Written by Kyle Hunt | BEXSci.
Fact checked by Tyler DiGiovanni, BSBM
FACT CHECKED
Testosterone isn't just about muscles and masculinity. Of course, it is about that, but it also impacts every area of your life. Getting your testosterone in check is one of the first places to look if you want to optimize your health. Yet, our modern lifestyle is littered with pitfalls that can send Test plummeting. The fact that men's testosterone levels are falling demonstrates this. And it's not just impacting the unhealthy among us. Hardcore fitness fanatics (like you and me) are not immune to some of these mistakes.
In this article, I will unveil the top 8 testosterone killers you need to avoid at all costs. A few small changes can make a noticeable difference not only in your physique but also in how you feel on a daily basis. So, without further ado, let's get on with it.
1. Being Overweight
Being overweight is the second leading cause of decreasing testosterone levels in males, trailing only aging. And since no one has found the fountain of youth, it's the number one factor that you can control. It's not a recent discovery, either. Researchers have known that obese men have lower testosterone levels than lean men since the 1970s.¹ The problem is only more apparent now, with a higher percentage of the population struggling with body weight.
The good news is that low testosterone levels caused by obesity are entirely reversible. All you need to do is keep your body lean with regular exercise and nutrition. As a young and healthy gym goer, this might not seem like it applies to you. However, staying lean is particularly important for middle-aged and older men struggling to keep their testosterone up.² Last I checked, we all get older eventually. And when we do, it's best to do so with a lean physique.
So, the bottom line is this: regardless of your age, if you are overweight or obese, losing fat is the first step in improving your testosterone levels. It's a two-for-one deal. Not only will you look and feel better from losing weight, but also from the boost in testosterone.
2. Being Too Lean
I admit, after talking about how obesity lowers testosterone, I'm about to sound contradicting. Yes, being overweight lowers testosterone, but so does being ridiculously lean.
Let's look at natural bodybuilding to understand the toll of extreme leanness. You've probably seen a natural bodybuilder's physique on the day of the competition. It's a sight to behold: a deep tan, a chiseled mid-section, paper-thin skin, and almost no body fat. Bodybuilders look like superheroes. But this is just the outward appearance. The reality inside is a different story.
The preparation needed to get contest lean is incredibly taxing on the body, specifically testosterone levels. A bodybuilding contest prep requires months of low calories and lots of cardio as body fat is gradually stripped away. It's a form of controlled starvation. A classic case study on a natural bodybuilding competitor showed his testosterone declined from 9.22 to 2.27 ng/mL during his contest prep.³
Figure 1: Rossow, L. M., et al. (2013)
How does this apply to you? You don’t need to be a bodybuilder to diet too hard. A natural bodybuilder goes through hell to compete, but they start recovering as soon as the show ends. The super lean look is unsustainable. Yet, many people use a bodybuilder's physique as the standard for leanness. It's an unrealistic goal. Plus, pushing your body to extreme levels of leanness is a recipe for disaster for your testosterone levels. The guy in the case study got down to 4.5% body fat. Unless you are going to compete, you don't need to be that lean. A great goal for most people is to aim for 8-12% body fat as a man and 16-20% as a woman. Not only will you look great at that body fat percentage, but it's maintainable, and your testosterone won't fall off a cliff trying to achieve it.
3. Eating an Extremely Low Fat Diet
Nutrition is a cycle, with diets gaining and losing popularity as the seasons change. However, understanding what's truly "healthy" can be more challenging than keeping up with fashion trends. Low-fat diets, once a trend in the bodybuilding community, have pros and cons. While they can be beneficial from a calorie reduction standpoint, they can also lead to a drop in testosterone levels.
A comprehensive meta-analysis conducted in 2021, encompassing six studies and over 200 participants, showed a significant decrease in testosterone levels among those on low-fat diets compared to high-fat diets.⁴ It appears low-fat diets decrease testicular testosterone production.
Figure 2: Whittaker, J., & Wu, K. (2021)
I'm going to be honest. Eating too little fat is a mistake I made in the past. The truth is I love lower-fat diets. More specifically, I enjoy high-carb diets because fat and carbohydrates have an inverse relationship; more carbs equals less fat, and vice versa. But eating virtually no fat is problematic in other ways beyond just lowering testosterone. Fat is an important part of your diet because it provides energy, improves brain health, absorbs fat-soluble vitamins, promotes healthy skin and hair, and the list goes on. Plus, there are essential fatty acids you must get from your diet. These include omega-3 fatty acids found in fish like salmon.
As with most things, balance is best. Aim for at least 20% of your total calories to come from fat to optimize your natural testosterone production.
For example, if you eat 2,000 calories a day, 20% of that is 400 calories. Four hundred calories from fat (fat = 9 calories/gram) is about 45g of fat. You can eat more fat than this, but set 20% as your minimum.
4. Lack of Sleep
Ensuring you are sleeping enough is one of the best things you can do to boost your gym performance. It improves recovery, mood, energy, hunger signaling, and testosterone levels. It's almost impossible to be at your best with inadequate sleep.
The worst part is that it takes little time to see the negative impact of not sleeping enough. Research shows that even one week of inadequate sleep reduces testosterone levels in healthy young men.⁵
Figure 3: Leproult, R., & Van Cauter, E. (2011)
On paper, this is an easy one to implement. Just get your ass to sleep. Aim for 7-9 hours in bed per night. That said, it's easier said than done.
Here are a few tips to help you get more sleep.
- Get Tired: One often overlooked sleep tip is the impact of physical and mental exertion on sleep quality. I've observed that days with hard training or high cognitive demands lead to falling asleep quickly. Challenge yourself physically and mentally throughout the day to promote better sleep at night.
- Consistent Schedule: Sticking to a regular sleep schedule, even on weekends, is vital for regulating your body's internal clock. Many people try to catch up on sleep during the weekend, but this can create a never-ending cycle of trying to catch up. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
- Watch Your Caffeine Intake: I'm a big caffeine fan, but it's a double-edged sword. While it boosts alertness and workout performance, it can hinder sleep. To manage caffeine intake effectively, consider both the amount and timing. Stay under 400mg daily, roughly the equivalent of a Grande coffee at Starbucks or most pre-workouts. Also, be mindful of timing; caffeine's effects can linger for up to 6 hours, so it's wise to cut off consumption at least 8 hours before bedtime, ideally by mid-afternoon or even earlier.
5. Overtraining
There was a time when overtraining was a myth. At least, that is what the hardcore gym bros would tell you. Their explanations would center on not eating or recovering enough. While they have a point, overtraining is a real thing. If the training volume is too great or the athlete lacks enough rest, overtraining can deteriorate performance. It's different from overreaching or super-compensation. Overtraining is beyond that.
Here's the silver lining: overtraining is not a concern for most people. The real worry is often undertraining. But for those of us who thrive on pushing our limits, it's crucial to strike a balance. We must tread carefully to avoid the pitfalls of overtraining. The biggest concern is with cardiovascular exercise.
Research suggests that excessive endurance exercise training can cause anomalies in men's reproductive hormones, including low resting testosterone levels.⁶ As a rule of thumb, spend twice as much time lifting weights than doing cardio. As long as you stick to this rule, you won't have anything to worry about.
6. Drinking Too Much Alcohol
If you take your fitness seriously, you should limit alcohol consumption. It's packed with empty calories that won't do your waistline any favors. Plus, it messes with your muscle recovery, slowing down gains in strength and size. Ever notice how you're not raring to hit the gym the morning after a big night out? That's because alcohol also interferes with your sleep and motivation to exercise.
I'm not breaking any news here, but downing a bunch of booze isn't exactly a fitness booster. In addition to everything I already wrote, alcohol consumption can also lead to a decrease in testosterone levels, particularly in men. However, it's important to point out that we are discussing excessive drinking. A glass of wine or beer will make no substantial impact. However, excessive alcohol has been shown to reduce testosterone levels.⁷
The amount of alcohol you can get away with varies depending on factors like age, gender, overall health, and individual tolerance. However, moderate alcohol consumption is generally defined as up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men. This translates to about 7 drinks per week for women and 14 for men. As long as you are in this range, you are fine. Keep in mind that one drink typically means a standard 12-ounce beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits.
7. Eating a Micronutrient Deficient Diet
When it comes to your diet's impact on testosterone levels, it's less about seeking out exotic foods and more about ensuring you're getting essential micronutrients. Among these, three key players stand out: magnesium, zinc, and vitamin D.
Let's start with the minerals. Magnesium and zinc are essential for making and regulating testosterone. Magnesium helps activate enzymes that produce testosterone, while zinc assists enzymes in converting cholesterol into testosterone and keeping its levels healthy in your blood.
Not getting enough of these minerals can lower testosterone levels, so getting them from your diet or supplements is important. Research shows that supplementing with magnesium increases free and total testosterone values in sedentary people and athletes.⁸
Living indoors can make it challenging to get enough vitamin D, which is crucial for various health benefits, including testosterone production. Like magnesium, researchers found that men with low vitamin D levels had higher testosterone levels after supplementation.⁹ If you suspect you lack vitamin D, you can get a blood test to see where you are. While supplements are helpful, I suggest prioritizing natural sources of vitamin D, like sunlight, and certain foods, such as cod liver oil, salmon, milk, eggs, and liver, to keep your levels where they need to be.
8. Exposure to Environmental Toxins
Environmental toxins are hazardous substances in our surroundings, ranging from polluted air to pesticides in our food and chemicals in everyday products like plastics and cleaning supplies. Regrettably, we frequently encounter these toxins through means beyond our control.
However, one harmful chemical we can actively reduce is bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is in plastics and other consumer products. Exposure to BPA has been linked to decreased testosterone levels, particularly in young men. Research shows that BPA exposure is linked to reduced levels of serum testosterone in male adolescents.¹⁰ By avoiding plastics with BPA, like certain food containers and bottles, we can reduce our exposure to environmental toxins and safeguard our hormonal health.
Conclusion
Okay, let's do a quick review.
- If you are currently overweight, losing fat is the best way to improve your testosterone.
- However, if you are trying to maintain a shredded physique year-round, that will also zap your testosterone.
- Don't be afraid to eat some fat; it's good for you and your hormone health.
- Sleep 7-9 hours per night.
- Avoid doing too much cardio.
- You can have a drink or two, but leave the partying days behind you.
- Ensure your diet is rich in vitamins and minerals, specifically magnesium, zinc, and vitamin D.
- Lastly, avoid environmental toxins as much as possible, especially BPA.
Making any of these slip-ups on its own probably won't have a huge impact. But when you pile them all up, it starts to matter. The key? Strive for a healthy, balanced lifestyle. You do that, and it will keep your testosterone levels soaring.
References:
- Glass, A. R., Swerdloff, R. S., Bray, G. A., Dahms, W. T., & Atkinson, R. L. (1977). Low serum testosterone and sex-hormone-binding-globulin in massively obese men. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 45(6), 1211–1219. https://doi.org/10.1210/jcem-45-6-1211
- Tajar, A., et al., (2010). Characteristics of secondary, primary, and compensated hypogonadism in aging men: evidence from the European Male Ageing Study. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 95(4), 1810–1818. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2009-1796
- Rossow, L. M., Fukuda, D. H., Fahs, C. A., Loenneke, J. P., & Stout, J. R. (2013). Natural bodybuilding competition preparation and recovery: a 12-month case study. International journal of sports physiology and performance, 8(5), 582–592. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.8.5.582
- Whittaker, J., & Wu, K. (2021). Low-fat diets and testosterone in men: Systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention studies. The Journal of steroid biochemistry and molecular biology, 210, 105878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsbmb.2021.105878
- Leproult, R., & Van Cauter, E. (2011). Effect of 1 week of sleep restriction on testosterone levels in young healthy men. JAMA, 305(21), 2173–2174. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2011.710
- Hackney, A. C., & Aggon, E. (2018). Chronic Low Testosterone Levels in Endurance Trained Men: The Exercise- Hypogonadal Male Condition. Journal of biochemistry and physiology, 1(1), 103.
- Emanuele, M. A., & Emanuele, N. V. (1998). Alcohol's effects on male reproduction. Alcohol health and research world, 22(3), 195–201.
- Cinar, V., Polat, Y., Baltaci, A. K., & Mogulkoc, R. (2011). Effects of magnesium supplementation on testosterone levels of athletes and sedentary subjects at rest and after exhaustion. Biological trace element research, 140(1), 18–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-010-8676-3
- Pilz, S., Frisch, S., Koertke, H., Kuhn, J., Dreier, J., Obermayer-Pietsch, B., Wehr, E., & Zittermann, A. (2011). Effect of vitamin D supplementation on testosterone levels in men. Hormone and metabolic research = Hormon- und Stoffwechselforschung = Hormones et metabolisme, 43(3), 223–225. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0030-1269854
- Scinicariello, F., & Buser, M. C. (2016). Serum Testosterone Concentrations and Urinary Bisphenol A, Benzophenone-3, Triclosan, and Paraben Levels in Male and Female Children and Adolescents: NHANES 2011-2012. Environmental health perspectives, 124(12), 1898–1904. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27383665/
Kyle Hunt
Author