How to lose weight and boost testosterone?
When you’re looking to lose weight, testosterone is often seen as the enemy — particularly if you’re trying to shed fat. However, it turns out that testosterone isn’t quite the bad guy it’s made out to be, and in fact, may actually help promote fat loss and help protect against muscle loss when you diet down. In this guide, we cover all of the different ways testosterone can influence your body composition, and give some tips on how to boost it in order to gain more muscle and lose more fat at the same time.
Why Do Testosterone Levels Matter
A lack of testosterone (sometimes referred to as low T) can slow down your metabolic function, which translates into a higher risk for weight gain. According to endocrinologist Joshua Zeichner, MD, Ph.D., director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, testosterone can affect metabolism by suppressing appetite — but only when it’s low. That’s why testosterone could benefit someone who is trying to lose weight, he says. Unfortunately, many men don’t know if their levels are low until it’s too late.
We’ve got a lot of articles in which we discuss how boosting testosterone can help you build muscle and lose fat — but if your levels are low, here’s why that matters. The main reason for your low T-levels is because there’s an enzyme called aromatase that converts testosterone into estrogen, an essential hormone for women. Higher estrogen levels can have a negative impact on body composition by increasing water retention, reducing fat loss, and accelerating muscle loss when training with weights. If you’d like more information on why boosting testosterone will improve your body composition goals, check out our extensive guide: How To Boost Your Testosterone Levels Naturally.
Get Enough Sleep
You might think testosterone levels are all about getting a sufficient amount of sleep, but that’s only one small part of it. Sleep has to be of good quality — getting plenty of high-quality sleep is equally important to maintaining healthy testosterone levels and optimizing your sleep cycle. Going to bed at different times every night or constantly waking up in the middle of deep sleep will throw off your circadian rhythm and make it difficult for you to achieve REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. This is important because REM-stage sleep restores your muscles and brain tissue after a hard day’s work, allowing you to feel rejuvenated when you wake up.
To optimize your testosterone production, try going to bed and waking up at roughly the same time every day — even on weekends. Your body cycles through several stages of sleep each night as it tries to balance periods of rest with short bursts of REM-stage sleep during which hormones such as testosterone are produced. Research (PubMed Central) shows that people who tend toward normal or low sex drives have lower overall testosterone levels than their libido-happy counterparts; they also have greater issues with poor cardiovascular health, obesity, osteoporosis, depression, and memory loss.
Eat Healthy Protein at Every Meal
Eating enough protein can help maintain healthy levels and aid in fat loss, says Ted Kyle, author of The Holy Grail Body Plan. Higher-protein diets have been shown to boost testosterone levels and are key for building muscle. That’s important because losing body fat also means that you’re likely breaking down some muscle as well. Adding protein will ensure that you keep your strength. You can find simple ways to add protein in every meal by keeping it basic: have a turkey sandwich instead of chicken, or add some beans or lentils into your salad. Sprint Workouts Help Build Muscle & Burn Fat: Sprint workouts build muscle fast, causing your muscles to burn through glycogen stores — which means burning stored fat too. As mentioned in PubMed Central, sprinting is an effective way to lose weight quickly when paired with a proper diet plan like Paleo or Keto.
Lift Weights (3 Times a Week)
Resistance training, such as weight lifting, is the best type of exercise to boost testosterone. Lifting weights is something most people can fit into their schedules 3 to 4 times a week and it will help you burn fat, build muscle, and naturally boost testosterone levels. Studies have also shown that weight lifting boosts testosterone levels more than cardio. If you want to know how to lose weight and boost testosterone levels at the same time, resistance training is the answer. Don’t Overdo It on Alcohol: Drinking too much alcohol not only lowers your testosterone levels but can also increase abdominal fat storage. Since beer has a lot of sugar in it, avoiding drinking beer is especially important if you are trying to lose weight. Also if you are going out for drinks with friends make sure you stick with one drink only. Keep calories low by getting plenty of rest so your body recovers from drinking alcohol!
