From muscle growth to mood regulation, testosterone influences various aspects of your physical and mental well-being. Likewise, your testosterone levels can be influenced by your physical health and lifestyle—including the types of exercise you do.

While there are several factors that contribute to testosterone production and maintenance, incorporating targeted exercises into your fitness routine can impact your hormone levels.

Whether you’re aiming to enhance muscle growth, improve athletic performance, or simply boost your overall health, you’ll want to include these exercises to help increase testosterone levels.

 

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) involves short bursts of intense exercise followed by brief periods of rest or lower-intensity exercise. Studies show that this type of exercise is able to stimulate the body’s production of testosterone and help elevate low T levels.

When it comes to HIIT, the focus should be on the intensity of the workout, not the weight. Since these exercises are purposefully more intense, consider using lighter weights to avoid potential injury. Instead of using heavy weights, focus on doing the exercise in an intense burst for 30-40 seconds followed by at least a minute of rest.

 

Resistance Training

Meanwhile, resistance training, as the name implies, makes your muscles work against some form of resistance. This places stress on the muscles, which studies show prompts the release of testosterone to aid in muscle repair and growth.

Again, resistance training is focused on forcing your muscles to resist something—weights, gravity, your own body weight, etc.—rather than creating a short burst of intense activity. With this in mind, you should take your time with these exercises and work to complete specific numbers of reps.

 

Exercises to Help Increase Testosterone Levels

The following exercise methods can be used in high-intensity interval training, resistance training, or both to help stimulate testosterone production.

Free Weight Exercises

Free weights exercises are strength training exercises that involve the use of dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, or other types of weights that are not attached to a machine or a fixed path.

Some free weight HIIT exercises you can do include:

• Squats or squat thrusters
• Kettlebell swings
• Deadlifts
• Clean and press
• Rows
• Dumbell Russian twists

Some resistance training exercises you can use free weights for include:

• Chest fly
• Lateral raises
• Bicep curls
• Bench press
• Deadlifts
• Reverse fly

Weight or Resistance Machines

Weight or resistance machines are pieces of exercise equipment designed to provide resistance against specific muscle groups through a guided range of motion. These machines typically feature adjustable seats, handles, and weight stacks or plates to customize the resistance level according to individual strength and fitness goals.

While you can use weight machines like a rowing machine for high-intensity interval training, it’s more recommended to use free weights if you’re planning on adding weight to this type of training. Otherwise, you place yourself at a higher risk of injury by doing more intense sets on machines that are more designed for resistance and strength training.

Some weight machine resistance training exercises include:

• Leg press
• Hamstring curls
• Chest press
• Lateral pull down
• Bicep curl
• Shoulder press

Bodyweight Exercises

You don’t always need to have equipment to get in a solid workout. Bodyweight exercises are strength-training movements that use the resistance of your own body weight to challenge and strengthen various muscle groups. Bodyweight exercises are highly effective for building muscle, improving endurance, and helping increase testosterone levels.

Some bodyweight HIIT exercises include:

• Jumping jacks
• Burpees
• Box jumps
• Mountain climbers
• High knees
• Push-ups

Some bodyweight resistance training exercises include:

• Pull-ups
• Push-ups
• Squats
• Lunges
• Planks
• Crunches

 

Incorporating the right types of exercise into your fitness routine is not only beneficial for your physical health but can also help in optimizing hormone levels, especially testosterone. By regularly including these exercises to help increase testosterone levels, you can enhance muscle growth, better balance your hormones, and improve your overall well-being!

 

 

Volonte helps men regain their health and well-being through low T testing, testosterone replacement therapy, and weight-loss programs.

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