For a man to be in optimal health, he needs his testosterone levels to be high.
Sadly most men are well below their usual levels. Many factors can influence your testosterone levels. A lack of sleep, lack of exercise, a stressful lifestyle, and poor nutrition are all common causes of low testosterone levels. Luckily there are also a lot of ways to increase testosterone.
In this article, we are going to take a brief look at the symptoms of low testosterone, some of the causes, and ways in which we can increase our testosterone levels.
Causes of Low Testosterone
The most common cause of low testosterone is a lack of sleep, a study on older men found that those who had disordered or a lack of sleep had significantly lower testosterone levels in the morning.
This is why a great sleep cannot be emphasized enough, so be sure to put the rest in and get the results. If you’re struggling with sleep, a sleep aid is a viable option that could drastically change your sleep.
Other causes can be vegetarian diets, a lack of vitamin D, and being overweight.
Stress can lower testosterone levels because it leads to the release of cortisol, a stress hormone that has been shown to attack testosterone production in men.
Symptoms of Low Testosterone
There are many symptoms of low testosterone, but low testosterone is also caused by having these same symptoms – so it can be a little confusing!
So, here is a quick list of the symptoms:
- Chronic fatigue
- Bad sleep quality
- Lack of energy
- Lowered libido
- Infertility
- Poor recovery from exercise
- Bad mood
- Abdominal fat accumulation
- Stress
How to Increase Testosterone
Luckily there are many ways that you can increase testosterone production, and most of them concern treating the symptoms.
1. Sleep and Exercise
Sleeping longer can help increase testosterone, as can exercising more. This reduces stress or improves your ability to handle it.
2. Lifting heavy free weights
Lifting heavy free weights has been shown to be a really effective way to boost testosterone. A study found that free weight exercises such as the barbell squat produced more free testosterone than a leg press machine.
3. Increase vitamin D
Increasing your vitamin D levels is another great way to boost testosterone, so get outside in the sunshine for a little more time each day.
4. Walking
If you go for a brisk walk, then you will also receive the testosterone boosting benefits of exercising and losing weight! Alternatively, you could take a vitamin D supplement, which has been shown to increase testosterone in men.
Other nutrients that might help boost testosterone include boron, zinc, and magnesium. Boron is a trace mineral that is gaining a lot of popularity as a testosterone booster. As well, zinc and magnesium are often combined to create “ZMA”.
The Bottom Line
Adding protein to your diet, exercising with free weights, walking more, sleeping more, and supplementing your diet with testosterone boosting ingredients are all excellent ways to increase testosterone.
What’s more, the act of boosting testosterone will eventually lead to an improvement in your sleep, energy, and body composition, which boost testosterone even further!
Increasing testosterone should be seen as a great benefit of eating a healthy diet, exercising, and sleeping.
Do these three things correctly, and you’ll find that most issues in your life improve as testosterone production increases.
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