What do sex drive and muscle mass have in common?
They both require healthy testosterone levels to function correctly.
When you have well-balanced testosterone levels, you’ll be able to lead a healthy, happier life. You’ll enjoy a strong sex drive, better muscle mass, and higher energy levels.
Testosterone is a hormone made primarily in men. During puberty testosterone levels are very high. However, around the age of 30, the levels begin to decrease. Luckily though, there are actions you can take to help your body get back to the way it used to be.
Nutrient-rich foods do an amazing job of boosting testosterone levels. Garlic, spinach, eggs, and lemons are just a few of the foods that can help your body’s low T levels. Along with the right kind of diet, you’ll also need to start exercising. Read on to find out what type of testosterone boosting exercises you can start using today.
Symptoms of Low T Levels
Let’s start by looking at a few of the symptoms associated with low T levels. Do you get a good night’s rest but still wake up sleepy? Fatigue and tiredness are two of the most common symptoms associated with low T levels. Fatigue can be tricky to notice since life is usually demanding and tiring at times. If you need naps to get through the day, or you frequently sleep through your alarm, you might be battling fatigue.
It isn’t uncommon for guys suffering from low T levels to also experience a decrease in their overall energy and libido. There are many more warning signs that you might be dealing with low T levels.
Signs of low T levels:
- Sudden weight gain
- Depression
- Difficulty gaining muscle
- Lack of strength
Do these symptoms sound familiar to you? It’s not easy to admit you might be suffering from low T levels. However, once you’re able to identify the problem you can take action towards solving it.
Restoring your low T levels will help you improve your overall cognition and performance capabilities. Next, we’ll review how exercising can help your body restore its low T levels.
How Testosterone Boosting Exercises Help
Why should men exercise to help restore their testosterone? You can find the answer in a small protein your pituitary gland secretes. Growth hormones are tiny proteins your body secretes into your bloodstream.
During your childhood, your body releases human growth hormone to help you grow. When you become an adult the hormone helps you regulate your testosterone levels. Growth hormones also help you have more energy and endurance. They give you the ability to quickly build muscles.
After exercising, your body will want to rebuild your muscles. As a result, your pituitary gland sends out small bursts of growth hormone. Your torn muscle fibers will be able to rebuild faster. When you have high levels of HGH you’ll be able to naturally boost your testosterone levels.
What Type of Exercises Help?
Before we review the different types of exercises, let’s look at the theory behind them. All types of exercises are capable of helping you achieve your fitness goals. Yet, certain types of exercises will be more effective at quickly increasing testosterone levels.
You’ll want your exercises to fall into one of these categories:
- Strength & Resistance
- High-intensity intervals
- Endurance
You’ll also want to make sure your workout includes a blend of aerobic and anaerobic exercises. The word aerobic refers to oxygen while anaerobic references a lack of oxygen.
High intensity and strength training usually involve anaerobic exercises. Anaerobic exercises can quickly take your breath away because they require you to use short bursts of energy. You push your body for a short period of time and then take a break. Anaerobic exercises are ideal for boosting low testosterone levels, they also help you burn fat by building lean muscle mass.
Endurance exercises are different because they push your body to perform over longer periods of time. Your goal isn’t to finish quickly but rather see how long you can go on for. Endurance focused training experiences will give you an aerobic workout, where you take in higher levels of oxygen.
Let’s see how these types of exercises work to rapidly increase testosterone levels.
1. Strength & Resistance Exercises
Many strength training exercises require you to use some type of resistance.
Muscle fibers make up most of your muscle tissue. Weightlifting is a type of stressor that initiates your muscle fibers to tear down. After tearing your muscles down your body begins a rebuilding process. The newly rebuilt muscle fibers will be stronger and denser than before.
If you want to produce lean muscle mass then weight lifting should be your new best friend. The best part about lean muscle mass is it burns more calories than other types of tissue. Your new lean mean muscles will help fight to keep unwanted fat from accumulating in your body. The resistance can be a weight, a steep incline or even your own body.
Types of Strength and Resistance Exercises
You don’t have to lift high amounts of weights to enjoy strength training. You’ll have an easier time maintaining your workout regime when you personalize your exercises. Some people love challenging themselves to beat weightlifting records. However, not everyone enjoys deadlifts or push presses. Here are a few weightlifting exercise options you can start right away.
Weight Lifting
Free weights are a convenient way to begin your strength and endurance training because you can use them anywhere. Free weights are any type of weight that isn’t attached to something.
Many times people feel stuck thinking large dumbbells are the only type of free weight available. Yet, the truth is there are many types of free weights you can add to your workout routine. Dumbbells, kettlebells, and weighted balls and are all types of free weights.
Select a few different weight types and amounts. You’ll want to have a variety of weights starting with 1-2 pounds and up. Having different weight amounts means you’ll be able to structure a workout for your entire body.
Body Weight
Do you want to get started right away? For those who want to keep things simple, use your body as your “weight” or resistance.
Pushups, squats, and pull-ups are all types of body weight training exercises. Remember, it’s not how many reps you do, but rather the quality of your reps. Rushing through a workout session won’t help you get any closer to your goal. Instead, take your time to perfect your form and accuracy when performing any exercise.
Exercise bands are another great way to train using resistance. They’re also lightweight and easy to transport, so you can sneak in a workout any time of the day.
2. High-Intensity Interval Training
High-intensity interval training (HIIT), is a type of strength and resistance exercise. HIIT exercises will also be anaerobic, requiring an intense burst of energy. The difference between HIIT and regular strength training is the way you perform the exercises.
Your heart rate plays the biggest role in successfully performing high-intensity interval training. These exercises require you to push your body as hard as you can for a short period of time. During that time your heart rate rises and your body is momentarily deprived of oxygen.
After going all out for a short period of time, you’ll have an inactive recovery period. During this time your heart rate will go back down a little bit and your body will consume as much oxygen as possible.
The best part about HIIT workouts is their afterburn effect. Your body will continue to burn fat calories long after you finish working out. The anaerobic nature of HIIT workouts puts your body in a state of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC).
When you go into a state of EPOC your body is able to capitalize on its oxygen usage. As a result, your body uses the oxygen in your system as a type of fat burning energy.
Types of HIIT Exercises
Now that you know the benefits of HIIT exercises, let’s look at some you can start using today. It can help to start by using exercises you’re already comfortable performing. Since you’ll be going quickly it’s a good idea to already know the correct form and technique for every exercise.
Here are a few ideas for your HIIT exercises:
- Jump squats
- Burpees
- Row machine
- Free Weights
- Planks
- Push-ups
If you like the variety, you’ll love HIIT workouts. You can combine multiple activities to help keep your workouts from becoming boring.
Structure Your HIIT Workout
Let’s pretend that you want to incorporate all of the exercises above (jump squats, burpees, etc.) Here’s how your HIIT workout could incorporate all 6 exercises.
- 3 Rounds 6 Exercises
- 45 seconds of jump squats
- 15 seconds of rest
- 45 seconds of burpees
Continue until you circle back to the first exercise (jump squats)
Circling back to the first exercise means you’re complete with one entire round. The round will go by quickly since you’re only performing the exercises for 45 seconds. Once you’re done with round one, you’ll start the entire process over for 2 more rounds.
3. Endurance Training
Unlike HIIT or strength training, endurance exercises provide you with an aerobic workout. Your body can easily take in oxygen, while also performing an activity for an extended period of time.
To boost your testosterone levels, you should design a workout that primarily uses HIIT and strength training. However, you’ll want to include some amount of endurance training to your overall fitness regime.
Intense, challenging workouts cause your body to release higher levels of cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that your body will release when you experience stress. Your body can’t tell the difference between stress you have during a workout and stress from dangerous situations.
When your body produces too much cortisol your testosterone levels can go down. Endurance exercises are the perfect opportunity to lower cortisol levels back to a regular state.
Types of Endurance Exercises
Cardio is a great type of endurance exercise you can add to your workout. Here are a few different cardio centered exercises to incorporate in your daily fitness routine.
- Treadmill
- Elliptical
- Stationary bike
- Stair machine
When you use the treadmill, challenge yourself by increasing the incline every few minutes. A higher incline will help add some resistance training to your endurance exercises. After a few sessions, you’ll notice your endurance is getting better. You’ll be able to go further and faster than you ever could before.
Remember, you want to create a blend of strength, resistance and endurance training. Structure your workout to mostly include strength and resistance exercises. If you still aren’t getting the results you deserve, you might need help building your testosterone levels.
Get the Results You Deserve
Testosterone boosting exercises can only do so much to regulate your hormone levels. Sometimes your body needs a little bit of medical assistance to reach its fitness goals. If you think you might be experiencing low T levels, you should reach out to a medical professional.
The mentality is on a mission to help men regain control over their lives. We offer an effective replacement therapy for men that focuses on getting quality results. Our treatments are always monitored closely to make sure you’re kept safe every step of the way.
The FDA approves safe and effective therapy treatments. Because of their approval, it’s a lot easier getting health insurance companies to help cover your therapy. We want you to be able to confidently move forward with all of your medical decisions. During your consultation, we’ll check to see how much of the treatment your health insurance company will take care of.
Are you ready to become a new version of yourself? We’re happy to answer any and all of your questions. Reach out to us today using our contact us page. Let us help you get your life back.
