(One for the old boys)
Testosterone is the king of all hormones, it’s responsible for building slabs of lean muscle and burns body fat like a blowtorch on butter. It gives you relentless drive and determination and puts a burning fire in your belly to get shit done. Remember when you were in your twenties? You could train every day, your shoulders never ached and your knees never woke up the house in the middle of the night. You ate whatever you wanted, and getting fat was the last thing you ever worried about. You were bullet proof without a worry in the world.
Slowly the years past, slowly your youth faded and you my friend, well you got old.
Being in shape used to be easy but now it’s so much slower and so much damn harder. Most of the time it’s an effort to train, a big long day at work will 9 times out of 10 see you head straight home to sit in front of the idiot box until you pass out. When you do manage to drag yourself to training all you seem to be doing is simply maintaining what you have. You can’t lose your guts no matter how hard you try. Your determination and drive is extinguished along with your wiped out libido. You’re battered, worn out and tired all the time.
Gentleman we are too low in testosterone.
It no longer courses through our veins like it did back in the day. As we advance through the years us blokes loose testosterone, no matter what. Whether we like it or not that’s just part of getting old. Age, stress, bills, work, kids, training, it all adds up, leaving us a shadow of our former selves.
But we don’t have to accept it, we just have to bring our levels back up and I’m going to tell you how.
What if I was to tell you that it’s something we can fix pretty easily over time? We don’t have to train harder or eat less, it’s quite the opposite in a way. It’s going to take some habits and changes from your end. However you can get yourself back into great shape by incorporating these simple strategies.
Building muscle and burning body fat is still something we can train for with optimal returns.
First step
First things first get your lazy ass to your doctor and get a full blood test done.
I was shocked but not really surprised to find out my testosterone was terribly low. Once you know your levels things can start to make sense.
This is one of the main reasons nothing has changed all this time. This is the reason you don’t feel like a man anymore, this why you’re a big sook and you feel flat as a pancake. We need to breathe new life back into your decaying shell and bring back the beast we used to be.
How to be hard as nails again 1.0.1
Hit the gym.
If you’re not lifting weights in the gym I suggest you get to a gym and start lifting. Weights training increases a huge positive testosterone production response. Running around the streets for hours and jumping around with all that meta fit crap will not. Sprinting and short bursts of high intensity intervals are kick ass for crushing body fat and building up your dragon’s blood. If you can’t stand gyms get yourself a barbell, some dumbbells and some weight plates and train in your garage at home.
As long as you are wielding mother iron, you will be on your way to being a man again.
For those who are already at the gym.
Stop lifting so damn heavy and stop training to failure. Always leave 2 reps in the bank. Training heavy and training to failure all the time will you leave you fried. There is nothing fun or positive about being constantly fatigued and being the owner of a plummeting dismal sex drive. Save a bit of energy for when you get home.
Leave all heroic stuff to the young guns in the gym, we’ve been there and done all that.
Hit the hay
You need 8-9 hours every night and that’s nonnegotiable. Testosterone and growth hormone are released when we sleep adequately and deeply. Hit your head on your pillow at the same time every night, seven nights a week. This is when our body gets to work repairing cells, growing new muscle, and rebooting your brain for the next day. More muscle tissue means more fat loss as a by-product, by increasing your daily resting metabolic rate.
A Deprived sleeping schedule will leave you with a ragged physique and terrible health.
Stop and breathe
Meditate and take time out to relax. Now before you start thinking this is a load of rubbish let me explain, when your body is under stress it pumps out a hormone called cortisol. This is a necessary hormone which is both advantageous and a hindrance under different circumstances and times. The higher your cortisol levels are the lower your testosterone will be, that’s a fact.
Taking time out to relax and unwind will lower this muscle destroying environment. Everyone’s idea of meditation is different it doesn’t mean we have to all become Buddhists to know how to relax our minds. Lay on the lounge, throw some headphones in your ears. Close your lids and listen to your favorite music for an hour and lose yourself. Go fishing, go surfing, go for a nomadic drive somewhere, whatever it is that floats your boat. Just switch off all your worries and put it away in the corner for a little while. This will help you deal with your problems better because you have given yourself some time out, and lowered your cortisol levels. There are however great meditation apps you can download or classes you can take that will help you immensely. Your sleep will be deeper and your anxiety will improve tenfold.
Cut down on the grog
Stop eating so much rubbish and clean your diet a bit.
I’m not saying you can’t have a few cold ones here and there but you need to know that excessive alcohol intake is a massive depressant for testosterone as is processed junk foods. Disruption to your gut digestion from takeaways food, alcohol and gluten (wheat) will cause stress to your entire body and here comes that cortisol hormone we talked about earlier, on its way to consume your mojo.
Get plenty of high quality proteins and carbohydrates including organic poultry, grass fed beef, wild fish, white and sweet potatoes just to name a few. Educate yourself.
Eat fat
Wild salmon, grass fed beef, omega 3 rich eggs, organic avocados, coconut oil, nuts, seeds, organic butters, and fish oil capsules, are all massive testosterone influencers, as well as serving as a potent anti-inflammatory for your battle worn joints. Less inflammation = less stress = less cortisol = the return of the Viking warrior. Are we starting to understand now?
Fast testosterone kick starters
Zinc, magnesium and Alpha Mars (by ATP Science) are 3 supplements that need to be a part of your daily schedule.
These 3 powerful supplements will improve your testosterone production overnight. Alpha Mars by ATP science is a must, these powerful pills will see your testosterone levels rise as soon as you have washed them back with water. Your doctor may also give you prescriptions for testosterone injections to raise your levels up immediately. Within a week of these perfectly legal injections the fire will be burning strong again, and your well on your way to breathing life back into the old bull.
In summary
- Try eating a steak and salad with some sweet potato that you’ve prepacked in your esky instead a hot pie and soggy chips from the takeaway truck.
- Try going to be bed at 9.30 instead watching the footy show till 11.30.
- Drink another litre of water to wash down your vitamins instead of stubbie number 5 after work.
- Supplement with zinc, magnesium and Alpha Mars
We feel old not because we are old, but because we are just a little hormonally imbalanced. Increasing testosterone will give you back your youth, and everything that you were. You just have to be willing to change a few things.