Testosterone is more than just a sex hormone. Testosterone has broad implications for your health, wellness, and longevity that go far beyond your gonads, and sex dive. It is one of the most important mechanisms in regulating metabolic and organ function, repairing damaged cells, boosting muscle growth and strength, as well as burning belly fat.
Increasing your testosterone will help reduce body fat, increase muscle, boost energy levels, regrow vital organs, restore a youthful immune function, increase bone strength, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, improve mood and cognitive function. And yes, WOMEN get these benefits as well, and it takes less testosterone for them to experience them.
As you age your testosterone slowly, and in some cases not so slowly, declines. Your peers, and many doctors, claim that this is a natural progression of aging, and we should embrace the aches, pains, and low energy levels, and become old like everyone before us.
This decline in testosterone is about as natural as margarine. It is a product of our affluence, our inactive lifestyles at work, and the propaganda released by conglomerated food and big pharma. The good news is that you can increase your testosterone through exercise.
- Forget about all of the fitness and workout advice you have seen to date, especially the advice given out in muscle magazines, and talk shows. The body builders and fitness models you see in the magazines are not like the rest of us, they are freaks of nature, and "supplement" their workouts with steroids. Following the programs you see in the magazines won't increase your testosterone, and it won't get you closer to your goals.
- Start an Exercise or Fitness program that focuses on resistance strength training.The best exercises to boost testosterone are compound movements using multiple muscle groups. Example of these would be Squats, Dead Lifts, Bench Press, Pull Ups, etc.
- Super-set the compound exercises with non-competing exercises, for instance the Squat and Bench Press. This shortened rest helps stimulate testosterone production.
- Complete each exercise with 6-8 reps per set. Clinical Trials showed heavier resistance training (i.e. 8 reps/set) was more effective than the traditional "high-reps to get cut" approach. Every study that has been published shows higher testosterone levels after 8 reps when compared to 12 reps.
- Ditch the long slow boring cardio. Switch to intervals and get done with your workout in half the time. An interval is a period of going as hard as you can (9/10 relative intensity) for a certain amount of time, followed by going slower (3/10 relative intensity) to recover or another set period of time, often twice as long to get maximum recovery. Several studies have showed that 30-second sprints resulted in a significant elevation in blood Testosterone concentration. Another study compared 30-second cycle sprints to a constant low intensity cycling. The sprinting group experienced a rise in testosterone approximately 450% greater than after the low intensity group.
- Get off the couch or from behind your desk at least 30 minutes EVERY DAY! This is important, to boost your testosterone you need to live an active life, so get up, take the dog for a walk, take in the city streets with your wife (but don't get mugged), or play with your kids. Any activity counts, just get moving.
- Find a friend or two who is looking to accomplish the same goals as you are. It will make getting there much more fun, and it helps keep those of us who are procrastinators accountable.
