This article was originally authored by Ben Greenfield. It was significantly updated by Brock Armstrong on March 2, 2020.
According to the Harvard Medical School, more than a third of men over age 45 may have reduced levels of testosterone. Many women also show symptoms of testosterone deficiency, especially as they approach menopause. Aside from accepting your fate or popping a pill, there are some workout strategies you can use to help increase this important hormone.
What is testosterone?
Testosterone is a major sex steroid hormone that plays many roles for both men and women. It helps us increase lean muscle mass, maintain a healthy body composition, and maintain adequate bone density. Testosterone is found in humans and some animals. In men, testosterone is produced in the testicles. Women make testosterone in their ovaries, albeit in smaller amounts.
The brain and pituitary gland control the levels of testosterone produced by your body. Once it's produced, it moves through the blood to carry out many important tasks. The production of testosterone increases during puberty and then begins to drop later in middle-age.
Why is testosterone important?
Beyond helping you have a nice body, testosterone is crucial to good health. Low levels of testosterone, in both men and women, can lead to a number of health conditions, including increased risk of depression, low sex drive, obesity, and osteoporosis.
Low levels of testosterone, in both men and women, can lead to a number of health conditions.
Men with low testosterone tend to have higher rates of heart disease, depression, and even dementia. Women with low testosterone can lose muscle mass more rapidly and gain weight more easily.
There are entire industries built around supplements, pharmaceuticals, superfoods, light therapy, and other more dubious methods for increasing testosterone. Instead of spending a ton of money on the problem, let's look at six simple movement-based strategies for increasing testosterone without actually swallowing any questionable supplements.
The role of exercise in increasing testosterone
Before we get specific, it's important to note that getting any type of exercise can increase testosterone. A 2016 paper from the Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and...
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