Be the man you were built to be, and raise your testosterone along with your power and strength.
Testosterone. The holy grail of muscle building and fat burning power. The stuff the Greek Gods were carved from. The stuff men are made of.
It is no secret that testosterone is what maketh a man, but apart from that it also hosts a myriad of benefits to possess, not limited to greater energy, enhanced sexual prowess, muscle building capabilities, better sleep and better overall 'feeling' of wellbeing.
The issue is once we hit 27 - 30, our natural testosterone production begins its decline, increasing our risk for certain conditions such as heart disease, as well as reduced capacity to maintain muscle mass and an overall reduction in physical performance.
Don't fear, however. There are some simple and effective ways to reignite your testosterone engine, and keep it firing well into the latter years of your life.
#1: Embrace Fats
If you want to eradicate your testosterone and subsequent muscle mass and manliness, then follow a low-fat diet for a year. But don't hit the deep fried fish & chips just yet, I'm talking about the healthy fats, which are essential to supporting your body's ability to produce testosterone.
Stick to fats such as olive oil (kept in dark glass is best), coconut oil, avocados, nuts, seeds and more. These will boost your cholesterol levels high enough so that it can be converted into testosterone, whilst also helping you maintain good levels of healthy cholesterol.
#2: Sleep
Many of us will forgo sleep for things such as watching television or working under the premise that sleep isn't that important. We do this to the point where some of us brag about not getting much sleep because we are just 'so flat out right now'.
Add to this the double whammy of getting into bed late, and then sitting on your phone for the next 30 minutes, arguing with people on Facebook or checking your instagram. Not only are you getting less sleep, but every moment in front of a screen in the hours leading up to bed time is depreciating your sleep quality for that night.
Before bed, make an effort to read or even meditate to get your body relaxed and ready for an optimal nights rest. If you must use a computer in the hour before bed, try installingf.lux to lessen the harm, try supplementing with magnesium before bed and develop a caffeine curfew.
Better and long quality hours of sleep is directly correlated to testosterone levels in men.
If you're only averaging five hours of sleep a night, expect a testosterone drop of 10-15 percent, as published in a study published in the University of Chicago.
Shoot for eight hours, be happy with six.
#3 Lift Heavy Things
Get lifting, and keep it compound. That is, don't worry so much about isolation exercises, stick to things such as deadlifts, squats, bench presses, pull ups, and so on.
In a nutshell, the more muscle mass you stimulate during a workout, the greater the subsequent testosterone boost to your system. Research has proven time and time again that high-intensity weight training (choosing weights so that you reach muscle failure by 10 reps) can stimulate increases in testosterone secretion.
#4: Power Pose
Sounds crazy but it works!
Amy Cuddy elaborated on this in her famous TED talk, showing that 2 minutes of high power poses showed an immediate increase of 20% from baseline testosterone levels. Conversely, those performing low power poses, such as head down and hands folded, displayed a 10% decrease. So you can make up an extra 30% of an immediate change to testosterone, just by how your posture your body throughout the day.
#5 Sacrifice Sugar
You probably knew this would make the list. It seems sugar is the root of all evil, and while it certainly has its place, exercise moderation.
Excess consumption of sugar will lead to a spike in your insulin levels, which results in decreased glucose in your bloodstream, which leads to you craving more sugar.
The more and more sugar you have in your system, the more body fat you will develop. The more body fat you develop, the greater the conversion of testosterone to oestrogen. Just to make sure it does the job, high sugar is correlated to high levels of stress hormones which subsequently restricts testosterone production further.
#6 Be a Bloody Man
It's time to stop playing second fiddle to all those around you! If you want to boost your testosterone levels and start conquering life at the same time, live each day with passion and with manly aggression. If you want to raise the bar and your testosterone, don't expect it to happen if your mental and physical outlook is one of a pregnant sloth.
One of the reasons why Tony Robbins is so full of growth hormone and testosterone (one of the reasons, I stress) is that he wakes up every morning and charges up his body with a series of rituals, then drives through the day like a mack truck, always full of energy.
#7 Beer Banishment
Alcohol is another substance which raises the rate of testosterone to oestrogen conversion. Worse still is alcohol mixed with hops, aka beer.
As with sugar, no need to cut it out completely. A few drinks every so often is fine, just perhaps rethink the bottle of red or six pack with dinner every other night.
Bonus Tip: Supplement
When all else fails, you can try supplementation.
Having owned and worked in many supplement stores over the years, you'd be shocked to see how many teenage boys and early twenties men would come in seeking testosterone boosters. At those ages, when your natural testosterone is at its peak, you may as well bury the money in a pit rather than spend it on testosterone boosters. However, as you come into your mid 30's and onwards, they can be a real asset.
The ingredients in the testosterone booster are of critical importance here, as the most commonly sold boosters typically have ingredients that have no real study based research of their effectiveness. This relates to Tribulus and horny goat weed to name but two (even though I've felt positive effects personally from Tribulus in particular).
Other ingredients to look into are Fenugreek, D Aspartic Acid, Bulbine Natalensis, stinging nettle root, and scots pine pollen.