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Workouts and Guidelines to Increase Testosterone, Naturally


Let’s keep your gains all natural, ok? We all, both males and females, need (and should strive for) healthy hormone levels including testosterone (T). If we don’t have healthy T status then taking a supplement (i.e. DHEA, a precursor to T) may provide initial benefits, but it’s not a long-term solution. In fact, studies show that using DHEA or other T-precursor supplements for more than 8-12 weeks results in no further improvements in T levels.1 Furthermore, the World Anti-Doping Association prohibits the use of DHEA for competitive athletes, and personally, whether you’re competing or not, I would not advise DHEA as a remedy. I say, if you are low in T, find out WHY and fix it all naturally. An all-natural fix may mean lifestyle tweaks (i.e. less chronic endurance training and an adequate diet and caloric intake that includes an abundance of fat) and introducing more specific strength training that can effectively boost T.

Workout Format Options

  • 3 sets of 4 exercises to failure (high reps), 80% of 1RM with 2-min rest interval
  • 6 x 10 squats, 80%-85% 1RM, 2-min rest interval
  • 5 sets of 15-20 reps at 50% 1RM
  • 70% of 3-6RM vs. 100% of 3-6RM
  • 20 sets of 2-4 repetitions
  • 10 sets of 10 reps with 70% of 1RM
  • 8 exercises, 3-5 sets x 5RM
  • HIIT circuit workouts
    • HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training, such as burst training, and is also effective at boosting T when in conjunction with a heavy strength training program
    • Generally at least 4 sets if sustainable; the more sets the better
    • For conventional “3 sets X 10 reps” increase load for more T response (i.e. 80% RM)

Exercise Selection

  • Large muscle mass exercises with enough volume
  • Olympic lifts—power cleans, etc.
  • Deadlifts
  • Squats
  • Jump squats
  • Large muscle mass, multi-joint exercises first
    • Lower and upper body best
      • Potential benefit to doing lower body exercises first2
  • Small-muscle exercises don’t produce T response
    • Finish workout with these as needed in a program
  • HIIT: 90-100% effort of short-interval (30-60sec) high-intensity exercise bursts—jumps (all kinds), sprints, jump rope, run in place, and other movements
    • Despite being anaerobic, these exercises stimulate fat burning and detox, plus increase T and GH

Experience Matters

  • Having a base and experience in strength training may enhance the acute T response to a workout.
  • “Tremblay et al. said the type of regular training you do matters.3 “Endurance-trained subjects displayed a less pronounced [androgen] hormone response to exercise, whereas resistance-trained subjects demonstrated a more pronounced [androgen] hormone response to exercise. These differences may be related to specific exercise intensity characteristics or training adaptations.”
    • The hormone response is more dependent on exercise mode or intensity than exercise volume
    • This may have implications for endurance-trained males who are depleted in T and need a boost, namely looking to more resistance training as a solution.

T Response Affected By

  • Muscle mass involved (i.e. exercise selection)
  • Intensity and volume
  • Nutritional intake
  • Training experience
    • Resistance- vs. endurance-trained
  • But NOT absolute level of muscular strength doesn’t appear to affect T response

Differences In Women:

  • Young women get more of a T response
  • Middle-aged and post-menopausal women experience less of a T response, and need more amino acids and strength to preserve muscle
  • Other anabolic hormones like GH may be more responsible than T for muscle mass gains in women

Other Ways To Boost T:

  • All-natural and safe supplements include but aren’t limited to: cordyceps, zinc, tribulus, etc.
    • NOTE: Be careful with tribulus if you are competing in sanctioned races, as sometimes certain sources can be “contaminated” leading to a positive result on a drug test.
  • Adequate, quality, deep sleep—aim for 8 hours a night
  • Low stress & stress management
  • Avoiding chronically high cortisol levels
  • Higher-fat, low-sugar diet BUT with enough carbs to avoid “low-carb stress” (i.e. find your sweet spot and usually avoid keto/very low carb)
  • Enough Vitamin D
  • Strategic intermittent fasting may even have benefits to stimulate T and growth hormone (GH), but must be used with caution when training and depends on health status.

Sources

  1. Antonio, Jose. Essentials of Sports Nutrition and Supplements. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, 2008.
  2. Antonio, Jose. Essentials of Sports Nutrition and Supplements. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, 2008.
  3. Tremblay, Mark S., Jennifer L. Copeland, and Walter Van Helder. 2004. “Effect of Training Status and Exercise Mode on Endogenous Steroid Hormones in Men.” Journal of Applied Physiology 96 (2): 531. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00656.2003.
  4. Sims, Stacy. ROAR: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life. Rodale Books, 2016.