TESTOSTERONE: The King of Muscle Building Hormones

Q: WHAT IS TESTOSTERONE?

A: Testosterone (which we will often refer to a “T”) is a hormone that is considered an androgen or male sexual hormone. It is a natural steroid in the body and is produced primarily in the testicles, but may also be produced in smaller amounts by the adrenal glands. (In women, smaller amounts of T are made in the ovaries.)

The Making of a Man

T plays an important role in physical development, particularly your gender-related characteristics. It is what causes the development of the male gender in th

e womb. In fact everything about being masculine/ male including being strong, athletic, muscular, hairy, sexually driven and aggressive is primarily driven by this hormone.

It is indeed the hormone that makes a man, a man.

Testosterone and Muscle

Because of its dominating function with regards to body composition and physical performance, it is considered “the king” of all anabolic (muscle building hormones) in the world of bodybuilding and sports performance. It is so potent that it is the first choice steroid opted for by steroid users/ abusers.

The reason why this is so is because, T is the key hormone that interacts with muscle. Because men generally produce vaster amounts (casually 20 times more) of this hormone than women do, men are generally more muscular, stronger and .naturally lean than women. Although it might be considered politically incorrect, the simple fact is that, the less T a man has the more feminine he might be.

The Peaks & Troughs of Daily T Levels

Generally speaking, T levels are naturally highest in the earlier part of the day because much of the production takes place during deep sleep known as REM sleep. (Read more on REM in the Rest & Recovery chapter)

As the day goes on T levels start to drop and by the time we get to the late night hours before we sleep, T is at its lowest. The following chart in an example of average T levels in healthy individuals with standard sleep patterns (i.e. wake up in the morning, sleep at night).

As depicted in the chart, T levels fluctuate throughout the day but are generally higher in the earlier hours (e.g. between 4am and about 8am). They drop and fluctuate over a few hours (e.g. between 9am and 12pm) then peak again mid-way through the day (e.g. round about lunchtime) before starting to decline till night time again. It is important to that the chart shown is a general example and that these fluctuations may differ slightly from day to day under normal circumstances.

5 Ways To Naturally Boost Your T

Low testosterone decrease your muscle building potential, causes muscle wastage, lowers your strength levels and even make fat. In addition to all this, studies show that men with low testosterone have a greater incidence of the following health problems:

• Infertility and poor reproductive health

• Type 2 diabetes

• Increased body fat (particularly central region body fat i.e. belly fat)

• Poorer physical performance

• Greater risk of prostate cancer

• Slower recovery from intense exercise and other stressors

• Increased estrogen and estrogen dominance problems (e.g. low libido, fatigue)

The following are the top tips for boosting your T levels to the max.

Tip #1: Get Enough Sleep Whilst most people know that adequate sleep is necessary for recovery from working out, it’s just as important both growth hormone and testosterone release. In numerous studies going back as early as the seventies, scientists found that testosterone levels increase over night and that this hormone is released episodically. More recently, a series of studies have shown that just as little as one night’s worth of reduced sleep duration or quality will alter testosterone release, leading to lower testosterone levels in the morning.

The Cortisol Connection

Other studies have shown than insufficient sleep (e.g. 6 hours or less) not only lowered testosterone but also led to higher levels of cortisol (which can cause muscle wastage) as well as significantly altered glucose and insulin levels by the end of the study. These studies the inter-relationship between testosterone, cortisol, and the metabolic hormones like insulin that, when compromised, can put you on a downhill spiral to poor body composition and ill health.

Q: How Much Sleep Do You Need?

A: Remember your parents used to say “you grow in your sleep”; it’s absolutely true. Some of the most crucial metabolic and anabolic processes take place during sleep. With this in mind research proves that anywhere between 7 and 9 hours of sleep is optimal particularly for physically active people.

Tip #2: Get Enough Zinc The relationship between zinc, testosterone, and reproductive health is fairly well know. A study carried out in 1996 found that a group of young men who initially had normal testosterone levels who were made to be deficient in zinc over a period of 5 months experienced a dramatic drop in testosterone of more than 50 percent! Imagine that; fifty percent less testosterone from simply being deficient in zinc alone. The same study found that giving zinc over the same period to older men who initially had low testosterone, resulted in doubling their levels doubling!

Tip #3: Get Enough Magnesium Magnesium is another powerful testosterone boosting mineral .Sufficient magnesium levels will help you boost testosterone and build muscle because magnesium improves the body’s antioxidant capacity, decreasing inflammation, which allows for a robust release of testosterone and IGF-1.

One study found that giving athletes roughly 750 mg of magnesium daily for 4 weeks raised free testosterone levels by as much as 26 percent.

Magnesium plays many physiological roles including the following:

• It enables the production of enzymes that allow vitamin D to help with calcium absorption and bone building.

• It supports energy use and blood sugar regulation, and low magnesium has been directly linked to diabetes risk.

• It is especially important for people who exercise because it must be present to enable forceful muscle contractions.

• It promotes sleep, which is extremely important for supporting testosterone and growth hormone.

Tip #4: Get your Vitamins!

Vitamins play a critical role in many metabolic and anabolic processes in the body including hormonal balance. A diet rich in vitamins will help boost your health factors, testosterone and improve your ability to build and hold onto muscle. The following vitamins play major roles in boosting testosterone levels.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A, and its precursor beta carotene, have been shown to increase the production of testosterone in the testes of men. Vitamin A may also contribute to the suppression of natural estrogen levels. Estrogen is a sex hormone found in both men and women, but much smaller amounts in men. Higher than normal levels of estrogen in men can decrease testosterone production. Vitamin A helps block the production of estrogen in men, which can allow for greater testosterone production.

Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6 is part of the B-complex vitamin group and is essential for many functions in your body, including testosterone production and regulation. Vitamin B6 acts as a regulator of androgen production, which is a naturally produced steroid hormone that acts as a precursor for testosterone. Vitamin B6 stimulates androgen receptors in your body, signalling your testes to produce testosterone. Like vitamin A, vitamin B6 may also play a role in the inhibition of natural estrogen, further amplifying testosterone production in your body.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and plays a significant role in hormonal homeostasis, or the natural balance of hormones throughout your body. Vitamin C strengthens your immune system by suppressing the presence of stress hormones. Stress hormones, particularly the hormone cortisol, not only inhibit normal immune system function, but can also inhibit the production of testosterone. Cortisol causes your body to enter a state of catabolism, or tissue breakdown. By limiting cortisol, vitamin C promotes an anabolic environment, which consists of the release of testosterone to promote tissue growth.

Vitamin E

Like vitamin C, vitamin E is also an antioxidant, and can promote anabolism by suppressing muscle wasting hormones like cortisol. Vitamin E also assists in the production of sperm in men, which can help increase fertility and virility. Low levels of vitamin E in your body have been linked to a lower sperm count and sex drive. In contrast, higher amounts of vitamin E can increase your sperm count, which then stimulates the production of testosterone.

Tip #5: Manage your Carbs, Blood Sugar & Insulin Most people in the know would have heard that high blood sugar and insulin levels have a negative effect on growth hormone however the effect is worse than that.

Testosterone is also temporarily reduced by spikes in blood sugar and insulin to the point that low testosterone is pretty much a given if you have diabetes.

A 2011 study published in the Journal of Endocrinology and Nutrition found that men who initially had normal insulin health suffered a 25 percent decrease in testosterone for at least two hours after ingesting a drink containing sugar. Nearly 80 percent of the men had their testosterone levels drop to the point that they would be considered clinically testosterone deficient. Now here’s the damning thing; the study tested an acute or one time spike in blood sugar, but if you are a sugar and starch junkie your blood sugar level is elevated over and over again. This leads to your the entire hormonal cascade being thrown off-kilter. This not only will you suffer from chronically low testosterone but low growth hormone and increased cortisol.

Low GI for High Testosterone

Managing your blood sugar and insulin response to food by predominantly eating low G.I foods (see the nutrition chapter and the section on the hormone insulin), increasing fibre intake, eating healthy amounts of good fats and adding some protein to each meal is the way forward. These measures are proven to lower the body’s glycemic response to food.

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Find out 7 more POWERFUL WAYS TO NATURALLY BOOST YOUR T as well the kind of workouts that not only massively crank your T up but also maximise T's anabolic effect and allow you to gain as much muscle and strength as possible. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD MY FULL 30 PAGE REPORT ON THE HORMONES THAT MAKE OR BREAK YOUR PHYSIQUE