real epidemic. Thus, stopping sugary sodas will be just as important as limiting processed foods containing fructose, fruit juices, fruits, and so-called "healthy" sweeteners (like agave).
Ideally, you should consume less than 25 grams of fructose per day (this includes fruits). This is especially true if you have developed insulin resistance, are overweight, have high blood pressure, have diabetes, or have high cholesterol.
In addition, it will be vital to eliminate all grain products and milk (even unprocessed) from the diet. Milk contains a sugar called lactose, which has been shown to increase insulin resistance. So it will be a wise decision not to drink it if you want to lose weight.
Refined carbohydrates such as breakfast cereals, bagels, waffles, buns and most other processed foods also quickly turn into sugar, increase insulin levels and cause insulin resistance. And this is the most important factor in the occurrence of almost all chronic diseases and human conditions, including weight gain.
If you eliminate these foods from your diet, you need to replace them with healthy foods such as vegetables and fats (including natural saturated fats!). Your body prefers carbohydrates in nutritious, hard-to-digest vegetables over grains and pure sugar because they are slower to convert to simple sugars (glucose, for example) and lower insulin levels. If you eliminate grains and sugar from your diet, you will need to drastically increase the amount of vegetables in your diet, as well as make sure you are also consuming plenty of protein and healthy fats on a regular basis.
The foods you choose will be the driving force towards your goal of losing weight. And short, high-intensity workouts like Peak Fitness two to three times a week, combined with a full-time workout, will have additional positive effects on your body (see below)!
2. Do high-intensity exercise (especially when combined with intermittent fasting)
Both intermittent fasting and short, intense exercise can increase testosterone levels. Unlike aerobics or long-term moderate exercise, which have a negative effect or no effect on testosterone levels.
"Short, intense exercise has a proven positive effect on increasing testosterone levels and preventing its decline."
Intermittent fasting increases testosterone by increasing the expression of satiety hormones, including insulin, leptin, adiponectin, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), cholecystokinin, and melanocortins, all of which are known to enhance testosterone effects, increase libido, and prevent age-related decrease in male sex hormone.
Whey protein intake post-workout can further increase satiety/testosterone effects (hunger hormones have the opposite effect on testosterone and libido). Here's what a typical high-intensity workout might look like:
- Warm up for three minutes;
- Exercise as hard and fast as you can for 30 seconds. You should feel as if you are going to collapse in exhaustion;
- Recovery: build up the pace from slow to moderate for 90 seconds;
- Repeat the HI exercise and recovery cycle 7 times.
As you can see, each workout lasts only 20 minutes. Twenty minutes! And it really works! During these 20 minutes, 75% of the time is devoted to warm-up, recovery or cool-down. You work really intensively for only four minutes. If you've never done this, it's hard to believe that you can get so much benefit from four minutes of exercise. But this is true.
Keep in mind that you can use almost any type of activity for this - elliptical, treadmill, swimming, sprinting, including outdoors (be very careful to avoid injury) - until then while applying maximum effort for 30 seconds. But first, make sure you stretch enough and to avoid injury, start slowly. First, do two or three repetitions and gradually increase their number. Don't expect to do all eight reps the first time, especially if you're out of shape.
3. Get enough zinc
It is an important element for the synthesis of testosterone. Zinc supplementation for just six weeks has been shown to produce a marked increase in testosterone in men with low levels. In addition, it protects a person from a reflex decrease in testosterone after exercise. Conversely, studies have shown that limited zinc intake leads to a significant decrease in testosterone levels.
It is believed that up to 45% of adults over the age of 60 consume zinc in much lower doses than they should; even when taking nutritional supplements, according to various estimates, 20-25% of older people continue to receive inadequate amounts of zinc.
Your food is the best source of zinc; Along with protein-rich foods such as meat and fish, other sources of zinc include raw milk, raw cheese, beans, yogurt, or kefir made from raw milk. It is difficult to get enough zinc from foods for vegetarians. This problem is also relevant for meat eaters, in large part due to agricultural practices that use chemical fertilizers and pesticides. These chemicals break down nutrients in the soil (including zinc) that need to be absorbed by plants and then enter your body.
Very often we ourselves reduce the amount of nutrients in food during its preparation. In most foods, when cooked, the amount of nutrients is drastically reduced, especially when overcooked.
If you choose to use zinc supplements, stick to less than 40mg per day, as this is the recommended upper limit for adults. Taking too much zinc can interfere with the body's absorption of other minerals, especially copper, and can also cause the side effect of nausea.
4. Don't Forget Strength Training
In addition to high-intensity training, strength training is also known as a way to increase testosterone levels, but only if you apply enough strength. In order to increase testosterone during training, you need to increase weight and reduce the number of repetitions, as well as focus on exercises that involve a large number of muscles: deadlifts, squats and others.
You can enhance the effect of strength exercises by doing them more slowly. By slowing down the movement, you turn it into a high-intensity exercise. Super-slow movement helps your muscles, on a microscopic level, open the maximum number of cross-bridges between protein fibers, on which muscle contractions depend.
5. Maintain Your Vitamin D Levels
Vitamin D, a steroid by design, is essential for the healthy development of the sperm nucleus and helps maintain the quality of semen and spermatozoa. Vitamin D also increases testosterone levels, which maintain libido. In one study, overweight men who took vitamin D supplements had significantly increased testosterone levels after one year of regular supplementation.
Vitamin D deficiency is now epidemic in the United States and many other regions around the world, largely because people do not spend enough time in the sun to make vitamin D possible.
So, the first step to knowing if you're getting the full benefits of vitamin D is to check your blood levels of 25-(OH)-D or 25-hydroxyvitamin D.
To reach a healthy range, you will need to spend a lot of time in the sun. Exposure of a large area of the skin during midday until it has a slight pink tint will usually be sufficient to achieve adequate vitamin D synthesis. magnetic to avoid unnecessary exposure to electromagnetic fields).
In a pinch, vitamin D3 supplements can be taken in tablet form, but studies show that a typical adult should take 8,000 IU of vitamin D per day to keep levels above 40 ng/mL, which is the absolute minimum for disease prevention. .
6. Reduce the impact of stress
When you're stressed, your body releases a lot of the stress hormone cortisol. This hormone actually blocks the effects of testosterone, presumably because, biologically speaking, testosterone is associated with behaviors (mating, competition, aggression) that can reduce the chances of survival in the event of an emergency (hence the choice of “fight or flight” is due to cortisol).
In today's world, chronic stress, and the resulting elevated cortisol levels, can mean that the effects of testosterone are blocked in the long run.
One of the best ways to cope with stress is EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), which is called "acupuncture without needles." It's a convenient and free way to get rid of emotional baggage quickly and painlessly, and it's so easy that even kids can learn it. Other ways to quickly relieve stress are prayer, meditation, yoga, positive emotions, learning relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and positive visualization, which are the “language” of the subconscious mind.
When creating a visual image (how you would like to feel), your subconscious will begin to help you by making the necessary biochemical and neurological changes in the body.
7. Limit or Eliminate Sugar from Your Diet
Testosterone levels drop after you consume sugar. This is likely due to the fact that sugar raises insulin levels, which is another factor that leads to a decrease in testosterone.
The USDA estimates that the average American consumes 12 teaspoons of sugar per day, which is about two tons of sugar in a lifetime.
Why we eat so much sugar, it's not hard to see that it's delicious and we enjoy it by triggering an innate reflex with dopamine and opioid cues.
What what it does to us on a physical and emotional level is a completely different story, and for most people, health improves significantly after cutting or eliminating sugar from the diet. Remember that foods that add sugar and fructose, as well as grains (bread and pasta) should also be limited.
If you're struggling with a sugar craving or have problems with sugar cravings, you should try the Turbo Tapping psychological technique, which has helped many sugar addicts kick their "sweet habit". It works with any type of sweet tooth.
8. Eat Healthy Fats
“Healthy” means not only mono- and polyunsaturated fats, which can be found in avocados and nuts, but also saturated fats, since they are necessary for the synthesis of testosterone. Studies show that a diet with less than 40% of energy in the form of fat (and mainly from animal sources, i.e. as saturated fat) leads to a decrease in testosterone levels. Experts believe that the ideal diet should contain about 50-70% fat.
It is important to understand that your body requires saturated fats from animal and vegetable sources (meat, dairy, certain oils, and tropical plants such as coconut) to function optimally. And if you neglect this important food group in favor of sugar, grains, and other starchy carbohydrates, your health and weight are almost guaranteed to suffer. Examples of healthy fats that you should eat more to increase testosterone levels:
9. Increase your intake of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), such as from whey protein
Squats for testosterone - how does it work? And can physical activity do anything to contribute to the production of hormones? Scientists and doctors say it can. Let's see why this is happening.
Collapse
Let's start with the definition itself. Testosterone is an important hormone that is more related to men, but women also have it, although in much smaller quantities. It directly affects the development of bones, muscles and sexual functions. Its deficiency can lead to very serious consequences.
For a lack of testosterone, you can take a special analysis showing the exact content of this hormone in the blood. However, this deficiency can be defined in another way. Pay attention to these symptoms, as well as the causes of hormonal deficiency:
Among other things, it is necessary to understand that testosterone has its own characteristics. Testosterone is able to burn fat, allowing you to actively grow muscle mass. If the level of this male hormone in the blood is normal, then you are unlikely to face obesity or osteoporosis.
How to increase testosterone
Scientists with a group of doctors conducted an experiment, as a result of which they concluded that any physical activity increases the intensity of testosterone production in the blood. You can give a good example, if you ride a bike for three or four hours, then the production of hormones is actively gaining momentum. This is confirmed by the analyses.
If you come to the urologist with problems, and during the study it turns out that you have a lack of male hormone, the doctor can prescribe you medicines, advise herbal preparations and send you to the gym. In no case should anabolic steroids be used, in this situation they will only contribute to the destruction of the body.
What to say about the effectiveness of exercises, strength helps best of all. You can actively use weights and weights, but it is very important not to get carried away. They increase the load gradually, and if you decide to go in for sports professionally for some time, then it is better to find an experienced trainer. Out of ignorance, you can seriously damage the body, especially when it comes to weightlifting.
The most important thing in sports is process, quality and quantity. From the exercises you can choose:
- all types of push-ups;
- barbell bench press;
- pull-ups on the horizontal bar;
- squats with weights;
- lifting the bar;
- bar exercises.
Finally, let's move on to practice. Below are exercises to increase testosterone with a detailed description.
- Barbell bench press
For this exercise, you need a sports bench that is narrow enough not to interfere with movement and is equipped with a soft lining for comfortable exercise.
Lie on a bench, bend your knees and better rest them on the floor. Bring your shoulder blades together, straighten your back, chest forward, and then grab the bar so that your hands are shoulder-width apart. Once the athlete's posture is fixed, you can remove the projectile from the stand.
As you exhale, lift the bar up until your arms are fully extended, as you exhale, lower it. Don't jerk. The whole process is performed smoothly, observing the rhythm of breathing.
- Projectile squat
For testosterone production, squatting will be the most optimal exercise for beginners, but it must be performed strictly according to the rules.
Feet shoulder-width apart, back straight, chest slightly forward, feet off the floor. Put the barbell on the top of the trapezius muscle, and then sit down smoothly (watch your feet, they regulate stability. Therefore, do not tear them off the floor).
Do not forget about the hips, they should always be parallel to the floor, this affects the balance no less than the position of the feet. After the sitting, straighten up, wait a couple of seconds and repeat all over again.
Sports safety rules
There are things that cannot be ignored, the safety rules for playing sports are just that. If you follow these simple rules, you can improve without causing damage to the body:
- Pick up loads specifically for your capabilities. At first, it is better to avoid working through traction.
- Do not forget about warming up and warming up, these activities prevent many injuries.
- The squat and bench press is always best done with the insurance of an experienced athlete, especially if the work is carried out with a heavy barbell or neck.
- The most important thing is technique, not weight. It will ensure safety, protect against injury and allow you to gradually improve without “sudden jumps”.
- If your joints hurt, don't use them. But if after a workout the muscles hurt unbearably, then another workout will be the best remedy for pain. The cause of muscle pain is lactic acid, which is absorbed during physical exertion. Experienced athletes do not have problems with such pain after training, as the body is well prepared for stress.
As you can see, squats for testosterone are very useful, like any other load. By gradually increasing the load and the amount of training, you can not only keep testosterone at a good level, but also look great.