Testosterone: Optimal level, tips for natural increase or positive and negative factors that affect it
With the word testosterone, many people are likely to think of words like gritter, steroids or doping. We will look at this important hormone from the point of view of a natural exerciser, so we will not pay close attention to these attributes today. You will find out if you have an optimal level of testosterone, which affects it positively and negatively, such as testosterone and exercise, how to increase testosterone in kind and you have a supply of facts supported by science.
But first, the basics. Testosterone is a hormone that is produced predominantly in the testes (partly in the adrenal cortex) and its production and production is controlled by luteinizing hormone (LH) and is produced from cholesterol. In skeletal muscle, testosterone plays a major role in the synthesis of myofibrial proteins, and it is in this way that it contributes significantly to muscle hypertrophy. It is one of the four androgenic hormones that is typical of men, but it is also available to women, albeit in a much smaller amount (approximately 14 times less). To make matters worse, there are three forms of testosterone - albumin, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and free testosterone. The value of free testosterone is important for muscle mass building. Now, for many, there seems to be an unpleasant surprise, as its value is only about 2% of the total amount of testosterone in the blood.
Do you have optimal testosterone levels in your blood?
The natural limit is stated to be in the range of 264 to 916 ng / dl; in the simplest terms, the range is 300 to 900 ng / dl, although the above limit can also be found. Of course, it depends on the particular laboratory that performs the tests. In some countries you can meet other units, but almost in the same range - 2.8 to 8 ng / ml. A little help - for example, use this page for conversion. These are total testosterone values in the blood and, interestingly, such a test is around € 7.5, with the fact that once a year you should be entitled to free of charge with your urologist. Of course, it is also possible to test free testosterone, which should range from 9 to 30 ng / dl (in our country 30.9 -147.5 pmol / l). This test is already more expensive, around 17.5 €. The blood testosterone level is highest in the early morning hours and gradually decreases over the course of the day, so it is necessary to take it in the morning. If you want to compare the tests more than once, it is ideal to take them at the same morning and ideally have your testosterone measured.
Maximize testosterone levels in a natural way. What negatively affects it?
If it is not a specific disease, it will mostly be a combination of several factors where we can include, for example:
Lack of sleep and its poor quality - There are several studies, but eg. in this it was found that shortening the sleep time from more than 8 hours to less than 5 hours in five consecutive days results in a testosterone drop in the range of 10-15%. On the other hand, there was no difference even after five days of sleep reduction, with only four hours of sleep in the original 10 hours. However, keep in mind that the absence of sleep for 33 hours continuously (one party upside down) resulted in a 27% drop in testosterone levels. In these studies, total testosterone was addressed. So if you want to maximize testosterone in kind, one of the important points will be sleep.
Caloric deficit - creates only a temporary decline, which returns to normal quickly after returning to the caloric level, and therefore the inclusion of refeeds is of great importance in this respect. The higher and the longer the deficit, the lower the testosterone, so competition contestants who prepare themselves in kind should be particularly aware of this issue. In healthy individuals in a state of hypogonadism (low levels of self-testosterone) that is caused by a caloric deficit, jumps can be made relatively large and fast, even 85% (from 1 to 1.88 ng / ml) in a single day if significant increase calorie consumption (personal observation based on measurements, author's note). This does not mean that it will work similarly if you are at normal levels. The decrease occurs in both total and free testosterone.
Overweight, respectively. Obesity - Too high a percentage of body fat reduces natural testosterone levels in both adolescents and adults. It can be said that the testosterone level in most of them decreases directly in proportion to the degree of overweight.
Low body fat percentage - reduces natural testosterone levels. Recommendations - stick to the optimal, healthy and sustainable body fat limit for most of the year, some of which are higher, others lower. Exact number does not exist, but generally - men 10 -15%, women 18 - 25%.
Excessive alcohol intake - reduces testosterone and can potentially increase estrogen in men. Paradoxically, low alcohol intake caused an acute increase in testosterone, and even post-training "supplementation" in an amount equivalent to about five cops of vodka increased both total and free testosterone. Before you jump into Tesco for a bottle of this testosterone booster water, consider that it was probably due to a reduced testosterone muscle fiber withdrawal, in other words, little in the muscles, much in the bloodstream. Likewise, consider practicing with the monkey extends the time your testosterone is reduced. We may agree that alcohol and exercise do not go together.
Other factors include overtraining, where we can re-emphasize deloading in training cycles, rapid weight loss, zinc and vitamin D deficiency, endurance sports, stress and age.
What has a positive effect on testosterone?
First of all, it is calorie intake at least at maintenance values, respectively. calorie excess and a sufficient amount of fat is important within calories. We are talking mainly about moving from a low-fat diet to a fat-optimized diet, which can vary depending on personal preference ranging from 20 to 40% of total daily calories. In a study comparing low-fat vs. high-fat While high-fat diet total testosterone increased by 13%, free did not. If we look at it from a different angle, the transition from consuming 100 grams of fat per day to less than 20 grams in two weeks reduced the level of free testosterone (about 17%) in two weeks. The consumption of saturated fats may have a positive effect on testosterone, so we should also have some of them in our diet. Omega-3 consumption does not seem to help in this respect. Increased consumption of trans fats has a significant negative impact on both total (-15%) and free testosterone (-17.5%), but this should not be exaggerated even with polyunsaturated (PUFA) consumption. Comparison of vegans and omnivores on this issue revealed that vegans had a 7% higher total testosterone and SHBG by 23%, but at the same time a 3% lower free testosterone. In terms of reproduction fine, in terms of building muscle mass so not. So it would seem, the more fat in the diet the better, right? Not quite, because in this study the hockey team switched from consuming 40% fat and 45% carbohydrates to consuming 30% fat and 55% carbohydrates from total calories and the result? There was an increase in both total and free testosterone compared to the second group.
Next, they are women. This need not be elaborated or justified by research, although of course there are some. It is enough that a pretty woman with a great ass in leggings is squatting in the gym and the progressive increase of the wheels of local exercisers reaches a year maximum. Even plain talking to an attractive woman can help testosterone levels. So you know what to say to your partner in the evening?
Mini-summary:
Total fat intake should be around 20-40% of the daily calories. Saturated as well as monounsaturated (MUFA) sources are a suitable source for increased testosterone production. higher consumption of PUFAs has the opposite effect, so when they are consumed frequently, the total fat consumption is in the lower band of fat calories given by us. And if you have a woman with you when preparing some of that food, score up.
How does exercise affect testosterone?
The hormonal response of our body to training depends on several factors. Exercise can cause an acute increase in circulating testosterone in the blood depending on the number of muscles involved, the intensity of training, the length of the straps or previous training, as well as adaptation to a particular form of exercise. This increase is manifested mainly after relatively short, high-intensity exercises such as strength training and HIIT, respectively, while decreasing tendency during endurance activities, especially at marathon and utlramarathon. The old known - larger weights and complex exercises = higher testosterone levels after training - is a true claim, but the increase in testosterone in these cases lasts only for a relatively short period of time, because it is an acute increase in post-training levels, in other words in terms of muscle building. In this case, the rule of progressive load increase is clearly the main factor. Therefore, one more marginal note. Just because you are training your legs and triceps does not mean that it will grow better than when you only practice triceps. In other words, placing the legs at the beginning of the training solely in order to increase testosterone, which will have a positive effect on better growth e.g. triceps or biceps did not work because it has only the above mentioned acute effect.
And, as with long-term exercise, increases total testosterone levels? Those who have a normal level and are already actively practicing will not benefit from other benefits. On the other hand, those who have a lowered level or are just beginning to exercise can benefit from testosterone. We can say that initially, exercise has potential in this direction, and the level gradually stabilizes within the natural range.
Is movement within the normal range meaningful? If you take a test and find yourself in the normal range, albeit in the lower half, you don't have to despair now, because it doesn't yet have a major negative impact on your muscle gains. In the words of L. Norton, there is no linearly increasing link between low testosterone levels (hypogonadism) and levels above average (when taking steroids), because increasing natural testosterone levels within natural boundaries has no effect on other muscle gains.
Can't there be any difference? However, it seems that if you go from the very lower limit of the norm (260 ng / dl and 2.6 ng / ml, respectively) to a medium level (570 ng / dl and 5.7 ng / dl, respectively). In this case, differences are shown, because in this study group no. 3 with testosterone at the above-mentioned mean level in the 20 weeks without exercise, gained 3 kg of pure muscle mass while gaining only between 0.3 and 0.8 kg of fat compared to group no. 1. with a lower limit of normal, which has gained a minimum amount of muscle (up to 0,4 kg) but has gained between 1,5 and 3,6 kg of fat. So the difference is considerable. It should be mentioned, first, that they were in a calorie excess, consuming only 1.2 g of protein per kg of TH and not training for 20 weeks. It has only one hook, exogenously administered testosterone, but at a dose that was held by subjects in Group # 3. 3 within the biological limits. Ultimately, there is probably some relevance to these conclusions.
Of course, the effort should always be to get from the low level to the normal level - eg. from 150 to at least 300, or at least to said center. The question is whether moving from 500 to 800 would do anything else, some future study must give a definite answer, and I would therefore refer to the words of Norton. I would also like to contribute personal experience, because lower (but still normal) levels were not a determining factor in whether or not I was able to progress. Although my level is always between 2.8 and 5 ng / ml during caloric excess (I had a maximum of 5.5, and I have had more than 20 donations over 3 years…), I was able to make good progress, strong and muscular.
Testosterone is an important hormone that is affected by many factors mentioned in the article and its long-term natural deficiency (levels below 2.8 ng / ml and 280 ng / dl, respectively) may be one of the limiting factors in your progress. Once in the optimum range, movement within it may provide a potential benefit, at least in terms of movement from the lower to the intermediate level of the optimum level. Even lower natural levels allow you to build a handsome muscular body and strength in your efforts. Therefore, before you have a few darts in the back of a urologist nurse in his outpatient clinic (in the best case) or your sweaty friend after the training (in the worst case), try to eliminate the factors that may be causing this low level.
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