How To Increase Testosterone Naturally And Does It Build More Muscle

Your testosterone levels play a role in achieving your workout goals.

So, let's say you eat garlic and have more sex. Well, maybe not in that order. But anyway, your testosterone gets a natural boost. Does it mean that you will see extra workout results? Build more muscle? Get leaner faster?

Here's what you need to know about natural ways to increase testosterone:

• What testosterone does
• Do you really need more of it
• How to boost testosterone naturally? What's the deal with garlic and sex?

What testosterone does

Testosterone is a hormone that has its function in almost all physical activity. It regulates your sex drive, bone and muscle mass, fat distribution, red blood cell production, mood swings and energy levels and much more.

Symptoms of low testosterone are low sex drive, hair loss, lack of energy, mood swings, unexpected fat gain etc. If you experience these symptoms you need to consult your physician.

But, if you are healthy, can you benefit from more testosterone?

Do you need more of it

It depends on what you want to achieve:

1. Increasing your testosterone naturally won't make you gain more muscle

Research has shown that unless you have really low testosterone levels, the amount of increase you can achieve naturally won't make any difference for muscle gains.^[1] So if you're reading this because you want to build huge muscle, don't expect to find a magic gains booster.

2. It can help you get leaner.

If you're fighting stubborn belly fat, however, you research suggest you could really benefit from improving your natural testosterone levels.^[2]

3. It can help you improve your quality of life as you get older

Testosterone declines with age. But research suggests it might have more to do with the changes people make in their lifestyle as they get older (less exercise, more food), than with the inevitable fate of getting older.^[3]

How can you boost testosterone naturally

• Eat garlic and have sex - Well, at least that's what research suggests. Sexual activity affects testosterone more than initial testosterone affects sexual activity.^[5] Garlic has been tested on rats but it's worth a try.^[6]
• Exercise - Working out increases your testosterone, as long as you recover and don't over-train. Because although testosterone naturally gets boosted post-exercise, too much exercise without adequate recovery produces the opposite results.
• Avoid sugar - An interesting study found a 25% decrease in testosterone after ingesting 75 grams of sugar. It's definitely worth a try, see all benefits from quitting sugar.
• Don't avoid dietary fat - Research suggests that a low-fat nutrition plan (only ˇ~20% of calories from fat) can decrease your testosterone levels.^[4]
• Keep your body fat low - As your body fat goes up the testosterone decreases.
• Better sleep - Lack of sleep kills your gains and messes with your hormones. If you want to get bigger, check out why sleeping matters for muscle building.
• Less stress - Stressing over small stuff all the time makes you less manly. Well, it decreases testosterone which is making you manly. So, chill.

Takeaway

Following suggested ways to increase testosterone naturally, won't make you build bigger muscle. But it can help you make sure that your lifestyle choices are not lowering testosterone and are instead helping you boost it to optimal levels. That way you can achieve your body goals easier and have a better overall quality of life.