Lifestyle Tips to Increase Testosterone Naturally, Part 1 (Breather Episode with Brad)

Mar 6, 2020

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(Breather) Testosterone is the ultimate male hormone for peak performance (both physical and cognitive) as well as anti-aging. You might consider it a benchmark for how well you meeting your assorted diet, exercise, sleep and stress management objectives. In part one of this four-part series, I’ll cover the things you can easily do to help your body boost testosterone naturally and see quick results.

That's right, you can go from low to bro' in a short time when you make some positive lifestyle changes. Check out this article, How I Doubled My Testosterone Naturally for more information on how I went from being in the clinically low percentile all the way up to the 95th percentile for my age group - simply through employing ten tips that I'll be covering in three consecutive Breather shows. Here are the first three from the list:

HOW TO BOOST TESTOSTERONE NATURALLY

#1) SLEEP

The first thing you have to do is ensure you have a routine of regularly getting enough sleep. Lack of good sleep is probably the number one reason for compromised testosterone levels. Full sleep enables the body to repair and recover. The highest release of hormones into our bloodstream, including Testosterone, occurs while we sleep. (Read more here for 12 Tips to Good Sleep).

Dr. Jack Kruse’s brilliant circadian clock article is a great resource for everyone and anyone. Did you know that the best time for sex is 9-10am? And when it comes to workouts, 2:30pm is ideal, since you experience a hormone boost from 12-3pm, as HGH and other adaptive hormones flood the bloodstream (hormone rejuvenation). Dr. Jack also emphasizes the importance of sleep, especially during that 12-3am period:

“These are the anabolic times for sleep when we are rebuilding our proteins and recycling our cellular contents. They are three of the most important hours in all human biology. If you miss them, you can bet you have several neolithic diseases for sure. Why do you ask? If these three hours are not reached enough during our sleep cycle, autophagy is never optimized and cellular repair does not occur in our cells. This means we are using old broken down parts in our cells as the next day arrives at 6 AM and cortisol rises again to wake us up.”

#2) EXERCISE

Chronic exercise is one way to surely cause burnout and mess with your body and your testosterone levels. Still, exercise is vital, so it’s all about maintaining a healthy balance and knowing when you’ve pushed it too far. Try incorporating the following tips into your workout routine:

Sprinting

Sprinting is extremely beneficial as it up-regulates androgen receptors, which bind to testosterone, testosterone itself, and growth hormone.
But keep in mind that longer does not equal better here - podcast guest Craig Marker's view on HIRT vs HIIT is that sprinting over 20 seconds causes oxidative damage and cellular damage, with long recovery for minimal extra return. So, there’s really no reason to, except to prepare for extreme competition, since a true sprint is just 20 seconds (or less!). Ben Greefield suggests a 6 second sprint if you really want to increase your testosterone, as a 6 second sprint will burn pure ATP in the muscle cell. Once you get to 8-30 seconds, you start burning lactate, then glucose at the 30 second-2 minute point. Beyond that, you’re burning a combination of glucose and fat.
Long recovery time is crucial - you can even take as much as a 10-1 recovery rate, meaning a one minute rest between sprints. Since I started doing this, my sessions are so much better and I enjoy easier recovery, with longer rest and fewer reps.

You can also try a Carol bike, rowing, or anything else short and explosive.

#3 CUT DOWN ON SCREEN TIME

I’ve talked about the importance of cutting down screen exposure many times (see Tania Teschke’s Advice For Protecting Your Health in Today’s Polluted World). Get vigilant about EMF exposure, get your blue-light blocking glasses on, and watch out for your hand-held devices - do not charge them in your bedroom! - this is key. Especially at night - because this ties into my #1 tip, which is getting enough (and quality) SLEEP. Nothing will disrupt your sleep like even the smallest amount of light exposure, which suppresses your melatonin production and keeps you up all night, thus ruining your sleep, which in turn, affects your hormone balance.

For additional references, check out Dr. Jack Kruse, my show with Ben Greenfield (which has tons of great content about boosting testosterone), as well as Ralph Teller’s book, Natural Health - Peak Performance - Longevity Lifestyle, and stay tuned for Part Two, Three, and Four!

TIMESTAMPS:

There are two important testosterone blood tests: serum testosterone which is the total, and also free testosterone which is the amount circulating in your bloodstream. [03:47]

Chronic exercise is one of the ways you can trash your endocrine function. [05:30]

If the female has an optimal level of testosterone, it also optimizes estrogen and other performance and health hormones, this can be a big win. [07:47]

Presenting tips from various sources, Brad reminds us how important sleep is. [10:17]

Wearing your blue light blocking eyewear while watching TV towards the bedtime hour is going to give you a good start in preparing for a good sleep. [11:53]

The circadian rhythm plays an important part in our overall functioning. [15:07]

The best time to have sex is around 9:00 to 10:00 AM. [17:09]

If you exercise right, you get a fantastic boost of adaptive hormones. Sprinting is very valuable. [18:35]

We are going for a testosterone boost here so learn to have a very long recovery time. [23:48]

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