HEALTH: How to Improve Testosterone the Most Natural Way

How to Improve Testosterone the Most Natural Way

By Jorge Jefferds January 24, 2015 

Testosterone is a steroid hormone that helps you increase lean muscle mass and bone density – and beyond simply helping you obtain a nice body. It’s also crucial for good health. Low levels of testosterone, in both men and women, can lead to a number of serious health conditions, including increased risk of depression, low sex drive, obesity, and osteoporosis.

Men with low testosterone tend to face higher rates of heart disease, depression, and even dementia. A decrease in testosterone levels in women can lead to a loss of muscle mass and weight gain, especially when paired with the rising levels of estrogen.

Although there are entire industries built up around herbal and pharmaceutical pills, capsules, lotions, injections, super foods, and other methods for increasing testosterone, you’re going to get now six simple strategies to build testosterone without actually swallowing any questionable supplements.

Tip #1: Sprint

Multiple studies are proving you can boost your testosterone levels by sprinting. In one study, testosterone levels increased, that is to say, for people who performed a series of very short intense 6-second sprints. Testosterone levels remained high even after those people had fully recovered from the sprint workout.

So how can you implement the strategy of sprinting to increase testosterone? Try performing several sprints on a treadmill after you’ve lifted weights at the gym, or just head out into the backyard, a park, or your neighborhood block and do a few sprint repeats on your days off from weigh training. You can even do your sprints on a bicycle or elliptical trainer. Try to include 5-10 short sprints when you do a sprint workout, sprint no longer than 15 seconds, get full recovery after each sprint (generally 3-4 times longer than you actually sprinted), and do a sprint workout 2-3 times a week for optimal results.

 

Tip #2: Lift Heavy Stuff

While you can do high reps with low weights or low reps with high weights, studies have shown it definitely takes heavy weights to meaningly boost testosterone. Full body, heavy exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and Olympic lifts should ideally be used, at 85-95% of your 1RM (or one repetition maximum). You need to do 2-3 full body weight lifting workouts per week to get good testosterone-boosting results.

If you're a beginner or new to weight training, don’t let this concept of heavy lifting scare you away. You can simulate many of these exercises on weight training machines until you’re strong and skilled enough to perform the free weight barbell or dumbbell versions.

Tip #3: Use Long Rest Periods

Scientists have studied the effects of very short rest periods on testosterone and found that longer rest periods of around 120 seconds between sets are better for building testosterone (although you can still build other hormones, such as growth hormone, with shorter rest periods).

Considering what you’ve just learned about lifting heavy weights, this makes sense – since the shorter your recovery periods, the less weight you’re going to be able to lift. However, it can seem like a waste of time to be sitting on your butt for 3 minutes between each exercise.

So if your goals are to increase testosterone, the recommendation is to maximize your time at the gym by doing alternate activities during these long rest periods, such as stretching, or better yet, exercises that don’t stress the same muscles you just worked.

For example, you can do one heavy set of bench presses, recover for just 30-60 seconds, and then do one heavy set of squats. Go back and forth until all your sets are done, and you’ll get twice as much done in half the time, while still getting the testosterone boosting benefits of lifting heavy and long rest periods.

Tip #4: Do Forced Reps

To do a forced repetition, perform a weight lifting exercise for as many reps as you can, and then ask a partner (a “spotter”) to assist you with completing several additional repetitions (anywhere from 1-5 extra reps).

Research shows this type of forced rep set generates more testosterone than simply doing as many reps as you can do by yourself.

It’s best to do forced reps with a multi-joint, large motor movement exercise. For example, you can do a warm-up set of barbell squats. Then, with a partner, a personal trainer, or someone you ask at the gym to help you, choose a weight that allows you to do 5-6 repetitions on your own. Require an assistant to get another 3-4 reps done afterwards, for a total of 8-10 reps. Repeat this for anywhere from 2-6 sets.

You don’t need to perform forced reps for every workout or set that you do, if you’re trying to increase testosterone. Actually, doing the last set of any exercise, as a forced repetition set, might become quite beneficial.

Tip #5: Use Your Legs

In another study that investigated the hormonal response to weight training, participants were split into an arm-only training group and a leg-plus-arm training group. Testosterone increases were significantly higher in the group that added lower body training to their upper body training.

While it can be tempting, mainly for guys, to focus on exercises like biceps curls and bench pressing, you’ll notice far better results for lean muscle mass, energy, sex drive, and fat loss when you include multi-joint leg exercises such as lunges and squats into your regimen.

So here’s an example of a full body workout you could do 3 days per week to boost testosterone:

·         Warm-up

·         4 sets of 8 repetitions bench press, paired with 4 sets of 8 repetitions squats.

·         4 sets of 8 repetitions deadlifts paired with 4 sets of 8 repetitions pull-ups.

·         6 sets of maximum 10 second sprints.

·         Cool-down

Tip #6: Avoid Chronic Cardio

Long endurance sports such as cycling seem to lower testosterone the same way weight lifting and weight training seem to increase it. For example, one 2003 study found considerably lower testosterone levels in cyclists than age-matched weightlifters, or even an untrained control group. Some researchers have even concluded this type of low testosterone in endurance athletes is an adaptation that gives cyclists or runners a competitive advantage – since the extra muscle mass from testosterone would probably slow you down. 

So if you’re trying to boost testosterone, avoid long jaunts on the treadmill. Accept the fact you may settle for slightly lower testosterone levels, when running marathons or doing Ironman triathlon.

Does Working Out Affect Testosterone Levels?

If you’re a man with low testosterone, exercise may help. 

Doctors and fitness professionals perform a continuous investigation about exercise and its effects on testosterone. Several factors besides your workout are involved.

But one thing is clear: You need to make exercise a habit in order to get the benefits.

After exercise, testosterone levels may increase, but not for long. "Sometimes, after a 15 minute exercise testosterone elevates. Sometimes it can be up to an hour,” says Todd Schroeder, PhD, who studies exercise and hormones in older men at the University of Southern California.

It's not yet clear what health effects, if any, these temporary boosts may have. Of course, exercise has many other well-known health perks.

For men with low testosterone, exercise alone probably won’t raise their levels enough to make a difference in how they feel, says endocrinologist Scott Isaacs, MD, of Emory University. But he says for men whose testosterone level is on the borderline between normal and low, “I think the effect is going to be much more potent.”

Four factors that matter are your weight, age, fitness level, and the timing of your workout.

1. Your weight: Obesity as a big part of the problem. 

If you’re overweight, exercise can improve your testosterone levels by helping you shed pounds.

2. Your age: Older men seem to get less of a post-exercise boost in testosterone. Though, this needs more research. Still, exercise offers many other health benefits for older men, including bone and muscle health and better balance.

3. When you exercise: Your testosterone levels vary throughout the day. Levels are typically highest in the morning and lowest in the afternoon. 

Research has found that strength-training workouts may cause a bigger effect on testosterone in the evening. As a result, the brief boost from your exercise session might be even bigger if you schedule it after work instead of early in the morning.

4. Your fitness level: Not in great shape? If you start exercising, you maybe get a bigger, though still brief, boost in testosterone than a man who's already in good shape. 

But after a few weeks, your body gets used to the challenge. Eventually, you'll get a lower hormone response from the same workout. 

All types of exercise count. Endurance training and resistance training (such as weight lifting) both boost testosterone levels briefly. Lifting weights or doing other strength-training workouts has a bigger effect on your testosterone. In fact, the following strategies will give you an even bigger boost in testosterone from your strength training workouts, which are backed up by research. 

Use more muscles. (For instance, a full-body workout affects this hormone more than doing one exercise, such as biceps curls.) Lift heavier weights rather than doing many reps of light weights.

Take short periods of rest during your workout. Still, you should build an overall exercise plan that also includes cardio and flexibility training, so you're helping your overall health.

Overdoing it, though, could backfire. Elite athletes (and amateurs who over train), can see a drop in their testosterone level, which is a sign that they’re doing harm to their bodies. In these cases, they tend to have low testosterone and high cortisol, a stress hormone. A rise in cortisol can be linked to a fall in testosterone. 

Signs of overtraining include excessive soreness, trouble recovering from workouts, trouble sleeping, and losses in performance and strength. Give yourself enough time to rest between workouts, and eat healthfully to help your body recover after workouts.