How To Naturally Boost Your Testosterone Levels
Are people calling you a soyboy?
Perhaps you feel you're missing out on that extra masculine energy in life?
If you want to take charge, feel more decisive and CONQUER your life in every respect, read ahead for some quick and proven tips to MAXX OUT your natural testosterone levels.
Testosterone is one of the most potent naturally secreted androgenic-anabolic hormones. If you want decreased fat levels and increased muscle mass, then optimising your natural hormonal profile to increase testosterone is an ESSENTIAL part of your health and fitness journey. It’s all well and good going to the gym and training, but if you aren’t taking care of the ‘building-blocks’ then you won’t be as efficient as you could be.
Testosterone stimulates protein synthesis (anabolic effect) and inhibits protein degradation (anti-catabolic effect) .
There are many factors that affect natural testosterone production in the body, many of which can be directly improved through deliberate action.
Sleep - One of the biggest factors affecting test, if you're not sleeping minimum 8-9 hours EVERY night, you are inhibiting your recovery, growth hormone production and natural testosterone production.
Check out my thread to improve your sleep here.
Consuming Dietary Cholesterol - A typical high cholesterol diet increases testosterone production. Saturated fat is a building block for cholesterol, which in turn is used for testosterone production. Eating fat is not bad for you. Eating polyunsaurated fats found in seed oils IS bad for you, so avoid these.
I do not recommend eating ANY processed foods, as you will find 90% of them contain these metabolically toxic PUFAs. As it is cheaper for companies to use seed oils rather than a quality butter or olive oil, make sure to check ingredients lists of anything you buy to see if they have snuck these in. You WILL be surprised with how prevalent they are in modern foods, as well as them being used as the main cooking oils in fast food restaurants.
To ensure you’re getting enough saturated fats for hormone production, consume more high quality, fatty animal meats, eggs, butter, coconut and olive oils. If you’re worried about calories, cut down on carbohydrates rather than eliminating essential fatty acids or essential amino acids from fat and protein respectively.
NoPorn/NoFap/NoCum - You should already have cut out porn, this leads to huge improvements in not only sex drive, but confidence in social situations, energy levels and the general feeling of ‘Masculinity’ in day to day life. You must learn how to channel this sexual energy into other endeavors or workouts. Additionally, semen
If you incorporate some Taoist Ejaculation principles (for example, I ejaculate one in every three times I have sex), test levels have been shown to increase along with reduced ejaculation. Any dude that has gone a long time without busting will be able to tell you about the increased energy, ‘GRRR’ masculine feelings and determination that occur alongside this. These benefits scale with how long its been since ejaculation.
Exercise (Lift Heavy Things) - The acute endocrine response to a bout of heavy resistance exercise generally includes increased secretion of various catabolic (breakdown-related) and anabolic (growth-related) hormones including testosterone.
When you lift heavy, and train the larger muscle groups (legs) this is related to an increase in test.
The anabolic feeling of ripping a huge weight off the floor in a deadlift, or pushing up big poundage on squats is like no other.
Knowing you pushed yourself close to your limits (remember I don’t recommend training 1RMs unless powerlifting) is a mental boost that helps out as well.
Avoid Heavy or Long Bouts of Cardio - Chronic endurance exercise such as cycling or running for hours has been shown to decrease testosterone, due to the increase in excess cortisol levels. Additionally, large amounts of cardio can reduce muscle mass and increase fat content on the body.
This is because the body wants to optimise for the long bouts of cardio; meaning large amounts of muscle are deemed unnecessary (due to its need to be carried and cooled). The body also prefers to store more fat as an energy source for the longer cardio sessions.
So keep your cardio to 20 mins a day, get blood flowing and develop a base level of cardio but don’t overdo it.
Minimize Stress and Cortisol Levels - Chronically elevated cortisol levels can produce impotence and loss of libido by inhibiting testosterone production in men. Cortisol can be increased by a number of things, notably excess stress levels.
If your work, relationships or financial troubles are causing you stress, aim to work towards fixing these issues, or aim to release the mental stranglehold that they have on you.
There are steps you can take to improve these situations, WORRYING is not one of them.
If it is in your control, do something about it.
If it is not in your control, then you can simply let go of the worry, it’s all in your head.
Recovery happens best in a Parasympathetic nervous system state; if you are constantly stressed then its harder for your body to recuperate as well as digest food. The weightlifting session should be your major ‘stressor’ for the day (as stress is needed for growth) and then the rest of your day should be optimised for lower stress levels to promote recovery.
Sunlight/Vitamin D - GET MORE SUN. The sun energises you, helps to time many biological processes as well as influence your circadian rhythm, which impacts hunger levels, sleep quality and stress levels overall. Additionally, the vitamin D boost from sunlight exposure improves testosterone production overall.
In a study, a significant increase in total testosterone levels was observed in the vitamin D supplementation group. If you have limited sunlight, then definitely go ahead and supplement with Vitamin D. This will improve symptoms of what is called ‘Seasonal Depression’.
The BEST way to get more Vitamin D is to be exposed to the sun. Sunning your balls directly boosts Test production as all test production begins in the testicles. If you're in a low sunlight area or are currently in a colder season, consider red light therapy as well.
I recommend getting morning sunlight upon waking as well as sunlight exposure to the most amount of skin possible on a daily basis.
DO NOT use toxic endocrine disrupting sunscreen chemical slop. If you want to safely expose yourself to sunlight, use coconut oil to hydrate the skin and drink plenty of filtered water to stay hydrated, using clothing or shade instead to block the sun.
AVOID ALL PLASTICS/Endocrine Disruptors - Some chemicals have endocrine-disrupting properties, including bisphenol-A, some organochlorines, polybrominated flame retardants, perfluorinated substances, alkylphenols, phthalates, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, alkylphenols, solvents, and some household products including some cleaning products, air fresheners, hair dyes, cosmetics, and sunscreens.
Think of ‘endocrine-disruptors’ as impostor-chemicals that can flip the same switches as your body's own hormones. However, they cannot be regulated or reabsorbed in the same way.
Many observations suggest that endocrine disruptors contribute to health issues such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, metabolic issues within the body as well as infertility.
As a good rule of thumb, do not consume any products that are packaged in plastics, throw out your plastic food containers and invest in some quality glass tupperware for meal prep. Definitely do not microwave plastics with food in them.
Non-stick pans also have been shown to leech toxic perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) endocrine disrupting chemicals into your food, so opt to cook with a cast iron or stainless steel pan instead.
Supplements to Boost Testosterone
These are recommendations, do your own research before taking any of these supplements.
Boron: A trace mineral crucial to human health and boosted testosterone levels. 10 mg supplemented daily appears to be the sweet spot for your testosterone, according to a recent study.
Zinc/Magnesium: Zinc is essential to the production of sex hormones in the body. I use a ZMA complex before bed, which has the added benefit of deeper sleep and more vivid dreams. Improved sleep = better overall health.
DHEA: Helps to create male and female sex hormones within the body
Creatine: 5/6g a day, with water. You've heard of it before, the most researched and effective supplement. Increase muscle strength, general energy and cognition.
Ashwagandha: One of the best adaptogenic supplements out there. An Ayurvedic root powder that reduces stress/anxiety (in turn boosts test), modestly enhance strength performance, improves glucose metabolism, and increases testosterone levels.
Maca: Another Ayurvedic root powder that promotes sexual vitality - can notably increase libido and overall feelings of vitality.
Pycnogenol ( Pine Bark Extract): Taken for its general health and anti-diabetic properties and its ability to enhance Nitric Oxide.
Tribulus Terrestris: The roots enhance libido and sexual well being while the fruits appear to be potently protective of organ function.
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