There is a war going on against your hormones and it’s been happening for decades. Your grandfather had higher testosterone levels than you. Why is that?
This can be boiled down to a plethora of issues: modern diets are typically nutrient-void and overly processed, there are chemicals in nearly every product you use, body fat levels are the highest they have ever been, and much much more.
Where does this leave you?
You are either actively making choices that will increase your chances to maintain healthy testosterone levels, or your environment will slowly drain them.
Why Is This Important?
As I went over in the TRT 101 Guide, your testosterone affects many of your bodily/mental functions. When your levels are low, you’re playing from a handicapped place. Below, I have a simple tear out that describes the symptoms of high vs low testosterone:
As you can see, low testosterone has an obvious negative impact on your life, but you are stuck this way. The key is to be aware and take the necessary steps to improve your testosterone levels.
How To Increase Your Testosterone.
First and foremost, this will be most impacted by lifestyle decisions—there is not a magic pill that can fix being sedentary and eating like garbage. You have to put in the work and make the changes.
Working Out - This will be a huge beneficial factor in your progress—I’d say 40% of the puzzle. There are multiple reasons for this:
Compound lifts increase the testosterone production in your body by signaling to your hormones to increase production in response to the novel stimulus.
Working out will increase your energy expenditure that will elude you from getting fat. As of today, there is actually some new data that says muscle could directly be responsible for burning fat (Dr. Huberman).
Don’t do excessive cardio. Truly anything over an hour will have negative impacts on both your cortisol and muscle mass. Both of these factors will lower your Testosterone levels.
Don’t train too long. This is counterproductive for growth, and again, you will see a rise in cortisol levels. 3-5 days a week, 45-60 minutes.
Body Composition - How you look will determine your testosterone levels. It’s evident that a fit body will more than likely be a healthy body.
Body-fat in the 8-15% range is considered optimal. This is because excess body fat is estrogenic and will increase the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. Being too low of body fat is also detrimental to testosterone levels as your body needs a certain level of body fat to remain optimal. 10-12% is a great middle-ground for both appearance and health.
Muscle Mass has a direct effect on testosterone levels—the more mass you have, the higher your testosterone levels will be.
Posture and body language even have an effect on testosterone levels. Standing with your chest up and shoulders back can improve your testosterone levels.
Diet - This is arguably the most important factor of them all as this will affect your ability to gain muscle, lose fat, and provide the necessary nutrients in order to optimize testosterone levels.
Dietary Fat is a huge component as fat regulates, and it is the building block for your hormones. You need to ensure you’re getting enough fat (.3-.5g+ per pound of bodyweight) and you need to make sure you’re getting it from good sources. Avoid trans fats like the plague.
Adequate protein intake will fuel the muscle and aid in recovery—from above we can see why this is important for your testosterone levels.
Vegetables, specifically things like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage can act as aromatase inhibitor (blocks the conversion of testosterone to estrogen) which will increase your total supply of testosterone. Not to mention, these will provide the micronutrients you need to ensure health at the cellular level.
Adequate Calories—it is very hard to maintain testosterone levels if you are hypo-caloric all the time, or in a severe caloric deficit. If you are trying to lose fat, do it at a sustainable, healthy rate—do not crash your diet.
Lifestyle - It is another big piece in the puzzle for testosterone levels—it’s tough to say one is more important than the other because they are all so interconnected.
Sunlight, frequently, will raise your testosterone levels by providing vitamin D3 directly to your body. Some people swear by sunning their balls—I personally do not this, but it will work (don’t get arrested lol). Spend 15-30 minutes, preferably shirtless, outside everyday.
Winning in life produces more testosterone which causes you to win more, and that will then increase your testosterone. This is a beautiful cycle to get into—highly suggested.
Avoid Plastics with BPA and other phytoestrogens. The easiest way is to replace everything you drink and eat out of with ceramic or glass. Plastic contains chemicals that will slowly drain your testosterone.
Sex—have a lot of it. This is pretty self-explanatory, but sex and having it frequently will greatly increase your testosterone levels.
Supplements - First off, let me say most test boosters are garbage; however, there are certain ingredients that will absolutely benefit you.
Zinc—a zinc deficiency will lead to lower testosterone levels: 10-25mg a day will improve your numbers
Vitamin D3 will increase your testosterone—again, if you aren’t getting adequate sunlight you are more than likely deficient. 5000iu’s a day is a recommended dose.
Maca—this comes from a root in South America and is know to increase stamina and sex drive: 500mg a day.
Fenugreek is an herb found in the Mediterranean, also known for increasing libido: 500mg a day.
Bulbine Natalensis Extract—this is a South African plant known to, once again, increase libido and testosterone: 300mg a day.
Shilajit Extract—this one is found in the Himalayas, it has been shown to improve testosterone in patients with lower levels: 250mg a day.
The last major one that has been brought to my attention is Tongkat Ali Root. Although I have not, myself, done too much research on this ingredient, smart men (Dr. Huberman) have claimed that this can also substantially increase testosterone levels: 400mg a day.
Putting It All Together
There are more items that could be added to this list, I’m sure; however, these are all going to be the most significant factors in increasing your testosterone levels. I have no doubt that if you are suffering from low levels, trying even half of this would increase your testosterone levels.
Your other option is TRT, but I highly suggest if you are under 35 years old to explore ALL of these options before deciding to follow the replacement route.
Not only will all of the above improve your testosterone levels, but you will substantially improve your overall health by implementing all of these modifications.
If you think these free posts are good—you would love the Paid Substack. The Free posts are broken down in a way that you get a basic understanding of the concepts—if you would like to learn the ins-and-outs of improving your health and fitness, you’re missing out by not subscribing. For only $5 a month you will receive a master class in health and nutrition from a Chad Scientist who has devoted his life to learning how to optimize your physique and health.
#WAGMI
Your friend,
- BowTiedOx
DICLAIMER
This is not Legal, Medical, or Financial advice. Please consult a medical professional before starting any workout program, diet plan, or supplement protocol. These are opinions from a Cartoon Ox.
Great read! Very easy to follow and well laid out.
Mahler's Aggressive Strength - Ashwagandha works really well!