Top Testosterone-Boosting Workout That's Scientifically Proven to Naturally Increase Levels

For men, testosterone is the holy grail of hormones. Often referred to as the “male sex hormone,” testosterone drives gains in muscle mass, bone density, body hair, and changes the timbre of your voice when you go through puberty. Testosterone also regulates important functions like sex drive, muscle and bone mass, muscle strength, fat distribution, and red blood cell production. If you're struggling with low testosterone, you may require more serious intervention, but if you feel levels are merely waning, there are lifestyle behaviors you can make like prioritizing foods that increase testosterone, as well as testosterone-boosting workouts.

Unfortunately, most men’s testosterone levels start to drop once they reach their late 30s or early 40s. According to Harvard Health, when men reach 40, their testosterone levels begin to drop by 1 to 2 percent every year. Much like women who go through menopause, by 50 men may start to experience symptoms of lower testosterone such as changes in sexual desire, depression or anxiety, reduced muscle mass, and more. 

If you want to increase your testosterone naturally you'll have to build brute strength with a combination of HIIT workouts and compound exercises in addition to eating foods known to boost your T like fatty fish, dark leafy greens, and eggs. 

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Best Testosterone-Boosting Workout

While this workout lacks the flashiness of a body part split, the exercises selected here hit all the major movement patterns (hip hinge, squat, vertical and horizontal push, and vertical and horizontal pull), and maximizes your time spent in the gym.

Directions

Perform the workout featured below three times per week on nonconsecutive days, says Thomas King, M.S., C.S.C.S., strength and conditioning coach at JK Conditioning in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. “An added bonus of this training system is that it allows your weekends to be rest days.” Exercises labeled with a letter ("1A" and "1B," for example) are performed as supersets: Do the second exercise set right after the first one, resting only after the second set.

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Each workout, change up the routine by doing a variation of the deadlift or squat. For the deadlift, you can do a suitcase deadlift, sumo deadlift, deficit deadlift, or Romanian deadlift. For the squat, you can do front squats, back squats (high or low bar), or safety bar squats. In both cases, make sure you adjust the weight accordingly.

For the deadlift and back squat, use a weight at 80 percent of your one-rep maximum. For the bench press, shoulder press, and bentover row, use a weight at 70 percent of your one-rep maximum.

1A. Deadlift

How to Do It

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, to start.
2. Bend your hips back to reach down and grasp the bar, hands just outside your knees.
3. Keeping your lower back in its natural arch, drive your heels into the floor and pull the bar up along your shins until you're standing with hips fully extended and the bar is in front of your thighs.
4. Perform 5 sets of 5 reps, resting 5 mins between each set.

1B. Back Squat

How to Do It

1. In a squat rack step under the barbell and place it high on your trap muscle across the top of your shoulders, to start.
2. Place your hands a few inches outside shoulder-width to keep the bar stable.
3. Step back and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and toes turned slightly outward.
4. Take a deep breath then bend your hips and knees to lower your body as if you were going to sit down in a chair.
5. Aim for your butt to go lower than knee level while maintaining a tall, upright posture with your upper body.
6. Extend your hips to come back up, continuing to push your knees outward.
7. That's 1 rep. 
8. Complete 5 sets of 5 reps, resting 5 minutes between sets. 

2A. Bench Press

How to Do It 

1. Grasp the bar just outside shoulder width and arch your back so there's space between your lower back and the bench.
2. Pull the bar out of the rack and lower it to your sternum, tucking your elbows about 45 degrees to your sides. When the bar touches your body, drive your feet hard into the floor and press the bar back up.
3. That's 1 rep.
4. Performs 4 sets of 8 reps, resting 2 minutes between each set. 

2B. Bentover Row

How to Do It 

1. Grasp the bar overhand at shoulder width and let it hang in front of your thighs, to start.
2. Bend at the hips and lower your torso until it's nearly parallel to the floor.
3. Bend your knees a bit to take tension off your hamstrings. 
4. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and pull the bar to your belly.
5. That's 1 rep. Perform 4 sets of 8 reps, resting 2 minutes between sets. 

3A. Shoulder Press

How to Do It

1. Adjust the seat of a shoulder press machine so that the handles are at shoulder level. If you have shoulder problems, and if your machine allows it, grasp the handles so your palms face each other. Otherwise, grasp them with palms facing forward as normal. 
2. Make sure your elbows track in a normal pressing path as you press the handles overhead. 
3. Complete 4 sets of 8 reps, resting 2 minutes between each set.

3B. Chinup

How to Do It

1. Grab a pullup bar underhand at shoulder width.
2. Hang from the bar and then pull yourself up until your chin is over it.
3. Perform 4 sets of 8 reps, resting 2 minutes between each set,

4. Pushup

How to Do It

1. Place your hands on the floor at shoulder width, keeping your abs braced and your body in a straight line, squeeze your shoulder blades together.
2. Lower your body until your chest is an inch above the floor before returning to the starting position.
3. That's 1 rep.
4. Complete 4 sets of 10 reps, resting 2 minutes between sets.

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How to Naturally Increase Testosterone

Guys who are interested in bigger and stronger muscles (along with increased libido) are constantly on the hunt to find easy ways to boost testosterone. But besides taking potentially dangerous drugs or getting a prescription to inject testosterone to build up flagging levels, the only foolproof techniques to increase and maintain healthy levels are lifting weights and eating the right foods, says King.

“To maintain high testosterone levels, it is best to eat foods high in magnesium, zinc, and vitamin K, like dark leafy greens for magnesium, shellfish to get a healthy dose of zinc, and plenty of egg yolks for vitamin K,” he says. “Heavy resistance training exercise protocols have been shown to increase T levels in men.”

Does Working Out Increase Testosterone?

According to King, the best exercises to build testosterone are multi-joint exercises that utilize the body’s largest muscle groups. Think compound moves like squats, deadlifts, and bench presses.

“These exercises work because they recruit a significant amount of muscle mass, and the amount of muscle mass recruited during an exercise has been shown to be an important factor in the release of testosterone,” King says. To maximize testosterone levels, prioritize the big lifts; ideally, you should do a total-body workout three days per week.

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