If you're looking for ways to boost your testosterone level, start by looking at your daily habits. "I never prescribe testosterone alone without talking to men about their lifestyle," says Martin Miner, MD, co-director of the Men's Health Center at the Miriam Hospital in Providence, R.I.

Some changes that are good for your overall health could also provide benefits in helping to maintain a healthy level of this important male hormone.

There are countless different methods you can use to naturally boost testosterone. Testosterone is so valuable to us men, that there have been hundreds of different scientific studies into what kind of foods, activities, lifestyles, etc., impact testosterone.

 
Different methods work better for different people, and it can depend a lot on your circumstances. If you are greatly sleep-deprived and live a stressful life, then improving sleep and reducing stress will elevate your testosterone levels a lot. As I mention below, good sleep is a very important factor for boosting testosterone, but if you are already sleeping well 8 hours a day, then you need to look to other methods to help boost your testosterone further.

From all the research I’ve done, here are some of the most important and potentially most powerful ways to naturally boost your testosterone levels. 

↚

1. Heavy Weight Strength Training

Few things are going to boost your strength level like strength training will. But, in order for it to be maximally effective, you need to hoist the heavy iron. This is what builds more lean muscle mass an in turn, creates a flurry of anabolic hormones running through your body.

Studies have found that regardless of your age, you can still see improvement in testosterone through heavy lifting. Don’t ever think you’re too old to make a difference. With some hard work, you can see noticeable results. 

2. Choose Your Exercises Well

Okay, so we’ve established that heavy lifting is a must if you’re going to flood your body with testosterone. But to that, you also need to choose your exercise well.

Hit the gym for a good ol’ guns workout and you won’t be creating much of an anabolic effect. On the other hand, if you push yourself with heavy squats, bench presses, deadlifts, and rows, you’ll be creating an impact on your physique.

The more muscles you can work in any given second, the more testosterone you release.

And ditch the machines. Studies illustrate you get more testosterone release from squats than leg press for instance.

 3. Stress-Less

Life can get stressful at times, there’s no denying that, but if you would call your life as one big stressful merry-go-round, it’s time that you got off that ride.

Stress is going to wreak havoc on your testosterone levels, not to mention causing your body to secret another hormone in its place – cortisol. This hormone actually primes your body for lean muscle mass loss along with fat gain, especially in the abdominal region while decreasing testosterone. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1470424/)

The more you stress, the more you move away from your goals. It’s that simple. Get control over your stress levels and you’ll see noticeable results.

4. Have More Real Sex

We know that testosterone boosts a man’s libido, but does it work the other way round? Could it be that having more sex can boost testosterone levels? Tell me this is so!

Well, a study back in the 1990’s suggests it is. The study looked at four couples on days that they did and did not have sex. Testosterone levels were found to increase on intercourse nights after sex, and did not increase on nights without intercourse. The study suggested it was sex that caused high testosterone, and not high testosterone that resulted in sex.

Other studies suggest that just the anticipation of sex leads to increased testosterone levels. And looking at it the other way round, studies also show that lack of sex leads to lower testosterone levels.

5. Compete In Something

You can benefit from testosterone boosts of 20-30% and more, simply by developing a competitive mindset.

Though testosterone is produced down below in the testes, your brain ultimately decides how much testosterone your testes will produce. It starts with the hypothalamus in the brain, which secretes gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). GnRH signals the pituitary gland in your brain to secrete luteinizing hormone (LH), which goes to the testes and stimulates testosterone production.

When the brain thinks you need more testosterone (e.g. in anticipation of sex), it releases more GnRH, and more LH, and hence you get more testosterone. One thing your brain sees as a cue for stimulating testosterone production, is competition.