How Testosterone Levels Affect Muscle Growth and Fat Loss

Higher testosterone levels are often equated with more muscle growth and fat loss. Is it that simple?

If you ask the average gymgoer what single physical factor most affects muscle growth and fat loss, they would probably answer “testosterone levels.”

And they’re right.

Testosterone is certainly a primary hormonal driver of muscle growth. Research has shown that anabolic steroids, which drastically raise testosterone levels, given to even young, healthy men can induce muscle growth and fat loss without any exercise whatsoever.

Thus, it would be fair to assume that the higher our testosterone levels are, the more muscle we build and the leaner we get, right?

Well, this is where things get interesting.

Testosterone Levels and Muscle Growth

We already know that dramatically elevating testosterone levels induces muscle growth.

Yes, if you take enough of the right steroids, your testosterone levels will skyrocket, and if you lift weights regularly, you will be able to achieve more muscle growth than if you were drug-free.

But here’s something that most people don’t know:

Fluctuation of testosterone levels within the physiological normal range does not affect muscle growth.

That is, if your testosterone levels are right-down-the-middle normal, and you increase them to a high-normal, you may feel a little better and notice a boost in libido…but it won’t enable you to build more muscle.

I know that sounds kind of blasphemous, but it’s actually been scientifically proven.

Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science conducted and published a study about a decade ago wherein they administered varying amounts of  testosterone enanthate along with drugs to inhibit natural testosterone production to young, healthy men for 20 weeks.

While higher testosterone levels did produce greater muscle gains, it wasn’t as pronounced as you might think.

What researchers found was that so long as testosterone levels were within the physiological normal range, between 300-1,000 ng/dl, muscle growth didn’t change very much. That is, the subjects on the low end of normal weren’t that far behind subjects on the high end in terms of muscle growth.

A statistically significant increase in muscle growth wasn’t seen until testosterone levels surpassed the top of “normal” by about 20-30%.

Now, this study does have a limitation: subjects weren’t exercising. While total amounts of muscle and strength gained would clearly have been higher if they had been weightlifting, the relationship between testosterone levels and overall muscle growth would still be seen.

This was partially demonstrated by another study, this time conducted by McMaster Universitywith young, resistance trained men.

Subjects lifted 5 times per week for 12 weeks, and followed a standard dietary protocol (high-protein intake, post-workout nutrition, etc.). The primary finding of the study was that the exercise-induced spikes in anabolic hormones like testosterone, growth hormone, and IGF-1, which all remained within physiological normal ranges, had no effect on overall muscle growth and strength gains.

That is, all subjects made gains in muscle, but the variations in the size of the hormone spikes among them had no bearing on the results.

The key takeaway here is not that you should take steroids, but that things you can do to naturally raise your testosterone levels are unlikely to affect your muscle growth.

And speaking of steroids, the above findings are in line with steroid research as well.

For instance, researchers at Maastrict University conducted an extensive review of literature related to the use of anabolic steroids and found that the muscle gains in people engaging in resistance training while on anabolic steroids mostly ranged between 2-5 kg (4.5-11 pounds) over the short term (less than 10 weeks). The largest amount of muscle growth researchers found was 7 kg (15.5 pounds) over 6 weeks of weightlifting while on steroids.

The point is this:

Even steroids don’t always dramatically increase the amount of muscle you can build (it depends what you take, in what dosages, and for how long), so what does that tell us about how fluctuations of testosterone in the normal physiological range relate to muscle growth?

As I talk about in my article on the best supplements for muscle growth, this is why buying natural testosterone boosters for muscle growth purposes is a complete waste of money. Even if they work (and most don’t), it’s just not going to help you build more muscle.

The only exception might be someone whose testosterone is at the absolute bottom of the physiologically normal range, or even below that, and who is then able to naturally increase it to the top of the range. That person would probably notice an improvement in muscle growth, not to mention overall well-being, libido, cognitive function, and so forth.

Now, I’m not saying that there’s no reason to do anything to naturally improve your testosterone levels. Improving muscle growth just isn’t on the list. Losing fat, however, is…

Testosterone Levels and Fat Loss

Unlike muscle growth, researchers at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Sciencedid find that fluctuations of testosterone within the physiological normal range had significant effects on body fat percentage.

The higher the testosterone levels, the leaner subjects were. And conversely, the lower the testosterone levels, the fatter they were. When researchers decreased certain subjects’ testosterone levels from the baseline average of 600 ng/dl to around 300 ng/dl, they saw a dramatic 36% increase in fat mass.

Although the exact mechanisms behind this aren’t fully understood just yet, research has show that testosterone directly inhibits the creation of fat cells and that low testosterone is a contributing factor to obesity.

So, doing things to naturally increase your testosterone levels can help you get and stay lean.

6 Ways to Kick Your Metabolism and Fat Loss Into High Gear

Do you want to speed up your fat loss? Here are my six favorite strategies for melting fat away as quickly as possible.

Have you ever been in the following situation?

You feel like you’re giving 110% in the gym, you’re doing cardio, and you’re eating clean…but you’re still a bit soft in the middle. What gives?

Well, what many people don’t know about getting really lean is it is really nothing more than a slow accumulation of doing a bunch of little things right. If you do only some of them right, you probably won’t get there.

At its core, all effective weight loss methods do two–and only two–things:

1) They limit the amount of food you eat.

2) They increase the amount of calories and fat you burn.

#1 is simple enough (stick to your meal plan precisely), and #2 is a matter of speeding up your metabolic rate. In this article, I want to talk more about #2.

#1

Do HIIT Cardio

Studies such as those conducted by Laval University, East Tennessee State University, Baylor College of Medicine, and the University of New South Wales have shown that shorter, high-intensity cardio sessions result in greater fat loss over time than low-intensity sessions. Research has also shown that high-intensity training is more muscle-sparing than low-intensity cardio.

Therefore, I recommend doing HIIT for all cardio, and keeping your sessions 20-30 minutes long. Here’s how it works:

1. You start your workout with 2-3 minutes of low-intensity warmup.
2. You then go all-out, as fast as possible, for 30-60 seconds (if you’re new to HIIT, 30-second intervals will be plenty, but you want to try to work toward being able to do 60-second intervals).
3. You then slow it down to a low-intensity recovery period for the same period as your high-intensity interval. Again, if you’re new to HIIT, you may need to extend this rest period to 1.5-2 times as long as your high-intensity interval. If you’re still out of breath and your heart is racing, you’re not ready to hit the high-intensity again.
4. You repeat this cycle of all-out and recovery intervals for 20-30 minutes.
5. You do a 2-3 minute cool-down at a low intensity.

You can apply the HIIT style to any type of cardio that you would normally do. You can head outside and walk and sprint, or you can hop on the elliptical trainer or recumbent bike to get it done.

#2

Lift Heavy Weights

If you’re familiar with any of my work, you know I’m a big fan of lifting heavy weights. Well, among the many benefits of lifting heavy is the fact that it helps speed up fat loss.

A study published by Greek sports scientists found that men that trained with heavy weights (80-85% of their one-rep max, or “1RM”) increased their metabolic rates over the following three days, burning hundreds more calories than the men that trained with lighter weights (45-65% of their 1RM).

Another study showed that the increased energy expenditure after lifting heavy weights ismainly derived from burning fat (and researchers weren’t sure why).

So hit the weights and hit them hard if you want to jack up your metabolic rate and in turn, speed up your fat loss.

And if you want to score extra points, focus on compound lifts like squats and deadlifts, because these are the types that burn the most post-workout calories.

#3

Avoid Consecutive Days of Rest

Doing no exercise for two days in a row can slow your metabolic rate down.

Instead of training for 5 or 6 days straight and then taking two days of complete rest, train 3 or 4 days and then take a day off, followed by another 3 – 4 days of training.

#4

Split Up Your Weight Training and Cardio

Instead of lifting for an hour or so followed by 30 minutes of cardio, split them up. Lift in the mornings and do your cardio after work, or vice versa.

Not only will this rev up your metabolic rate twice per day, keeping it constantly elevated, it can help preserve muscle.

Researchers from RMIT University worked with well-trained athletes in 2009 and found that “combining resistance exercise and cardio in the same session may disrupt genes for anabolism.” In laymen’s terms, they found that combining endurance and resistance training sends “mixed signals” to the muscles. Cardio before the resistance training suppressed anabolic hormones such as IGF-1 and MGF, and cardio after resistance training increased muscle tissue breakdown.

Several other studies, such as those conducted by Children’s National Medical Center, theWaikato Institute of Technology, and the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland), came to same conclusions: training for both endurance and strength simultaneously impairs your gains on both fronts. Training purely for strength or purely for endurance in a workout is far superior.

Cardio before weightlifting also saps your energy and makes it much harder to follow tip #2.

#5

Eat Spicy Foods

Spices such as red pepper and cayenne can actually increase your metabolic rate and thus help with fat loss. They also go great with chicken and other lean meats, and veggies too, which makes them perfect for making cutting a bit more enjoyable.

#6

Don’t Drink Your Calories

Liquid calories are a disaster when you’re cutting.

They’re way too easy to consume when you don’t even have an appetite, they don’t fill you up when you do, and most are full of sugar, which keeps your insulin spiked (which in turn leads to more fat storage).

Instead of drinking juice, sodas, sugary teas or coffee drinks, etc., stick to water, plain tea (or sweeten it with a natural sweetener like stevia or Truvia), black coffee, or other no-calorie beverages.

Summary

If you’re planning on losing weight or are currently struggling with it, try incorporating each of the tips above. As long as your diet is in the right place, your body won’t be able to do anythingbut  melt away the fat!

Aztec Bean and Eggplant Salad with Raw Jicama Chip

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Instructions

In a saucepan place bell pepper, celery, chile, garlic, herbs, salt, Tabasco and water; cook over medium low heat uncovered for about 15 minutes or until all the water has evaporated. Remove from heat and discard the bay leaf and thyme. Put the cooked ingredients in a bowl to cool. Roast the tomatoes in the oven or on a Comal until softened and cooked. Sauté the eggplant in a non-stick pan with several sprays of coconut oil and no more than ½ teaspoon walnut oil for about 8 minutes or until soft and cooked. Add the tomatoes, cooked eggplant and fresh scallions to the bowl and combine. Adjust taste.

Gently massage ½ teaspoon of walnut oil on the lettuce greens and arrange on a plate. Put at least 1 ½ cups of the cooked salsa and the beans on top. Scatter with artichoke hearts and olives around the edge of the plate and arrange the crisp jicima chips on top of the salad.

Recipe Information:

Calories: 350
Fat: 55

Ingredients

• White Beans (full) — 1/2 cup
• Romaine Lettuce — 1 1/2 cups
• Eggplant peeled and diced — 1 cup
• 2 Medium Roma Tomatoes — or 10 Cherry Tomatoes roasted and diced
• Scallions (white end only) — 3
• Water — 3/4 cup
• Stalk Celery diced — about 1/4 cup
• Red Bell Pepper diced — 1/3 cup
• Garlic minced — 1 Teaspoon
• Jalapeno minced — 3 Tablespoons or to taste
• Bay Leaf — 1
• Sea Salt — Pinch
• 1 Sprig Thyme — or ½ Teaspoon dried
• Tabasco — 3-4 Teaspoons
• Artichoke Hearts — 3
• Kalamata olives — 4
• Jicama Slice (5 inch circle cut into 3 triangles)— 1
• Walnut Oil — 1 Teaspoon

ariix product details

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