5 FITNESS TIPS TO BOOST YOUR TESTOSTERONE LEVELS NATURALLY AND LOSE LOCKDOWN LOVE-HANDLES

Summer is just around the corner and time to dust off the board shorts. Traditionally this is the time we come out hibernation and start paying more attention to our health and looks.

However, lockdown has taken its toll on our waistlines. A survey carried out by OnePoll for Cambridge WeightPlan found that 44% of men are likely to put on weight during lockdown, with over 16% putting on more than 5lbs, and 2% putting on more than a stone.

If you were one of them, you may be desperately wanting to shift the love handles and tone up. To add insult to injury, with every inch that your waist went up your testosterone levels will have come down.

Obesity is one of the key lifestyle factors driving the rapid global deceleration in testosterone levels. Men’s levels are at an all-time low and yours is likely to be half of that of your grandfather. Deficiency is occurring faster than ever and impacting younger men. With 1 in 4 now deficient.

Low T leaves men at risk of depression, fatigue, osteoporosis and loss of libido impacting men’s long-term health, mood and often negatively impacts relationships.

The good news is there’s plenty of ways that men can boost their levels naturally and optimise their health. Time to dust off the trainers and bring sexy back.

1. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

There is a lot of research to back up the idea that this type of work out increases testosterone levels. It’s also great for any men who are carrying extra weight as obesity is wreaking havoc with T levels.

For newbies on the block, workouts range for 10-30 minutes in duration but involve short bursts of intense exercise alternated with low-intensity recovery periods

Good examples of HIIT sessions which torch calories include:

Total Body Workout – Perfect for anyone wanting to train at home as this works indoors or out with no equipment needed. Perform each exercise with maximal intensity for 4-6 rounds with a 60-second rest after each circuit.

Do each exercise for 45 seconds.

Suicide Burpees

Alternating Lunge Jumps

Tuck Jumps

Mountain Climbers

Low Plank to High Plank

Kettlebell Swings – Kettlebells have gained huge popularity in recent years. Kettlebells swings are known to burn more calories than running and is a perfect compound exercise recruiting more muscles for a better-rounded workout.

They are also a winner for anyone with knee or ankle injuries as they avoid impact. You can buy them cheaply online and create a routine from workouts online based on your knowledge and expertise. We recommend buying kettlebells from Wolverson Fitness as their competition kettlebells are what we use at battleboxpt.com

2. Take More Breaks – weird but true

Studies show that while short rest periods can be great for some things, such as metabolism and growth hormone production, testosterone production is best achieved with longer rest periods. Try to have rest periods of at least 2 minutes between each set. Either take a breather or do an alternative exercise stimulating other muscles.

3. Learn To Love Leg Day

Working the body’s biggest single muscle groups, your glutes and legs, packs a huge T-hit. Yet a lot of men tend to skip legs day and focus on upper body and arms and do so at the peril of their sex drive and muscle mass.

Studies have proven that testosterone increases were significantly higher in men who added lower body training to their upper body training. By adding legs into your training, you can boost T-levels and engaging the biggest muscle groups primes your body to burn more fat. Winner.

To rev up your T-production, add in lunges, squats and calf raises to your regime to max levels naturally. Start with body weight and with confidence and ability, add weight with dumbbells or a bar to max your workout and supercharge your man mojo.

4. Up the Resistance Training

Resistance training — more commonly known as “weight training” — involves making your muscles work against a weight force. This can be anything from weight machines and free weights to resistance bands or your own body weight. Research has shown that this sort of training is the best form of exercise to boost testosterone. The heavier you can lift, the more you can max your T levels.

If you are new to training, swap this for body weighted sessions and when you can get back into the gym hire a personal trainer for at least one session to show you the ropes, so you don’t get injured

5. Create a strong post-workout recovery period

It’s important to take a holistic approach to maximising your T-levels naturally. The actual workout is only part of the equation responsible for muscle growth, strength and endurance. Adequate recovery is important to enable the body to repair and rebuild muscles used during the workout.

Magnesium is the perfect supplement partner for boosting testosterone levels and promoting optimum benefits post training. Levels get depleted and this powerhouse mineral provides essential electrolytes the body lost in sweat. It also helps with muscle relaxation, is anti-inflammatory and has positive effects on the nervous system.

It’s common to be deficient in magnesium and other nutrients including Vitamin D. To maximise your benefits and minimise the damage of free radicals produced during training, take a daily supplement for optimal wellness. DNA’s range of men’s supplements are uniquely designed to optimise testosterone levels naturally and include 15+ key nutrients essential for men’s health.

For best results from your exercise programme, make sure you are able to train on days when you can ensure decent recovery. T levels replenish overnight during the REM cycles of sleep. The effects of sleep loss on testosterone levels are significant after even a few poor night’s sleep.

Lastly….

There is no such thing as over-training, but there is such a thing as under-resting so make sure you take the time to recover and not to pound the cardio too hard as this raises cortisol levels which wreaks havoc with T production.