So you’ve gotten yourself a gym membership. You said to yourself that it was time you improved your physique. You go to the gym everyday and work yourself to exhaustion. It’s been a few weeks now and you’ve barely noticed any improvement. This is when you reach for assistance, namely steroids. Wait! Before you potentially cause more harm to yourself than good; read on for a safe way to naturally improve your free testosterone levels. Truth is about to pop you right in the mouth with the fact that what we’re talking about is something you’ve already got, not something from some supplement store, or even worse from some back alley or a shady gym locker room. We’re talking about fats and carbohydrates.
Keep your shirt on, Hulk. Before you start raiding your pantry and knocking down tons of peanut butter sandwiches let’s understand what’s going on.
When you start dieting to lose weight you do the basics; eat fewer calories, and cut out fat. That’s a good thing because a low fat diet has been shown to induce weight loss. The reasoning behind this is fats are very calorie dense meaning that the amount of calories per serving is much higher in a high fat food compared to a low fat food. To put in perspective a ¼ stick of butter has over 200 calories, and it weighs only 1 oz. That’s 200 calories per ounce, ya see. Compare that to a good ol’ chicken breast per serving (4oz) at 140 calories you’re getting 35 calories per ounce. See the difference? So imagine the amount of butter you’d have to eat to feel full, gross. This is why a low fat diet is conducive for fat loss. You lower your fat intake you lower your calorie consumption, science!
Now this is good and all. You’ll probably start noticing some weight loss and maybe even new muscles starting to surface. But wait there’s a catch! (always with the catches) A diet low in fat is also problematic. What was the reason you clicked on this article; increase testosterone, right? Well, while a diet low in fat is favorable for “cutting” it also causes a decrease in testosterone production, that’s bad for dudes. So, what’s a dude to do?
Again, this is an effective strategy to keep testosterone from dropping for someone who is in the “cutting phase” of a diet. For someone who is “bulking” having a hormonal imbalance isn’t so much an issue as long as you eat whole foods (not donuts, and such).
Give this a shot. While keeping fat consumption to an absolute minimum (no more than 10g per meal, across 6 meals); twice a week add a sufficient amount of fat to your diet (around 20g per meal, across 6 meals). This will in a sense confuse your body, and stave off that dreaded testosterone dip. On these “Fat Days” be careful what fats you choose, it’s not free range to load up on deep fried candy bars covered in cheese. Emphasize your diet to get your fat from beef, egg yolks, olive oil, etc. All of these foods have pronounced effects on increasing testosterone levels. We also do “leg day” on “fat day” since exercising the legs has also been show to increase testosterone levels, see what we did there? Check out our workout generator for a free leg workout!
The other aspect to consider is carbohydrate intake. When dieting, it is also wise to keep carb intake low. Carbohydrates do things that dieters don’t want; they encourage water retention, and fat storage. These things will make you gain weight. Is it a bad thing? No, if you’re “bulking” this is essentially what you’re doing. Most bodybuilders, most, actually bulk on a decent amount of weight during their off season because carbohydrates are a crucial part to muscle development. However, when it is time for them to do their “cutting” or for the average weight conscious individual “start dieting” cutting carbs down significantly is the first step to weight loss. Except (and here is the trick) on one day, some of you may call it “cheat day”, you eat a copious amount of carbohydrates; something like 3 times your body weight in grams. You may be wondering to yourself “I thought cheat day was just a day to eat stuff I can’t usually eat?” Well, in a sense it is because most of the “bad” stuff you eat is carb high (Pizza, doughnuts, etc.). However, the origin behind cheat day is much more science than overindulgence. The true purpose is to manipulate your hormones to give you more testosterone! Now, if you have an understanding of hormonal responses, what happens when you eat large amounts of carbohydrates? Exactly, your insulin levels spike. This is the mindset behind “cheat day”. When you’re dieting your insulin levels will be lower due to less carbohydrate intake. Good and bad. With decreased insulin levels increases SHBG levels. SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin) does what its name implies: binds to the sex hormone (in this case testosterone). This binding traps the testosterone and keeps it in the bloodstream rather than being sent towards developing those precious muscles. So, we devote one day where we eat all the carbohydrates we can. Spike that insulin, and abolish the testosterone!
So, the next time you’re in the gym locker room or walking down the street and a figure emerges from the shadows with offerings of artificial glory, say no thanks my cheat day is on Sunday.
Spike that insulin, and abolish the testosterone!
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