#036 Testosterone Guide for Muscle Growth

Welcome back to the 36th edition of the Boats & Logs Lifting Club. I really appreciate you being here. We are the based fitness community that focuses on mastering the basics instead of getting lost in the details.

Today, we will cover a topic that has a lot of misconceptions around it but is incredibly important for your health and general well-being: Testosterone.

I hope you enjoy this newsletter.

But before we start, here is a quick overview of what’s coming next. Are you interested in a topic I should cover in depth? Just send me a message, and I will consider adding it.

• July 7th: June Q&A

• July 14th: Bodyweight Program

• July 21st: Creatine Guide

What is testosterone?

In today’s world -and especially on social media- testosterone has become a buzzword to generate views and make money.

Nobody really knows what it really means or does besides that it is “THE male hormone that will turn you into a sex machine and will grow your beard and muscle”. Then, some random juiced-up masculinity influencer will show you a graph that testosterone in men is declining and will tell you to buy his supplements to grow muscle like he has.

I don’t need to tell you that this is (mostly) bs.

At the most basic level, testosterone is a hormone. And the reason it is mainly considered a male hormone is because men have it at a considerably higher level than women.

Besides supporting muscle growth, high testosterone levels are crucial for a physically and psychologically healthy life. High testosterone levels are associated with increased libido and fertility, general mood, energy, stronger bones, and heart health.

Suffering lower testosterone levels can result in one or multiple of these factors being negatively affected.

But as you are reading this newsletter, you probably care most about testosterone’s impact on muscle growth, which we will look at next.

How important is testosterone for muscle growth?

To address this question, we have to start with an “it depends”. Let me explain to you what I mean:

Example 1: A female lifter who works out regularly and cares about her diet will still build significantly less muscle than an average male lifter. And one of the key reasons for that is that the testosterone level in men is significantly higher than in women.

Example 2: When the male lifter now also starts to inject steroids, he will almost instantly make significant progress in the gym and add more muscle mass than he could naturally. And one of the key reasons for that is that steroids increase testosterone levels significantly.

From these examples, it is clear that testosterone is important for building muscle. But we are also looking at two extremes.

For the average male, even with low testosterone, naturally improving testosterone may cause a big relative increase (maybe even >100%), but the total amount is not as significant.

If you came here expecting that improving your testosterone naturally will significantly accelerate your muscle growth, I have to disappoint you.

Ignoring cases where people have low testosterone levels due to aging or health problems, increasing testosterone naturally will have no measurable impact on muscle growth. You could argue that increased energy from testosterone will help with muscle growth, but that’s only an indirect effect.

To build muscle, you need consistent hard workouts, nailing your diet, and, of course, time. Optimizing testosterone doesn’t help much (if you want to stay natural).

But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t aim to have healthy testosterone levels. As we have discussed before, you should always try to have healthy testosterone levels.

And luckily, it’s not that hard to achieve.

Natural ways to increase testosterone

We will not discuss supplements that are supposed to boost testosterone, as those are nearly always useless (speaking of over-the-counter supplements only). Instead, we will discuss how to achieve healthy testosterone levels naturally.

When discussing natural ways to boost testosterone, people jump to ice baths, raw eggs, or whatever sounds fancy on social media. And while it’s true that most things can help increase testosterone, the effect is rather marginal.

Instead, you should focus on what really matters, and that’s fixing your lifestyle. Because nowadays, our hormones (including testosterone) are oftentimes in an unhealthy state. And we need to fix this unhealthy lifestyle first before we can think about small actions to optimize our testosterone further.

Otherwise, it’s like a leaking bottle. You shouldn’t focus on adding new water again; instead, focus on fixing the leaks.

To fix our testosterone, the general advice would be to do the opposite of what the majority of the population is doing. Or phrased differently: Apply common sense and live a healthy life.

Do you think the Romans, Greeks, or even your grandparents thought about increasing their testosterone?

Of course not.

Evolution designed our bodies to operate healthy and efficiently without much effort. The only problem is that we manipulate ourselves with our lifestyle decisions.

So, you need to design a healthy life. And here are a few pillars to have healthy testosterone levels by simply living a healthy life.

1. Lose Fat

   There is a clear negative correlation between your BMI and your testosterone levels. The higher the body fat, the lower your testosterone. Therefore (and for countless other reasons), losing body fat should be your priority. You should keep your body fat in the range of 10-15% for the majority of the year to ensure a good foundation for healthy testosterone levels. Going below that for longer periods of time can also have a negative impact on your testosterone level.

2. Sleep

   Do you know these influencers who are proud of sleeping only 5 hours per night? That’s one of the worst things you can do if you want to have a healthy testosterone level, as your body’s testosterone production peaks during your sleep. Get at least 6 hours, or better +7 hours of sleep every night.

3. Stress

   Oftentimes, it's easier said than done, but you should avoid stress. Stress increases cortisol, which slows down your testosterone production. That doesn’t mean that you should never be stressed, as this is obviously not realistic. But what you should avoid is chronic stress - not only for testosterone but also for the sake of your general health.
   

4. Diet

   Also, what you eat has an impact on your testosterone levels. Generally, being in a slight calorie surplus is beneficial for testosterone. When you are dieting and restricting your body of calories (energy), your body may start producing less testosterone as a result. But you should see this in the light of point 1 and don’t build unnecessary body fat.
   Regarding your general diet, you absolutely DON’T need to eat raw eggs or bloody steak to optimize your testosterone level.
   Instead, apply common sense and eat a whole food-based diet most of the time. Dietary fats are your friend here, as they are crucial to your hormone health (building and regulating). Additionally, vegetables are important for providing you with micronutrients and blocking some conversion of testosterone to estrogen.
   

5. Avoid alcohol and junk food

   Getting drunk regularly is incredibly bad for your testosterone level, as it increases cortisol and accelerates the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. Drinking 1-2 beers every now and then won’t hurt your testosterone level in a meaningful way, but if you are getting drunk 1-2 times per week, you should reconsider your alcohol consumption.
   If it wasn’t clear from part 4 that you should eat a whole food-based diet, you should minimize the amount of junk food/highly processed food you consume. Besides being nutrient-poor, these foods oftentimes contain a lot of sugar and trans fats. All of these factors will negatively impact your testosterone level.

6. Sunlight

   Sunlight also helps you to improve testosterone production by producing vitamin D3. Assuming you are studying or working an office job, there isn’t really “too much” sunlight you can get. Try to get at least 30 minutes a day. You can also combine this with a walk, which will help you to lose fat.

7. Working out/Training

   The role of training in improving testosterone is often overstated. While heavy training is proven to increase testosterone, this increase is only short-term. Also, longer workouts (>60/75 min) can decrease your testosterone level as your body starts producing more cortisol, which—again—decreases your testosterone level.

   However, working out has multiple indirect effects that have a positive impact on testosterone.
   → It helps you to burn fat
   → It helps you to improve your sleep
   → It motivates to focus on a healthy lifestyle

As you can see, most of the things I have listed above are things that you should do anyway to live a healthy life.

If you do these things right, the odds are quite good that you have healthy testosterone levels. If you experience symptoms of low testosterone (e.g. lack of libido and low energy) or just want to be better informed about your testosterone levels, you should consider getting your bloodwork done.

Please note that we didn’t cover the natural decrease of testosterone in aging men. To combat this, you should consult together with a medical professional about possible solutions.

The based guide for…

Testosterone!

Having healthy testosterone levels should be one of your key health priorities. It won’t help you much to build muscle but will at least noticeably impact your mood positively (assuming you had low testosterone levels before).

To achieve healthy testosterone levels, you should generally live a healthy lifestyle. Focus on having around 10-15% body fat for the majority of the time, sleeping well, and eating a whole food-based diet.

If you want to increase muscle growth, put your energy into hard workouts and be consistent with your diet instead of optimizing testosterone.

Thank you for reading today's newsletter. If you have further questions, simply DM me on Instagram.

If this newsletter was helpful to you, please consider sharing it with a friend (https://boats-logs.beehiiv.com/subscribe) to spread the word and support the Boats & Logs community and the work I put into it.

Stay strong,
Boats & Logs

Disclaimer

This is not Legal, Medical, or Financial advice. Before starting any workout program, diet plan, or supplement protocol, please consult a medical professional. These are the opinions from an AI voice.