Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Anabolic Steroid Alternatives - How To Naturally Increase Testosterone Levels


Testosterone is the infamous male hormone that causes and maintains several physiological processes including muscle growth. Increasing the body's testosterone levels has been shown to rapidly build new muscle tissue. For decades, bodybuilders the world over have used synthetic testosterone called steroids to accelerate their muscular development and maximize the efficiency of their workouts.

The only problem with this approach to muscle gain is that synthetic testosterone like steroids have many side effects associated with prolonged use including severe emotional swings a.k.a "roid rage", hair loss, development of excessive body hair and body acne, as well as potentially life threatening kidney, heart, and liver problems. In other words, while steroids can help you achieve huge muscle mass gains these gains come at a terrible price; your health and well-being.

The amount of testosterone circulating through the body can naturally be increased by training in a certain way coupled with adhering to a strict diet appropriate for gaining muscle. Testosterone actually occurs naturally in both men and women just as the female hormone estrogen also occurs in both sexes. But testosterone of course occurs at much higher levels in men than in women.

Here are few ways to naturally increase your testosterone levels without resorting to taking steroids:

1. Leg exercises - Exercises that focus resistance on the legs like squats and deadlifts will actually stimulate the body to produce more testosterone than normal. If you make it a habit to exercise your legs twice per week you should experience higher levels of testosterone within a couple of weeks.

2. Intensify Your Workouts - You should perform your workout routines in such a way that you can't do additional reps at the end of each set. This means that when you have finished each set you should not be able to do one more rep. A set should never consist of more than 10 reps total and 6 is more or less ideal for boosting testosterone levels and maximizing muscle gains.

3. Zinc Supplements - Zinc is an inexpensive and naturally occurring mineral that is found in all kinds of things including cold medicine and even pennies Zinc also occurs naturally in oysters, beans, nuts, whole grains, dairy products, and several kinds of seafood. A couple of zinc caplets a day is all you need to start boosting your testosterone levels.

4. Reduce Alcohol Consumption - In addition to loading your diet with hollow calories and carbohydrates, alcohol has a tendency to reduce zinc levels which has the corresponding effect of reducing testosterone levels.

5. Monosaturated Fats - Not all fats are bad for your health. Monosaturated fats are actually good for you and typically have the effect of boosting testosterone levels in men. These kinds of fats can be found in high concentrations in most vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds

6. Avoid Stress - Depending on what you do for a living, avoiding stress may be easier said than done. But studies have shown that reducing stress levels has the effect of increasing testosterone production. If you can not reduce your stress level attempt to get at least 8 hours of sleep per night as more sleep will help you better deal with stress and thus increase your testosterone production.

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