Want to increase your testosterone naturally?

What is Testosterone and why would I want to increase it?
Testosterone is an anabolic steroid hormone produced by the sexual organs in both males and females (8 times as much in males) and a small amount from the adrenal glands.
High testosterone is associated with increased bone mass, increased muscle mass, increased strength, increased mental clarity, increased energy, increased libido, etc.
It’s not surprising that everyone wants higher testosterone and there is a $2 billion pharmaceutical industry to provide it.

As many of you know, testosterone levels decrease past your 20s and continues to decline through adulthood. Poor habits and stress contribute to this decline. This often leads to weight gain (not the good kind), fatigue, low libido, and osteoporosis among other things. Pharmaceutical creams and injections can increase testosterone artificially, but carry with them long-term dependence as your body’s own production slows down further while on them. What if you could change up a few habits to naturally support higher testosterone? Although the marked effects may be minimal and some are less researched than others, here’s what you can do:

Sleep more – REM sleep increases nighttime testosterone levels, longer sleep = higher testosterone
Eat more quality monounsaturated and saturated fats (avocado, almonds, egg yolks, red meat, coconut oil), don’t be afraid of cholesterol. Testosterone is a steroid hormone, its building blocks are cholesterol!
Lose body fat – fat cells can turn testosterone into estradiol (the female sex hormone)
Get some sun – Higher Vitamin D levels coincide with higher testosterone levels, especially in people with a Vitamin D deficiency. Of all natural supplements, Vit D3 may show the most benefits in increasing testosterone.
Don’t stress the small stuff – Mental stress causes the release of cortisol, a stress hormone. Producing more cortisol means less production of testosterone, among other problems.
Lift weights – Men who regularly weight train have more free testosterone than those that couch train. Aim for multi-joint movements (freeweight squat/deadlift vs. leg press) as they stimulate more testosterone production compared to isolation exercises.
Supplement if needed – Some supplements that coincide with testosterone production include Vitamin D3, Fenugreek, DHEA, Zinc (other supplements may exert some effect, these are the most well-researched)

Here are some novel, unique ideas to increase your testosterone, mostly transient (short term) increases. (*I did not dig into the research too much for these but they are harmless)

Posture – Assuming an empowering/dominant posture may increase testosterone (hands on hips, shoulders back, head high or leaned back with legs up on table, etc)
Chop wood – One study found chopping wood increased free testosterone levels significantly higher than most competitive sports. You can imitate this through tire hammering.
Winning – Successfully completing a dominance task ahead of others led to a higher spike in testosterone
Watch motivational or adult-themed imagery/videos prior to an exercise – A 4-minute video (training motivation, aggressive, or erotic) was enough to increase a 3 rep max squat in men as well as salivary testosterone levels.
Talk to women – A couple studies found a slight uptick in testosterone levels in males after they conversed with females for 5 minutes.

Want to increase your testosterone naturally?

Sleep more – REM sleep increases nighttime testosterone levels, longer sleep = higher testosterone

Eat more quality monounsaturated and saturated fats (avocado, almonds, egg yolks, red meat, coconut oil), don’t be afraid of cholesterol. Testosterone is a steroid hormone, its building blocks are cholesterol!

Lose body fat – fat cells can turn testosterone into estradiol (the female sex hormone)

Get some sun – Higher Vitamin D levels coincide with higher testosterone levels, especially in people with a Vitamin D deficiency. Of all natural supplements, Vit D3 may show the most benefits in increasing testosterone.

Don’t stress the small stuff – Mental stress causes the release of cortisol, a stress hormone. Producing more cortisol means less production of testosterone, among other problems.

Lift weights – Men who regularly weight train have more free testosterone than those that couch train. Aim for multi-joint movements (freeweight squat/deadlift vs. leg press) as they stimulate more testosterone production compared to isolation exercises.

Supplement if needed – Some supplements that coincide with testosterone production include Vitamin D3, Fenugreek, DHEA, Zinc (other supplements may exert some effect, these are the most well-researched)

Here are some novel, unique ideas to increase your testosterone, mostly transient (short term) increases. (*I did not dig into the research too much for these but they are harmless)

Posture – Assuming an empowering/dominant posture may increase testosterone (hands on hips, shoulders back, head high or leaned back with legs up on table, etc)

Chop wood – One study found chopping wood increased free testosterone levels significantly higher than most competitive sports. You can imitate this through tire hammering.

Winning – Successfully completing a dominance task ahead of others led to a higher spike in testosterone

Watch motivational or adult-themed imagery/videos prior to an exercise – A 4-minute video (training motivation, aggressive, or erotic) was enough to increase a 3 rep max squat in men as well as salivary testosterone levels.

Talk to women – A couple studies found a slight uptick in testosterone levels in males after they conversed with females for 5 minutes.