I was a young guy with no drive, no ambitions, no athleticism and no girlfriends.
I looked dead in the eyes.
While other guys in my high school were fit and athletic, I was that skinny-fat guy who walked around with his shoulders slouched to hide his manboobs.
Then, one day I decided to transform my lifestyle:
- I went to the gym 3 days a week and followed a program called Starting Strength consistently.
- I ate a high protein diet as the bodybuilding forums advised a beginner to do.
I was obsessed with training and dieting and wanted to get into the best shape of my life.
I never skipped a training session and nearly always ate clean.
Despite my efforts, 7 months into training I still looked like I had never lifted a weight in my life:
It seemed like my body just didn’t respond to training like other guys.
I even had a training partner who did the exact same program as me and his shoulders, chest and arms kept getting bigger each month while I stayed the same.
I was discouraged and close to quit this whole fitness thing, but I didn’t because I discovered that I had low testosterone levels.
Testosterone is the male hormone of vitality and it’s the master hormone for men.
It controls all functions in your body: Brain function, sexual function, skin, muscularity, strength, organs and bone-structure:
Testosterone is the main anabolic hormone in the body.
With low testosterone levels, there’s no chance you’ll build a muscular physique or enjoy your life to the fullest
Low testosterone doesn’t only impact your body-composition but also your mood and overall health.
Men with low testosterone suffer from much more mental problems such as anxiety, depression and brain fog/ADHD, the risk of cardiovascular diseases is greatly increased and there are other health risks such as erectile dysfunction as well.
Here are some of the symptoms of low testosterone levels:
- Hard time gaining strength and muscle mass on the upper body.
- Excess body-fat around the lower waist and lower chest.
- Man boobs.
- Weak skeletal structure (small ankles, wrists and shoulders).
- Lack of morning wood.
- Brain fog / ADHD.
- Depression.
- Anxiety.
- Sleep problems and low energy levels.
- Skin problems such as acne.
When you look at the symptoms of low testosterone, you will see that they are nearly identical to the skinny-fat body type:
Therefore, if you’re a guy who has a lot of the symptoms mentioned above and you’re a skinny-fat guy with an undermuscled and soft physique, then this article is definitely for you.
In this article I will teach you how I boosted my testosterone levels with 270%, thereby bringing me from the bottom of the natural range to the complete top.
While going through this process I gained 40 pounds of muscle mass, lost 60 pounds of fat, greatly increased my total body strength and conditioning and saw a massive decrease in symptoms of depression and anxiety:
Let’s get started:
How to Measure Optimal Testosterone Levels
The way you measure testosterone levels is simple.
You can either do it online through a website like letsgetchecked.com
Or you can go to a doctor and order the test for yourself as part of a yearly health check up.
In September 2010, at age 18, I decided to get my testosterone levels checked for the first time and the test came in at 297 ng/dl.
That was after training very hard for 1 year and gaining a lot of strength on the squat, deadlift and bench press but barely seeing any muscle gains on the upper body.
My general doctor said that everything is good since I’m “in range”.
The range of testosterone levels usually starts from 250-300 ng/dl and goes all the way up to 950-1100 ng/dl.
You can see the range of testosterone levels below:
When I took my first testosterone test, I had a reading of 297 ng/dl.
According to the graph above, a testosterone level of 297 ng/dl puts you in the bottom 5% of all age groups (even age 55-59).
The blood-work explained many of my low testosterone symptoms:
- Puffy nipples / manboobs which I developed during my teenage years.
- Lack of muscle mass and definition.
- Low response to weight training.
- Soft physique with high body-fat levels.
- Feminine fat distribution. (Hips, thighs, lower chest, lower abs).
- Very small bone structure. (Small wrists, kneecaps, ankles, narrow shoulders, narrow neck).
- Lack of facial and body hair.
- Depression.
- Anxiety.
- Erectile dysfunction.
- Low sperm count and quality. (I checked my levels at age 19 when I tried to become a sperm donor to make some side money for my studies. They came out a at “below WHO’s lower limit”.
Luckily, at the time I had done my research and I knew that being in range doesn’t mean that you have optimal levels.
When you look at the range of testosterone it typically goes from 300 to 1100 NG/DL.
Being in the lower end of the range is NORMAL however it’s far from OPTIMAL.
So you could have a testosterone level of 319 NG/DL and your doctor will say you’re normal, however the truth is that 319 NG/DL is only normal for an old man.
Being at that level puts you in the bottom 5% for the age range of 55-59.
It’s the kind of testosterone level an old man in his 70s and 80s is supposed to walk around with.
You will not have the drive, energy and hormonal environment to feel your best at this level.
Therefore, when you do blood work for testosterone, never take your doctor’s word for it.
Get a copy of the results yourself and compare them to the chart above.
When most of my skinny-fat clients start my Online Transformation Program, they are usually somewhere around 200-550 NG/DL.
Our goal is to get to somewhere around 650-1100 NG/DL naturally.
This is what I consider to be optimal.
This is the level that we are supposed to have during our most healthy years.
After extensive experience with this, I found this is where I and my clients feel our best.
And I suggest you do the same.
If You Have Low Testosterone, It’s A Good Idea to First Rule Out Secondary Conditions
In the case you get diagnosed with low testosterone, it’s a bad idea to just jump on testosterone replacement therapy, testosterone boosters or other junk supplements.
Testosterone replacement therapy doesn’t treat the root cause of low testosterone and has a lot of side effects such as increased risk of blood clots, high blood pressure and water retention.
It should only be used as a last resort.
Testosterone boosters and supplements are pretty much all a waste of money.
They will have minimal effects compared to proper nutrition and sleep (think 1-2% difference).
Finally, there’s estrogen blocking drugs.
These have a high risk of you developing estrogen deficiency.
Estrogen deficiency is just as serious as low testosterone and hard to treat.
With estrogen deficiency, you will have the same symptoms as with low testosterone: infertility, low sex drive, weak erections, depression and bad sleep.
Therefore, the key is always to look for the root cause of low testosterone.
After going from low to high testosterone levels myself, I can tell you that your testosterone levels are a marker of your overall health.
In the vast majority of cases, our body is able to produce optimal levels of testosterone naturally if we allow it with a healthy lifestyle.
When something is off (nutritional deficiencies, bad sleep, lack of sunlight or illness), our hormone production goes down.
Therefore it’s always a good idea to first meet with an endocrinologist to assess whether you should rule out other conditions such as:
- Tumors.
- Sleep apnea.
- Testicle damage.
- Varicocele.
- Vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
- Rare genetic conditions such as Klinefelter syndrome.
I personally did a very thorough check up at age 18 after my low testosterone diagnose.
We ran all the tests above except sleep apnea and varicocele. (I found out 9 years after my diagnosis that I had both of these and that could have contributed to my low testosterone levels).
All the other tests that we ran came out clear therefore at the time I decided to focus exclusively on natural lifestyle changes.
With these natural lifestyle changes, I increased my testosterone levels from 297 ng/dl to 1105 ng/dl (the complete top of the range).
1105 ng/dl is almost unheard of today in our environment filled with junkfood, pollution and hormones in food – especially in white people who tend to have lower testosterone levels than black people.
It’s what a pro college athlete would have when their testosterone is at their peak.
Unfortunately, most people who talk about increasing testosterone rarely post their blood work, but I want to show you proof that my results are real, so here you go with my full history of testosterone blood work:
The labs use different ranges because the first 3 were taken in Denmark and the last 2 were taken in Bangkok, Thailand.
But I have converted them for you below to ng/dl (the unit typically used in America) together with my age next to them:
- 1 October 2010: 10.30 nmol/l > 297 ng/dl (age 18)
- 21 December 2010: 19.06 nmol/l > 550 ng/dl (age 18)
- 27 July 2012: 22.59 nmol/l > 652 ng/dl (age 20)
- 16 June 2017: 8.31 ng/ml > 831 ng/dl. (age 24)
- 25 September 2018: 11.05 ng/ml > 1105 ng/dl. (age 26)
As you can see on the numbers above, it has been a gradual improvement from having hypogonadism to having supremely optimal testosterone levels.
You can verify the accuracy on this link: testosterone unit converter
This is probably the best natural testosterone increase you will find online with regular bloodwork and photos to show proof.
The biggest improvement came in the first 3 months when I was 18 and the next big spikes came from age 20-26.
If you’re consistent with the strategies on this website, you will likely see your testosterone levels increase to optimal levels.
I emphasize likely because not everyone can achieve high testosterone levels through natural methods.
Some people truly need medical treatment, however this is just a minority.
Most of you can make great improvements to your diet, training, sleep and lifestyle and thereby achieve a much higher natural testosterone production.
Medical treatment should only be a last resort when everything else has failed.
How to Increase Testosterone With 270%
To increase testosterone, you need to start with the basics:
- Better nutrition.
- Proper exercise.
- Better sleep.
I’ll deal with each separately, starting with some more info on nutrition:
Nutrition part 1: Dietary fat doesn’t make you fat
Back when I had low testosterone levels, my diet mainly consisted of lean protein sources and starches.
I followed the typical high-carb/high-protein/low-fat bodybuilding diet with 6 meals a day.
Not only was I sick and tired of this way of eating, but it didn’t improve my life or physique in any way.
Despite eating a low-fat diet and training consistently for the first time in my life, I was fatter than ever.
This type of diet may work for guys with great genetics who have naturally high testosterone levels or a hormone enhanced bodybuilder, however it won’t work for a guy with below average genetics, low testosterone and no hormone use. (A typical skinny-fat guy).
In September 2010 I started researching how to increase testosterone naturally, and I found that dietary fat is crucial for optimal testosterone levels.
And dietary fat doesn’t make you gain body-fat.
Excess Calories make you gain body-fat – regardless if they come from protein, carbs or fat.
Fats are the main macronutrient in your diet that are directly responsible for producing testosterone.
Testosterone is made from cholesterol and cholesterol is found in foods high in fat.
The main fat sources I used to boost my testosterone:
- Eggs.
- Red meat.
- Coconut oil.
I personally found that it’s not about going crazy on these foods, but instead focusing on balance and quality.
Have a few eggs daily and include quality red meat 3-4 times per week.
Don’t go all out on a carnivore diet or ketogenic diet since both of these disrupt hormonal production and put you at much higher risk of cardiovascular disease.
A good guideline is to get roughly 30% of your total Calories from healthy fats, then split the rest into carbs and protein.
In my Online Transformation Program clients’ plans I focus on getting a big variety of micronutrients instead of just a few.
Nutrition part 2: Stay away from fad diets
Diets that brand themselves as low-carb, low-calorie or low-fat often promise quick results, but those quick results come at a price that isn’t worth to pay.
As a guy into fitness you’re most likely focusing too much on protein intake, and too little on carbs and fat.
The truth is that carbs and fats are more important for performance, health and well-being than protein!
Once you have met your daily requirements, eating more protein doesn’t help your training.
Instead, it will detract from your energy because you will be able to eat less of the energy sources (fat and carbs).
Keep in mind that the main factor for staying lean is to manage your daily Calories.
If you eat a ton of protein, you will have to limit either carbs or fats or both.
So why are carbs important?
I mentioned that fats are the most important to include because they’re the building block of testosterone.
However, this doesn’t mean you need to go to the other extreme and cut carbs.
Carbs are the best energy source for your body because they’re readily available to be absorbed by your muscles and brain where as fats are a slower energy source that takes a longer time to digest.
For the best result, you need the optimal balance of both.
Generally speaking, the better shape you are in and the more active you are, the more carbs your body needs.
Here’s a quick contrast breakdown:
- Low body-fat + high muscle mass + high activity levels = high carb intake.
- High body-fat + low muscle mass + low activity levels = low-moderate carb intake.
When it comes to choosing carbs, you have to choose those that:
- Are healthy whole foods such as rice, potatoes, oatmeal, fruits and vegetables.
- You digest well.
- Are high in micronutrients.
It’s important that you go for carbs that you digest well because indigestion symptoms such as bloating, gas and constipation create inflammation in your body and inflammation lowers your testosterone production.
Furthermore, it’s important that you consume a high amount of carbs that are high in micronutrients because micronutrient deficiencies are one of the most common reasons to why we have low testosterone levels.
It can be difficult to find foods that are both high in micronutrients and which do well with your digestion.
For example, beans are very high in micronutrients but they’re hard to digest for most people.
Therefore you’ll have to do some experimentation with regards to which carbs work well for you and also use various methods such as probiotics to enhance your digestive system.
This is one of the key things I work on with my clients.
Nutrition Part 3: Avoid Aggressive Fat Loss
To optimize testosterone, the main goal you have to achieve is a lean body-fat level of 10-15% depending on your genetics
This usually means having a flat waist or an ab outline in good lighting (no need to get a full 6-pack).
You want to lose excess body-fat because excess body-fat increases aromatase in your body.
This means that your body will convert more of its testosterone into the female hormone estrogen.
Therefore, by losing the estrogenic body-fat around your lower waist, lower chest and hips, you increase your natural testosterone production.
When it comes to fat loss though, a lot of people make the following mistakes:
- Reduce Calories too much. A diet that’s too low in Calories and micronutrients will lead to decreased testosterone production because it puts your body into a state of high stress and starvation.
- Diet off too much body-fat. When you go too much below your genetic body-fat set point, your body will increase hunger hormones and decrease testosterone levels. If you’re a naturally skinny-fat or fat guy, you want to stay around the healthy 10-15% body-fat range and no lower than. This usually means a flat waist and visible ab outline and in some cases a decent 4-pack in good lighting.
- Avoid refeed days. On a fat loss diet it’s important to strategically implement 1-3 days per week where you eat a higher amount of Calories. This is important because a Caloric deficit reduces testosterone production and slows down metabolism. By including higher Calorie days, you reset testosterone and avoid crashes. From a psychological perspective this is also great because it allows you to have some of the higher Calorie foods that you miss on a diet. I have all my Online Transformation Program clients consume at least 1 refeed meal per week when on a diet.
The bottom line is that you want to avoid any type of fast or aggressive fat loss.
Your goal is to follow a balanced approach where you lose the fat slowly at a rate of 2-8 pounds per month depending on how much fat you have to lose.
And keep in mind that if you gain muscle while losing fat your bodyweight may not even change much therefore it’s essential that you track body-measurements and take photos on a regular basis.
It’s possible that your weight stays the same because you gain muscle mass while losing fat.
You have to focus on improving hormones, metabolism and workout performance while keeping the diet healthy and balanced and avoiding overeating.
When these things are in place, you’ll get far better results and FEEL much better compared to when you try to starve off weight.
Frequent bodyweight training
When you have low testosterone levels, one thing you’ll read online is to do a lot of heavy compound training with squats and deadlifts because supposedly these lifts increase testosterone production.
I believed that myself, however I can tell you now, after 10 years of training myself and over 800 clients that this is wrong.
The increase in testosterone you see after training is temporarily and lasts just a few hours.
Testosterone already fluctuates throughout the day, therefore this few hour increase is meaningless.
It has no significant effect on your long-term testosterone production.
The reason to why you see this increase from heavy training is simply because your body is so broken down that it compensates by increasing testosterone to speed up recovery.
In my experience, training heavy is not the way to go for a long-term testosterone increase.
After training heavy 3 times a week during my first 9 months of training I had my lowest testosterone reading at age 18.
I always felt tired, exhausted and drained after doing heavy squats and deadlifts and found it hard to recover from the heavy weight training sessions.
When you have a naturally low base line of testosterone, you will struggle to recover from any type of heavy weight training, high volume bodybuilding training or high impact cardio such as running.
When you don’t recover well, you don’t make gains.
These types of exercise create the biggest spike in the stress hormone Cortisol and that in turn lowers your testosterone levels even further.
So what’s the solution?
It’s bodyweight training.
Here’s the physique I built after I switched from low rep heavy barbell training to high rep barbell training:
Bodyweight exercises are easy to recover from and they stimulate all the right muscles you want to grow to build a V-tapered upper body with big arms and shoulders: The lats, upper chest, biceps and triceps.
I believe bodyweight exercises are the best way to train for high testosterone because of the reasons listed below:
- When you have a naturally low testosterone production, your ability to recover from heavy workouts is limited. Heavy training increases the stress hormone Cortisol and long-term sustained increases of Cortisol lower testosterone levels. Bodyweight workouts are much easier to recover from, therefore they’re a much safer bet when you’re trying to increase testosterone.
- As a guy with naturally low testosterone, you need a constant sustained stimulus to get results. This means that you have to train the entire body at least 4 days per week but ideally 6. With high volume bodybuilding workouts or heavy barbell training you won’t be able to recover for your daily sessions. With bodyweight workouts, you can go in and stimulate a muscle daily and then recover in time for your next workout.
- Being a master of moving your own bodyweight through space locks you into being lean and muscular. You can be a fat powerlifter and bench press 400 pounds, but there’s no way you’ll be doing 20 chin ups with perfect form while being fat.
- Bodyweight exercises target all the most important upper body muscles: Upper chest, lats, triceps, biceps and shoulders.
- When choosing exercises for a muscle building program, it’s important to choose exercises that produce the highest ratio of muscle stimulation vs. fatigue. Bodyweight exercises provide a high amount of stimulation for all the target muscles with minimal fatigue. This allows you to train hard and often.
The 3 exercises I have my Online Transformation Program clients do to start with are:
- Chin Ups
- Diamond Push Ups
- Bodyweight Squats
Chin ups are the #1 exercise to build up the lats and the lats are the biggest muscle group on the upper body.
By building up the lats, you widen your torso and get that swimmers body.
Diamond push ups have the highest triceps activation of any exercise out there (as shown in EMG studies) and they’re one of the best chest exercises as well.
You will feel your chest working a lot more on diamond push ups compared to regular push ups.
The bodyweight squats are great because you can quickly do them for high reps.
By doing bodyweight squats for high reps, you can practice mobility and conditioning.
These are the most important beginner goals for creating functional, athletic legs.
The goals you want to aim for on these exercises are:
- 15-20 chin ups.
- 20-30 diamond push ups.
- 100 bodyweight squats.
All done in one set without a break and with perfect form on each rep.
I have my clients go all the way from 0 reps on chin ups and diamond push ups to hitting these targets. (Even those who are in their 50s and 60s with no prior training experience).
These are the Phase 1 goals I set for my skinny-fat clients with low testosterone.
They work because you can do light-moderate weights and bodyweight training everyday without worrying about overtraining.
Once you build a good base on bodyweight exercises you can progress into more weighted training, especially with weighted bodyweight exercises such as weighted pull ups and weighted dips.
I typically have my clients work their way up to 50 KG on weighted pull ups and weighted dips.
This results in a classic V-tapered upper body with wide lats, broad shoulders, a squared chest, big arms and a small waist.
Here’s the back I built after I got to 50 KG for 5 reps on weighted pull ups:
High Quality Sleep for High Testosterone
Sleep is one of the most underrated things in the fitness community.
Most of us today are overworked, spend time around toxic people and getting by on artificial energy produced from refined sugar and caffeinated beverages.
It’s a recipe for chronic overload on the body and a messed up hormonal profile.
By getting your sleep, you’re playing the testosterone game on “easy” rather than “hard”.
Sufficient sleep regulates testosterone production, hunger hormones, metabolism, improves your mood and energises you.
It makes you recovered for the next day.
When I had low testosterone levels, I went to extremes to optimise my sleep.
I stopped using an alarm, and skipped early morning lectures to get my sleep.
This is the best way to get the amount of sleep your body naturally needs.
Got trouble sleeping on time? Try the remedies below:
- Schedule your “go-to-bed time” everyday on your phone. You can set this as an automated daily reminder. You want to start getting ready for bed 10 hours before you have to wake up. This gives you 1 hour to relax and fall asleep and still get a solid 9 hours of sleep. (If you train your sleep needs are higher — you may need 9-10 hours per day instead of the usual 7-8 because your body needs to recover). If you find yourself consistently going to bed late because of commitments you may want to look into scheduling your time better and saying no to more things.
- Sleep and rise around the same time everyday. This greatly improves sleep quality.
- Get early morning sun to set your circadian rhythm right and try to hit 1-2 hours of strong sunshine on your body exposed without sunscreen each day. If you can’t get sunlight, use red light therapy in the morning and supplement 5000 IU vitamin D3 daily.
- Work your mind and body everyday. If you exhaust your mind and body throughout the day, you will be tired after dinner.
- 2 weekly massages in the evening. Human touch is essential to feel relaxed — if you’re single this can be a huge boost for your sleep.
- Meditation: Lie down for 10 min in a quiet room and don’t move your body at all and stop breathing through the mouth. Only breathe through the nose and focus on breathing through the nose. You can put on rain or beach sounds if it makes you feel more relaxed.
- Stretching: Perform a full body stretching routine at night to help you relax.
- Write down your thoughts on a piece of paper: Put a pen and notepad next to your bed and write down any thoughts that are stressing you out.
- Stop using electronics at least 1 hour before your bed time and use minimal light in the room. The blue light on your smart phone and TV/laptop screen and strong lights in the room trick your body to wake up and think it’s the morning time. This disrupts your circadian rhythm.
- Use bluelight blocking glasses a few hours before bed time to increase melatonin production and thereby make it easier to fall asleep.
- Stop drinking caffeinated drinks (tea, coffee, energy drinks) after 2 PM.
- Avoid alcohol as much as you can since it negatively affects sleep quality. Alcohol has no place in your life while you’re trying to change your hormonal profile. You can add it back later once you got normal hormones.
- Cut out negative people from your life. They drain your energy and mess up your sleep. Make a list of the 30-40 people you spend the most time with and give them a rating from 1 to 10 regarding how much positivity they bring into your life along with a rating from 1 to 10 regarding how much time you spend with them. If they bring lots of negativity and you spend a lot of time with them, cut them out! (Even if they’re your spouse or family members, life is too short for that).
Testosterone Boosting Supplements Are Overrated
Ideally you will not need any supplements to raise testosterone levels.
You can get all the vitamins and minerals you need from a healthy balanced diet and sufficient sunlight each day.
However, a lot of people are not able to afford eating quality seafood several times a week and they’re unable to go out in the sun for 1-2 hours a day to optimize vitamin D3 levels.
In this case, supplements make sense.
The only 2 supplements I recommend are a high quality Omega-3 and Vitamin D3.
Get 2000 MG of Omega-3 daily and 5000 IU of vitamin D3 daily from supplements if you can’t eat seafood regularly and get enough sun daily.
Don’t take any testosterone boosters or estrogen blocking drugs.
These are pretty much all scams.
Testosterone boosters have no impact on your testosterone levels when compared to a healthy diet and sleep regimen.
I made pretty much all of my increase while focusing on diet, sleep, exercise, lifestyle and only supplementing vitamin D3 and Omega-3 when needed.
Estrogen blocking drugs are dangerous because when estrogen levels get too low you will have an estrogen deficiency and that creates the same symptoms as low testosterone: Bad sleep quality, depression, erectile dysfunction, low sex drive and anxiety.
Low estrogen is very difficult to correct, therefore don’t take these unless prescribed by a skilled endocrinologist who monitors your blood work regularly.
Testosterone Levels and Lifestyle are Interconnected
When it comes to explaining the increase in testosterone levels, it’s also crucial to know that testosterone and lifestyle are interconnected.
In other words, when you change your lifestyle, your testosterone levels increase, but the opposite is also true: when your testosterone levels increase, your lifestyle/behaviour also changes.
Therefore, you can “trick” your body into producing more testosterone by leading the life of a stereotypical “high testosterone guy”.
A) Lifestyle traits that are associated with LOW testosterone levels
- Poor sleep.
- Excessive stress.
- Negative mindset.
- Poor posture.
- Diet high in refined carbs such as junkfood/candy and low in solid foods like meat and eggs.
- Risk-averse personality, e.g. not approaching that beautiful girl you see smiling at you, despite wanting to.
- Under-muscled physique with feminine fat distribution (your typical skinny-fat guy).
B) Lifestyle traits that are associated with HIGH testosterone levels
- Good sleep.
- Healthy level of stress.
- Positive mindset.
- Great posture.
- Healthy, balanced diet high in micronutrients.
- Risk-taking/adventurous personality.
- Muscle and strength.
Imagine a scenario with two different guys. One guy is A the other guy is B.
- Guy A works a job he hates, which leads to stress. He stays up late playing computer games to escape his life which leads to poor sleep. He doesn’t exercise and eats junkfood on a daily basis which results in a skinny-fat physique. He doesn’t have a girlfriend, so instead of going out and finding one, he decides to stay home in his “safety” and watches porn.
- Guy B studies medicine which he enjoys. After a long day of studying he goes to the gym for a few hours, then goes home to eat and sleep with his girlfriend. He sleeps like a baby around 9-10 PM after a long and productive day and wakes up early excited to learn more about medicine. He doesn’t eat that often since he has no time, but when he does eat, he makes sure to fuel his body with proper, solid foods most of the time, and only eats junkfood occasionally.
Which guy do you think will have the most stress?
The guy who studies something he likes or the guy who works a job he hates?
Which do you think is happiest?
The guy who has a girlfriend he loves, or the guys who watches porn everyday?
Which guy do you think is healthiest?
The guy who eats solid meals, exercises daily and sleeps like a baby or the guy who eats a low-carb diet, exercises just 2-3 times a week and stays up late to play computer games?
Now, imagine if Guy A worked towards becoming Guy B:
- He quits the job he hates and goes to school to learn the skills needed for the job he dreams about.
- He quits porn and starts approaching real women to get a girlfriend he can spend his nights with.
- He starts exercising 6 times a week for 1-2 hours.
- He limits junkfood to Friday/Saturday night and eats 3 balanced meals a day.
- He sleeps like a baby. At the end of the day he’s so tired that he has no energy to waste on computer games.
And the results of his lifestyle transformation would be:
- Lower stress levels.
- More happiness.
- More strength and muscle mass.
- Better posture.
- Less body-fat.
- More energy.
- More drive to get work done and hit the gym.
In other words: By transforming your life for the better, you will improve your mental and physical health.
Better mental health + Better physical health = Higher testosterone levels
Therefore, over the long-term you want to transform your whole lifestyle, which will lead to better mental and physical health.
Unfortunately, it takes YEARS to go from A to B. It took me years of hard, dedicated work to make that change.
I personally went from being skinny-fat, not having any girlfriends until almost age 20 and not much social life to having a very active social life, a great physique and having model girlfriends.
I believe that in order to get the best result you have to work on both your body and mind at the same time.
Be proud but stay hungry!
Oskar Faarkrog, ISSA Certified Trainer
Bodyweight Training for the Skinny-Fat Guy [2020]
I am eating Basa fish for protein since it has less(or no) thorns and fished in Arabian sea. I can eat chicken twice a week (budget). Is peas or channa good carb source? I feel unsatiated from potato sometimes. Is peanut goodin general? It is one of the food I tend to overeat, but I dieted down to 125 pounds and think having peanut might feel better.
Very informative and not like every other blog promoting some single supplement. I love the scientific method and tone through all but the last 1/4 of the article.
“not having any girlfriends until almost age 20 and not much social life to having a very active social life, a great physique and having model girlfriends”
You seem smart enough not to blemish all your hard work creating this post by pandering langue like this.
Should I avoid things like Dairy and Bread?
He said no, read the article again
Thats some great achievement there. Do you know about your LH/FSH levels during those times? It looks like you had primary hypogonadism(due to variocele or sleep apnea) but there are people whose testes are functioning well but they don’t get enough signal from their Pituitary to produce testosterone.
Do you think these strategies can work for someone like that?
I checked my LH and FSH levels many times, including at the time when I was initially diagnosed with hypogonadism and they were always in range and about the same. I just pulled up some LH and FSH test results from March 2019, here are the results:
– LH: 6.27 mIU/ML (range 1.7-8.6)
– FSH: 5.2 mIU/ML (range 1.5-12.4)
– Total testosterone: 814 NG/DL
I only started looking into sleep apnea and varicocele around 2019-2020, when I had my second bout of low testosterone levels. I had high testosterone from 2013-2019 and then my levels had a big hit around late 2019-2020. From +600 NG/DL for years to 280 NG/DL in 6 consecutive tests over 6 months. I had checked for varicocele at age 21 (2013) with ultrasound and I didn’t have it. However, I redid a testicular ultrasound in 2019-2020 and found grade 2 bilateral varicocele. I also did a sleep study around this time and found mild sleep apnea and that my brain oxygen levels went low during sleep. I likely had the sleep apnea for many years but it was never diagnosed.
My urologist prescribed me Daflon 500 MG for 6 months for varicocele and I had no positive effects. During this time I also used a CPAP machine to treat sleep apnea. I had huge positive effects on energy and sleep from the CPAP, but testosterone levels remained low and I still had close to 0 sex drive and struggled recovering between workouts. After this, I tried icing the testes daily. The idea is essentially that varicocele heat the testicles throughout the day and this lowers testosterone levels and fertility. By icing, you achieve the opposite effect. I started icing daily for around 30 minutes and within 2-3 weeks my sex drive started coming back and ejaculation volume increased a lot (the ejaculation volume decreased a lot when I developed the varicocele). Then in 6 months time I rechecked my testosterone levels and if I remember correctly they were around 520 NG/DL (up from 280). Free levels went from 5.5 NG/DL to around 10-11 NG/DL. Then I rechecked again a few more times and the total levels went up to 620 NG/DL and free levels went to 12.5 NG/DL. So essentially, by icing and treating sleep apnea I brought my levels back to normal. I believe the icing did the most by far. If you decide to try icing, make sure you wear underwear and apply the ice pack on top of it, don’t apply directly to the testes.
As for problems with the pituitary signalling, I can’t answer that because I don’t have experience with pituitary tumors. I did an MRI of my brain several times and no tumor was ever found and my LH/FSH levels were always normal. Also if I remember correctly, with all the clients who checked LH and FSH, their levels were always normal and testosterone levels always normalized when we dialed in training, nutrition, sleep and if needed, added icing. Before worrying about pituitary signalling, it’s worth it to first make sure your nutrition, sleep regimen and training are dialed in for +6 months, check for sleep apnea, full vitamin/mineral panel and varicocele and try the icing. Do all the basics first, check your total and free testosterone levels, then if needed, do a brain MRI to check for pituitary tumors.
Hi, Oskar. Is the theory of soy consumption lowers testosterone a fact or just a myth? Also, if you ever consume soy products, have you ever had a bad experience after eating one?
It is a fact. Never eat chinese or soy
Soy is estrogen which is female hormones and destroy testosterone
Excellent job Oskar and great breakdown of some of the key things you did to basically triple your T in less than a decade. What would you say is the body fat percentage one should stay in between? My guess is roughly no lower than 8% but no higher than 14% for optimal T levels.
Did you increase the amount of sunlight exposure you received daily? I’ve read multiple studies saying sunlight is the best natural way to increase T. To be honest I noticed the difference almost immediately after getting 30 minutes of direct sunlight as my mood improves and energy levels increase almost instantly.
James
Thank you James.
It’s difficult to accurately measure body-fat since even the most accurate method to measure body-fat (DEXA) is off by +/- 3 percentage points. So if you get a reading of say 12% you could be anywhere from 9-15%.
A better way is to try and minimize the body-fat storage in the estrogenic fat deposits which are around the love handle area, waist, chest and hips. Once you have a relatively flat waist (possibly with the starting of an ab outline), no visible chest fat and decently lean around the hips, I would say that from a body-fat perspective, your conversion of testosterone to estrogen would be minimized. This should of course all be done in the context of maintaining a healthy weight and not having to restrict Calories excessively to get to such a body-fat level. I’m saying this because a lot of my starting skinny-fat clients think they have a lot of body-fat when in reality the small amount of fat they have only looks like a lot due to having a small bone-structure and being undermuscled. As a result, when in doubt or if you’re already at a very low weight for your height, it’s best to get this assessed by someone else to ensure that you don’t spin your wheels and try to diet excessively when time would be better spent doing a slow recomp or packing on mass.
Regarding sunlight: My experience is that sunlight has a massive impact on mental health, blood pressure, sleep quality and circulation and it’s by far one of the most underrated things you can do to optimize health. I would go as far as saying that getting 1-2 hours of strong sunlight per day is together with good sleep the most important things for health (even more than diet). I personally had problems with depression and high blood pressure that required hospitalization which cleared up after getting lots of strong sun each day (and that was after medications failed). However, in my experience, getting lots of sun and optimizing vitamin D3 had 0 impact on my testosterone levels. During the time where my blood pressure was at its highest, my testosterone was also at its highest and briefly after this I had a blood clot in the lungs that nearly killed me. That was at the end of 2018. At this time, I was eating a diet high in saturated fats which was one of the keys to boost my testosterone (roughly 1 pound of red meat a day). Once I eliminated red meat from my diet and got a lot of sun, my blood pressure went down big time, vitamin D3 levels increased a lot and I felt great mentally, however my sex drive and testosterone tanked. In 6 consecutive tests I had a reading of 330 NG/DL (that was this year). My total testosterone was consistently around 700-900 NG/DL for years prior to that and I hit 1105 NG/DL once during my peak so the drop to 330 NG/DL was massive. My free testosterone levels also tanked to the bottom of the range during this time, however my bioavailable levels were at the top of the range.
I’m still trying to make sense of all this, however I know for sure that:
1) Saturated fat intake has a massive impact on my own testosterone production when eaten in big amounts. Basically the more saturated fat I eat, the more testosterone I have in blood tests. However, the trade off is high cholesterol and high blood pressure. My case is extreme though and I also have a rare genetic blood disorder called protein S deficiency which was the underlying cause of the blood clot in the lungs. There’s not much information about this disorder online and most blood specialists I saw can’t say much about it, except that when you have it, you’re predisposed to strokes, heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms which I had already (and my mother had a stroke in early age too around the same time I had my pulmonary embolism). Since high testosterone levels increase blood viscosity and I already have a protein S deficiency, it’s not a good idea for me to have high testosterone levels. As a result, I’ve been going low on saturated fats the past year and focusing 100% on keeping my blood pressure and LDL Cholesterol down.
2) Since seeing a decrease in testosterone this year, the downsides I’ve experienced are lower sex drive and an increase in allergy symptoms. I had some mild allergies to shellfish and nuts which are much worse now. I’ve also gained an extra 6-8 KG of body-fat around the waist and hips which is very hard to get rid off.
3) This year I’ve gotten the most sunlight ever (I live in the mountains in Thailand where it’s very hot everyday) and I’m out in the garden around 2 hours a day shirtless. It has had a massive impact on my mental health and blood pressure but as mentioned earlier, my total and free testosterone levels became very low and I have had low sex drive — probably from cutting down on saturated fats. This trade off is fine for me since I don’t want to end up in the emergency room with a blood clot again. I have not seen any loss in muscle mass despite the lowering of free and total testosterone and saturated fat intake. In fact, this year I’ve gained a lot of muscle mass and my bodyweight went from a stable 103 KG all the way up to 118 KG at 188 CM height. I would say that 15 KG gain was half fat half muscle since my strength increased big time and all muscle measurements increased big time. Now I’ve stopped resistance training for a bit to slim down and get down to a skinnier 100 KG or so. I prefer that look a lot more.
4) Even though all this may sound a bit scary with regards to raising testosterone, keep in mind that less than 1% of people have blood disorders that increase the risk of blood clotting and the vast majority of people don’t respond the same way to saturated fat as me. With my clients, I have them eat foods high in saturated fat around 2-3 times per week only and they all see a massive boost in testosterone levels.
How much would treating sleep apnea increase natural levels by? I notice that I just suddenly wake up in the middle of the night, and afterwards I sometimes need to get some air in my nose. Even though I wake up with morning wood fairly often, I notice a lot of daytime fatigue and it’s not from my barbell training. I also move a lot in my sleep and I suspect sleep apnea is causing a secondary form of hypogonadism. My hips aren’t super wide(about 36->37 inches, but it would go lower if I was leaner and a 32->34 inch pants size), but I suspect this probably holds my body back.
It probably varies from person to person and depends on the severity of your sleep apnea and how low your testosterone already is. Since optimal sleep is imperative for sex hormone production and to facilitate recovery, muscle gains and fat loss, treating sleep apnea should lead to a significant increase in testosterone levels — especially if you’re already on the low end.
Either way, low T would not be the main reason to treat sleep apnea. If you have undiagnosed sleep apnea, not getting it treated means that your risk of a sudden heart attack, stroke or blood clot in the lungs is much higher.
Thanks for the response. Personally I just want to boost test for the mood benefit. For muscle growth, I think that one’s frame(bone thickness and/or width) matters far more than ones test levels. I’m gonna give a couple of real life examples. My one uncle has the build of a your stereotypical endomorph. He’s noticabley wider than me in bottom and top and has very thick bones everywhere. Even though he’s old now, he’s much bigger than most high t men I know today strictly to his massive frame alone. Another example is my father, even though he’s well past his prime, has a beer gut, and doesn’t have a wide frame, I’ve never saw high test guys in my generation with hands and wrists as thick as his. Both his hands and wrists are roughly double in size compared to almost everyone i went to school with, even the best athletes. A lot of them had wide shoulders and small hips, but they really lacked the density and sturdiness that my uncle and father have.
Wanna know whether you have klinefelter syndrome or no bcz its something which can gives you wide hips and femine physique.one of friend have similar kind of physique that you had earlier…he is afriad that he is suffering from klinefelter syndrome.i told him that he dont have a such a thing and i showed your transformation photos to him ..he certainly got motivated…bu the stillworring about his fertility ..just wanna really know whether you have klinefelter syndrome and the sperm count after transformation???
I don’t have klinefelter syndrome (already did genetic testing and checked for all genetic hormone conditions). My sperm count was low before the transformation and unfortunately it remained low after. My quality is above average though.
Oskar I have another question. You mentioned that you had varicocele, which was probably of the main factors that contributed to your low T. I remember seeing a chart that showed getting it fixed largely improve test production a few months after operation on it corrected it. How did you treat it? Sometimes I often have experienced pain in the left, and think it might be impairing my production and microsurgery/surgery for it scares the crap out of me.
I still have the varicocele in both sides but I never treated it. I only found out about it this year. The varicocele are stage 1-2 and only visible on ultrasound. I only feel pain in them when I jump from a high surface on hard concrete or from 3-5 meters into water. My urologist recommended that I do not have the surgery for it since there’s always a small risk something can go wrong and he does not believe that correcting stage 1-2 varicocele will lead to a significant boost in testosterone levels.
Are you sure you can actually raise it naturally? I’ve tried every routine from body weight to volume to hit and look the same on all of them. I’ve gotten fitter, stronger, and more muscular on them, but my annoying lower body fat will never melt off. I’ve been considering TRT for ages since the side effects I’m not concerned about. (It can make you infertile , but that’s dependent on the cards you are dealt. There are top pros like Serge whom has 4 biological kids and there’s also a gym rat who can’t get anyone pregnant despite only taking 125 mgs of test).
Am I sure you can raise it naturally? There’s no 100% answer for everyone, however my own experience is that I more than tripled my testosterone naturally and kept it high for +7 YEARS in many many tests.
I also trained over 400 skinny-fat people with below average genetics — most who trained for years without results. The vast majority can get healthy testosterone levels, build muscle mass and get relatively lean through proper diet and exercise and lifestyle.
There’s one thing you mention that raises a red flag and that is the obsession with getting rid of the lower stomach fat. Some people are just not dealt the cards to walk around very lean. I personally have to cut my carbs completely and do lots of cardio to get rid of that lower stomach fat. When I do that, my testosterone tanks, I have no libido or energy and I lose muscle mass. It’s simply not worth it.
Even with high testosterone, I can’t get rid of that part. Testosterone in the healthy range will not directly help you cut body-fat. What it will do is, speed up your recovery between training sessions, increase energy levels and motivation and increase your response to resistance training. You will more than likely be able to get bigger, but to get lean, you will have to eventually optimize your diet.
There’s a chance that you have excessively dieted and that in itself can destroy your natural testosterone production. When dieting off fat, you have to create most of the deficit with exercise while eating as many Calories as possible and eating a diet high in micronutrients (shellfish, fish, red meat, organ meats, poultry, vegetables, fruits, potatoes etc).
There’s of course a lot more to it than that, but based on what you said, this could be the main problem you had.
Overall I do not recommend you touch TRT until you have tried to fully optimize your diet, training and lifestyle for +1 year and then done 3 consecutive tests where your free and total testosterone are very low (less than 350 NG/DL for total and around 5-7 NG/DL or less for free). There’s a reason to why endocrinologists do not just prescribe TRT left right and center in most countries except the US. Doing TRT is a lifelong commitment and it comes with risks such as increased risk of blood clots (especially in people with underlying blood clotting disorders and in many cases, people who have those don’t even know before the first heart attack or stroke happens).
Also, when testing for testosterone make sure to not drink any alcohol or do any workouts for 72 hours prior to the test. Do the test before 9 AM and do both free and total testosterone.
I agree with Oskar that skinny-fat people shouldn’t obsess over lower belly fat because as per their genetics and body type, getting too low on bf is not sustainable. But still, it’s frustrating when the upper body is good, but the lower belly/obliques carry fat. This ruins proportions and symmetry. Because we can’t make the shoulders or lats widen indefinitely, at some point the growth stops so if the oblique fat is there, despite broad shoulders or lats the v taper will still be hard to achieve.
bro how to recover test levels after weight loss. my has tanked. i was overweight and lost a lot of weight. how to recover?
I’ve been training for about 3->4 years. I take zinc supplements and have oysters every day now and see little improvements. When I get a physical this year, I’ll ask for hormone bloodwork and if it’s <500, I'll ask for trt or aromasin. Since boosting naturally means very little. Say your zinc deficint and you correct that, it will only boost your t by 5% which is a joke.
I’ve been training for about 3->4 years. I take zinc supplements and have oysters every day now and see little improvements. When I get a physical this year, I’ll ask for hormone bloodwork and if it’s <500, I'll ask for trt or aromasin. Since boosting naturally means very little. Say your zinc deficint and you correct that, it will only boost your t by 5% which is a joke. I would need like 800+ T to feel good.
How does boosting naturally mean very little? If you go from 300 NG/DL (bottom of natural range) to anywhere from 700-1100 (NG/DL) like me and many of my clients did, that’s a massive increase. Unless you have a pre existing condition causing low T or you’re very old, there’s no reason why your body shouldn’t be able to produce optimal levels of testosterone.
Also, keep in mind that: 1) Each person needs a different level of testosterone to feel their best. If you have a level of 300-500 NG/DL but you have a healthy sex drive, strong erections and no chronic depression, chances are that you don’t need more testosterone but the problem is something else, 2) Only 1-3% of your testosterone is free. You need to check your free testosterone together with the total T. If you have a level of 450 NG/DL but 3% is free, you’ll have a healthy free testosterone. In contrast, if you have the same level but only 1% is free you’d be at the low end of the free T range.
Okay in hindsight, I may be underestimating natural means, but it’s kinda hard to do if you have Sleep Apnea. I don’t know if I do have it, but sometimes I randomly wake up in the night for no reason. It’s really annoying as hell, but when I get regular sleep I have morning woods. Most of the time I get the best ones, it’s largely determined by the quality of sleep I have that night.
Also I have to say your article about leverages and tall bodybuilder challenges is spot on and i love it. It’s very accurate. For example the squat was good for Tom Platz because he had a long torso and short legs which made it work wonders for him(with the help of steroids, but that’s not the point) but for a taller guy the leg press is far better as is a deadlift. Personally in my experience my body can do heavy rows and deadlifts for back, but benching is a weak point. I switched to the floor press for that reason as it has the traits of benching but much less shoulder pain. It also focuses way more on upper body.
Are you sure you can actually raise it naturally? Truth be told, I’ve tried every routine from body weight to volume to hit and look the same on all of them. I’ve gotten fitter, stronger, and more muscular on them, but my annoying lower body fat will never melt off. I’ve been considering TRT for ages since the side effects I’m not concerned about. (It can make you infertile , but that’s dependent on the cards you are dealt. There are top pros like Serge whom has 4 biological kids and there’s also a gym rat who can’t get anyone pregnant despite only taking 125 mgs of test).
Hey Oskar Faarkrog,
I don’t eat meat, can I still get a boost in testosterone with a vegeterian diet ( I eat fish occasionally)?
Thanks
Hey bro, shoot me an email at [email protected] and I’ll reply to your question there. It’s a bit easier through email since my website comment section is loading slowly these days due to a lot of comments.
Hi Oskar,
thank you for your great articles on this site. I found them really helpful, but I have a question. Did you recommend organic foods for your High Testosterone diet (meat, eggs, vegetables, fruits)? Does it make a difference? And what is, if somebody can´t afford organic food?
Thank you in advance for your answer.
Okay in hindsight, I may be underestimating natural means, but it’s kinda hard to do if you have Sleep Apnea. I don’t know if I do have it, but sometimes I randomly wake up in the night for no reason. It’s really annoying as hell, but when I get regular sleep I have morning woods. Most of the time I get the best ones, it’s largely determined by the quality of sleep I have that night.
Also I have to say your article about leverages and tall bodybuilder challenges is spot on and i love it. It’s very accurate. For example the squat was good for Tom Platz because he had a long torso and short legs which made it work wonders for him(with the help of steroids, but that’s not the point) but for a taller guy the leg press is far better as is a deadlift. Personally in my experience my body can do heavy rows and deadlifts for back and it usually responds well to heavy training, but benching is a weak point. I switched to the floor press for that reason as it has the traits of benching but much less shoulder pain. It also focuses entirely on upper body.
I have sleep apnea as well (only mild). I most likely had it since my early teenage years and was undiagnosed (even throughout the time I raised my testosterone levels). I only recently got tested for it and got treatment because despite my best efforts I had a massive drop in testosterone, high blood pressure and had 0 sex drive for 6 months straight. It seems that the mild sleep apnea I had for many years had built up and caused a lot of damage. I would wake up each night feeling out of breath. The first sleep doctor said that I do not need treatment for it because I have borderline sleep apnea (5 apneas per hour), however the second one said I will get huge benefits from treatment and that I must get on a CPAP machine. I got a CPAP machine and I have to say… for the first time in my life I experienced good sleep. I used to take ADD medicine (stimulants) in the past to stay attentive throughout the day (diagnosed with ADD at age 19 — before I even knew what sleep apnea is) and now I’m completely off ADD meds and feeling much more energized and focused without. It’s been around 6 months on treatment now and my testosterone levels and sex drive are coming back and I’m back to training hard again. My sleep doctor said that after years of not sleeping properly, it may take up to 6 months to catch up on sleep and it’s very important to stick with the CPAP machine no matter what. The downside is that getting a sleep study and a CPAP through public health care can be a very long and daunting process (in some countries it can take several years) and if you go the private route it’s relatively expensive (2000 USD total for the sleep study and machine) and then you have a lot of recurring expenses for masks, tubes etc. However getting treatment can be life changing. You can look at some sleep apnea forums online and read peoples’ stories about how their life changed on CPAP. Reddit has a good forum on this. I suggest you get this checked out.
About training for taller lifters: I suggest you try doing dips for the chest/shoulders/triceps. You can limit the range of motion if you have very long arms and only use the part of the range of motion where you feel the muscles work the most (for me that’s the upper half). I do sets of 30-40 reps of dips (focusing on the upper half of the ROM) and that gives me the best development there.
Perhaps the most natutlrally written article on this topic
Can you please elaborate on the clean diet part? What is a clean diet? Can you please tell us what was your diet?
Hey man, that was some really great progress! Did you notice any increase in your penis size? Do your erections feel more harder now?
Yes to both. When you clean up your diet, you will most likely see an increase in size and erection quality. The reason is mostly because of improved blood flow.
hey man I’m skinny fat person i have puffy nipples body fat high what can i should to do I’m living in India
Hey bro I recommend you read through my puffy nipples and man boobs post on this site (both the posts and all the comments). Then take notes. All the answers are there
Hai im a 18 yearsold guy and my body is not to fat but almost Skinny i like Biking and Hiking i also eat Red meat eggs and a lot, exercise a lot too and why i couldnt build a muscle mass but my facial hair just goes wild, my friend always said eat something, the thing is i already eat a LOTS high protein carbs etc.
Hi Oskar, in your book, in the beginning of the section for the High Testosterone Diet, you mention eating lean meat, but in the above article you mention switching out lean turkey breast with some red meat. So should I lay off of the chicken breasts and eat beef? Is the beef eye filet or scotch filet okay?
Hey Riki,
You want to go by what’s in the eBook since I published it this year while most of the articles were written 3-4 years ago.
I recommend getting most of your protein from lean protein sources such as turkey breast and chicken breast because that leaves more room for high quality fats such as Omega-3 fatty acids, extra virgin olive oil and nuts.
Hi Oskar,
did you notice any increase on the size of your testicles after this testosterone increase?
No I did not see any increase.
High-five on the knowledge and accuracy of what you are saying. I see that I need to take action now. Thanks a lot bro!!!
Hello Oskar,
What’s your opinion on the so-called testosterone boosters, like ZMA, Tribulus Terrestis, D-aspartic acid? Do they really work? Are they safe?
Steak, Salmon, Ground Beef, Eggs, Peanut Butter, Nuts, …Can you think of anything else with a good amount of fats?
Hello,
My name is Djeddy, I’m 16 years old and believe I’m skinny fat.
I also have puffy nipples and bigger hips than normal guys. I do some training each day, but see no progress. I don’t sleep good because of stress I believe… I want a goodlooking body. One you can be proud of, but I have no clue how to. I am going to start doing “Diamond Pushup”, but I believe it’s not going to help. I read your whole article, but still don’t know where to start.
Please contact me for help or information.
Please help me.
Djeddy
Take a look at the rest of Oskar’s website and his free ebooks. After warming up, you should be doing pullups, diamond pushups and squats, along with planks, or their respective alternatives if you can’t do that much.
very nice article bro
btw i was so shocked when i saw guy A and B life style examples …
im confused and have no idea whats going on about me bc my life looks like Guy B but i have a GF and mysex drive is high and im skinny but totally i look alil muscular (im under weight but i have almost a 4 pack and my arm muscles are alil defined and my chest is pretty stiff not puffy and i guess my body fat is pretty lower than normal) but i never exercised at all so do you think i have good genes? or do you have any idea about my testosterone levels? im so confused pls hlp me thanks :) ????
Hey bro, I would just get them tested now and once per year. It’s simple and easy and will solve your question :)
Hey oskar, Its an amazing information with details. I have also sleep problem, sometimes I wake up in nights 3 or 4 time for a minute and than get sleep.
I try to sleep continuously but it doesn’t happen. What should I do?
Thanks Akash. There are a few conditions you have to rule out to be on the safe side:
1) Prostate problems.
2) Diabetes and pre diabetes.
3) Urinary tract infections / STDs.
4) Sleep apnea.
If you wake up to pee, I would start with seeing a doctor to get some simple tests done for diabetes, the prostate and for urinary tract infections / STDs. Then if nothing is found, you’ll want to see a sleep specialist or neurologist specializing in sleep and check for sleep apnea through an in lab sleep study.
I have sleep apnea and the first symptom I had was frequent awakenings together with never feeling refreshed when waking up. Other than that, I had no symptoms. You don’t want to underestimate sleep apnea because it’s a huge risk factor for strokes, heart attacks, high cholesterol, high blood sugar and low testosterone levels so get it checked out if nothing else is found.
Hi Oscar Sir
My problem us that the nipples got firm when in cold or taking bath or I touched them.
But that goes for 2-3 min. Only
What’s the problem & solution to get firm tight nipples 24×7.
Please Reply
thank u oskar for this wonderful post,i am so much fitness enthusiast that i can miss worldcup match for gyming,unfortunately i developed the problem of large nipple wen i was in my puberty,and apart from that i also have less facial hair,but i never felt the less desire of having sex,or less desire for training in gym,i have also tried to avoid unhealthy food for last 3 yrs i am 21 now,i have been training for the last 3 yrs,from measurement of 35 inches to 40 inches of my chest have come in these days,however when my body is not pumped up then my nipples look really bad,i cannot flaunt my chest any time,wen its cold then my nipples get shortened and then only i can flaunt,is this all due to less hormone.? how can i get help,naturally.if i am a vegetarian. ?
hey oskar thank u very much for this gold post,its really helpful but i am an Indian vegetarian guy the maximum things i can do is i can eat eggs,and i have been training for 3 yrs now i am 21 pls reply
Hey Oskar.
I’m 18, 5’11”, 165 lb, been weight training and eating healthy for over a year (lifting 5 days/week).
I went from 225 lbs to 165 lbs.
I got my blood work done and my testosterone came back at 311 ng/dl. This would definitely explain why my friends always made more gains than me even though they worked out less and ate more unhealthy.
I’ve tried high fat, high protein, low carb, and balanced diet, but it’s hard to count calories on the balanced diet. Should I quit counting calories as I try to increase testosterone and just focus on having healthy, balanced meals? Or should I keep counting calories?
Thanks!
I usually don’t write on blogs. But this blog is pure gold!!
thank god for find your video and your website
my case is similar to yours
i will take your advices as a guide for my transformation
thank you for sharing that good experience
and thank god for the Internet :)
Keep me updated on your progress! :)
Hey! Great article! Just wondering, so how much sleep should i get each night? 6 hours or 8?
Sleep without an alarm and see how much your body needs
Hi
My testestrone level is 520 and i m 22, i have facial and body hair and also regular morning erection but i always feel weak and stressful during a day. My height is 190 cm and my weight is 90 kg but i have fatty belly, hips and chest! Am I skinny fat? Do i need to raise my testesrone?
Yes it sounds like you’re skinny fat. Jump on my free newsletter to get my best tips on skinny fatness:
SkinnyFatTransformation.com/newsletter
thank you for posting this article. I am a sixteen year old and this has answered a lot of my questions. I was always feeling down all the time because I felt like people didnt like me and when i finally tried to change my life around and my body it just backfired because nothing happened and i felt worst than i did before. now that i now a simple way to start getting my self on track i am going to try this everyday now. this article has really inspired me to get into better physical and mental shape
Good job! Your site is simple, direct and effective. No fairytales stories.
Thanks from Brasil and my apologies for bad english!
Can you please leave your wats app number or your Facebook a/c
Can you please leave your wats app number or your Facebook a/c please
Currently in the same boat, at around 293ng/dl from blood test but doctor said i’m within range. Will try an endocrinologist but i doubt i’ll get TRT. Will try your diet for the next 2-3 months and see if there’s any improvements to my T levels.
This a great site!!!!
But I do have a problem .
I am doing qhour skipping and pushups workout 6times a week and take very light dinner:-fruits , or maybe a glass of milk . Also , I have cut my carb intake to great levels but still I have puffy nipples and not a very fit body . can u suggest something?
Great help that you offered
thanx
BUT…. you did not mention anything about turmeric as a testosterone booster, didn’t you hear about it, or is it wrong?
I don’t know about it, but I wouldn’t use any testosterone boosters without knowing what every single ingredient in them does…
Hi man, I’m 23 and have a tonne of these symptoms. I’ve been going to the gym for 2 years but not getting any stronger, I store all my fat on my hips and stomach and don’t get morning wood ever! I have lived a very sedentary lifestyle, just lying in bed all day.
So do you think I can reverse it like you did? Or do you think I will need TRT? How bad was your morning wood issues for example? at what stage did it recover?
Hi Oskar,
Great article. I was looking for testosterone supplements and did not want to pay a lot of money for a product that might not actually work. So your article offered not only testosterone solution, but also installing great habits to improve life quality overall – which I love!
With that being said, I understand all the science on diet and sleep that you explained, but am still confused on how life scenarios can play a role on T levels. Like how you mentioned person A hating his job and not taking risks with girls vs person B loving his job and taking risks and adventures. Could you elaborate on how being the “alpha male” might improve one’s T levels?
Thanks!
Thank you.
The mind and body are connected. If you have dominant posture, regular sex with a woman or women you find hot and do something you love for a living your hormones will display these actions.
I know there’s science out there showing that posture and your sexual options are linked with testosterone levels, you can Google around for it and I’m sure you will find it.
With that said I believe that change starts in the body. You eat healthier, sleep better and exercise more. The behaviors will come later.
what if u just can´t take more sleep? I´ve always been a bad “sleeper” i sleep around 6 hours, I can´t sleep more, I wake up… if I go earlier to bed I just wake up earlier…
Everyone has different needs. Maybe you need just 6 hours.
Thanks for this. Gosh this is a fantastic article Oscar :)
Thank you and you’re welcome!
Oskar, thanks for all the information that you give to us, i have a question, besides red meat do you think that fish is a god source of good fats too or should i stick only too red meat, and what kind of green vegetables do you used to keep the carbohydrates levels, because without wheat, gluten how should i keep the carbs, or is it just protein and fats
Amazing transformation dude and amazing chest! thanks
Fish is good but mix it up.
I don’t eat green veggies even though I should.
Eat sweet potatoes, white rice, brown rice and white potatoes.
Thank you very much!
Thank you for the great blog and particularly this article. Very inspiring and motivational. I am sure today is the best starting point to make meaningful changes in my lifestyle. My lifestyle fots exactly to the Guy A type except for one difference. The thing is that I got not only low testosterone levels (262 ng/dl) as well as abnormally low estrogen (2 pg/dl which is way below the normal range for males 15-50 pg/dl). I got all the symptoms of low testosterone levels except for feminine fat distribution.
I heard it’s critical to include squats in work out rather than doing other leg exercises, because doing them significantly increases testosterone levels and leads to overall improvement in building a better physique. Do you think it’s true?
Hey Lee,
Follow the tips in this article for a few months and get your test measured again.
The whole “squats increase testosterone levels” thing is a huge joke. Yes, they do increase testosterone levels, but so do pretty much any other weight training exercises. Furthermore, the increases are only temporary and insignificant.
Hi Oskar, is it true that high levels of testosterone will lead to hair fall and baldness? so increasing testosterone may increase muscle but also cause baldness? Is this true?
As far as I know, higher testosterone levels are associated with early male baldness, but not in all cases.
You want to keep in mind that it’s all about context. If a guy has low testosterone levels, following the advice here may get him to a normal, healthy range. The advice here won’t get you extremely high levels – only testosterone injections will do that.
Also, I’ve known a few guys in my life with naturally high test levels and very athletic physiques who started balding around the age of 19-20, so I guess there is something to it.
Baldness occurs only if you are genetically predisposed to it.
Hey oskar,another good news.i have achieved 15 good diamond pushups in about 25-26 days.nearly a month..one question..should i continue doing regular pushups also because it train lower chest and i dont have gyno.its just puffy nipples full of fat that will go away when i cut
For me at least, I think it is def the diet….
Hi
I enjoyed your article very much, but I have a question.
I have exactly the same body type as you had, but I was wondering if you had gynecomastia? if you had it, then I want to know if it went away by itself or did you do something to remove it?
I still have gynecomastia, however it’s less visible now because I’ve built up my chest musculature and changed my diet. Building your chest in the right places combined with a good diet can reduce the puffiness and make it tighter, although the lump will still be present. You can read about all of this in my puffy nipples article.
Testosterone transformed your body completely around. The before pic is awful to look at, you look completely different now. Great job!
Thank you!
Hi Oscar,
I just watched a video of Jay Cutler in Czech. He’s been squeezed for answers by a young bodybuilder. At 13m20sec of the interview, the bodybuilder asks Jay if he always heads for 12 repetitions. Jay answers that he heads for 10 reps, that he stay with the same exercises all the time to make sure he doesn’t get injured and most importantly, that there are no secrets. Consistency is the key. Time.
I think this is exactly what you are praying here on your website. Therefore you could consider referencing Jay, as the “great bodybuilder”, to back your science up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-qh7mqRPaU&t=13m20s
Jay isn’t skinny fat and takes steroids to maintain his physique. If ur on roids almost anything u do will get u results. Pls don’t follow his advice for ur own sake.
The advice Jay is giving is exactly the same as Oskar does. Please watch the interview first before commenting next time.
You’re right Andre, but those 2 particular pieces of advice are good. I use them myself.
Even though Jay has elite genetics and take huge doses of steroids, what he preaches is correct. I found 10 reps to be great for muscle building, and this is also the amount of reps that is known to be best for hypertrophy. (This is why most bb routines have 8-12 reps, 10 is in the middle).
About doing the same exercises: I found that to be true aswell. I always do the same exercises because I can push them hard without worrying about injury. Whenever I try new exercises and push hard, my joints ache.
Great article as always. I usually have Breakfast(Oatmeal+nuts), Lunch(Meat/Egg/Veg/Rice) and Dinner(Same as lunch) but I eat some fruits around 3pm.
Would you consider that 3 meals a day or 4 meals? If it’s 4 meals, which meal should I include the fruits. Thanks
3 meals and a snack. As long as it works, it doesn’t matter if you do 3 or 4 meals.
Hey Oskar – nice article. Interesting analysis about dopamine. I think there’s something to be said about eliminating porn and other dopamine addictive behavior like leveling video games, trash television, or whatever, because they actually drastically reduce our dopamine sensitivity, which as you’ve deduced can lead to hormonal imbalances and lower T. If you’re desensitized to dopamine you’re desensitized to the anticipation of pleasure via reward, which of course will lower your motivation to do things like get your work done or get to the gym. It’s not hard to see how dopamine addict behavior can lead to a vicious downward hormonal/mental cycle.
I just got my bloodwork back and my T was 479. I’m a 28 y/o male. Not low enough to raise my doc’s eyebrows (sigh), but I’m hoping I can get it up into a healthy high/normal range with lifestyle optimization. One question I have. What is your opinion on balancing healthy fat/carb intake while on a fat loss cut? And, might it make sense to go on regular diet breaks to help with T optimization while losing fat?
I appreciate your candid transparency on this subject. I’ll take these suggestions to heart. This is an very important issue in regards to the quality of mens’ lives in this day and age.
Definitely get both carbs and fats while cutting. The amount you need is individual and requires experimentation, and also depends on how much you train etc. Ideally you want to lose the weight slowly and get as many nutrients as possible during your cut.
Yes, take at least 1 days a week where you get in a cheatmeal and get in a caloric surplus. I usually take 2 cheat meals a week. This will “reset” your body after several days of caloric deficit.
Oskar,
Great article. This has been an ongoing issue for me. I’m 37 years old and lift weights 5-6 days per week. About 3 years ago, my testosterone levels were below 100! I felt and looked miserable. I went on TRT about 1.5 years ago. Once you are on TRT, are you on it for life, or is there a chance I can do some of the things in this article and get off the medication?? Even with the medication my total is only in the low 400’s currently…. Thanks!
Thank you Joel.
I don’t know that Joel, but isn’t it possible to increase dosage further so you can get to over 600 ng/dl? If I was on TRT I would try to get my levels all the way up to the top of the range (about 1000 ng/dl).
Hey oskar why dont u try to raise your test even further to 1000ng/dl something just like christopher by focusing on muscle up and weighed muscle up.if he can go from 11ng/dl to 1000.u can also.his condition was much worse than u at beginning.i mean 11ng/dl.what the heck! Even girls have higher test than this
I don’t know what my level is right now. 652 ng/dl was over 2 years ago, so it might be much higher today. I honestly don’t care about the number anymore. As long as I feel good, that’s what counts. If I start getting symptoms again, I will get it measured again.
Great article again Oskar, Once you have visited and take time to read this site it would be impossible not to progress. Can I ask what are the recipes for the meats and such?
Thanks Buzz. My cooking is very very basic, since I don’t have much time to cook. I put some coconut oil on the pan and cook my beef/pork for 3-5 minutes on max. Same goes for eggs. I might do an article in the future on simple recipes.
That would be Great Oscar!
Please do this!
Thanks.
So, basically your saying we should follow 30 days of discipline to increase our testosterone?
Good observation David. It’s a great program to get started, although I personally don’t do the cold showers (it’s cold as fuck here in Denmark). Also you want to stick to the lifestyle for life, not just 30 days.
I’ve been training for about 3->4 years. I take zinc supplements and have oysters every day now and see little improvements. When I get a physical this year, I’ll ask for hormone bloodwork and if it’s <500, I'll ask for trt or aromasin. Since boosting naturally means very little. Say your zinc deficint and you correct that, it will only boost your t by 5% which is a joke. I would need like 800+ T to feel good.
Hello Oskar.!
My question is a bit complex. So i am an ectomorph bodytype 18 years old guy, 183high and around 70 kg. i am thin and slender, and because of my bodytype and fast as hell metabolsim, it is hard for me to gain mass and muscles, also fat, though, I CAN’T LOSE my lower abdominal and hip fat. On my other parts i dont have any unnecessary fats, and i begin to see the results of my work and eating; my curves and separations on my muscles.
I have read a lot about ectomorph training, they say i can eat relatively much, lots of carbs and proteins recommended and a moderate-low amount of fat is needed. And i need a lot of (strength and weight) workout, bodyweight workout everytime until failing, but minimal amount of cardio, as my body will turn calories to weight loss by running etc, but i need to build weight and not losing it. I am really trying to keep this kind of “diet” and training routine, as my life (school, family, exams, housework, time etc) lets me.
I really like sweets, and i sleep around 5-6 hours a day, often just 4, always after midnight :(. Im stressed by school and family things, and its hard to always eat the proper meal and go to gym, because of money and lack of time. Im not having too much friends right now like about 2 years ago, but those few are really nice.
Sooo… the main question is: what can you advise for me to do? Can you suggest an easy-to-keep daily schedule, or better eating habits or anything else? I want to be more confident, balanced, a better student, and much more lovely and cheerful / vivid to people, because i see this lifestyle leading to nowhere but being a minion.
I really like your articles and newsletters, so i think it is the best idea to ask it from someone who answers it by experiment and honesty, than someone that wants you to develop slow, because you pay a lot for his training advices in the gym.
I would be really glad if u could give me some nice advices :) Oh and sorry for not so perfect english.
Best wishes and respect from Hungary:
Kristóf
Good work on increasing testosterone.
I’ve never tested my testosterone. But when I was 20-21, and unknowingly had candida, I thought I had low testosterone before I found out. Some of the symptoms were similar of that of low testosterone, only I had extreme mood swings and brain fog.
What were some of the (big) changes you’ve noticed as your testosterone went from low to high?
Thanks Ludvig.
Many diseases/conditions have very similar symptoms, this is why it’s crucial to get tested when you suspect something is wrong.
Big changes:
More drive to workout (I wanted to be in the gym almost everyday rather than dragging myself there), better pumps during workouts and more sex drive. Also I gradually got a more positive outlook on life which made me stick to my training rather than quit.
Hi Ludvig,
may I ask how you fixed your Candida permanently?
Alright Oskar.
–It was about the same for me!
Fabian:
-There was a lot to it. After I found out it took me about 6-12 months to cure it, and I completely changed my lifestyle and diet. I cut all sugar, minimized carbs very much. Started eating only 1-2 times per day, often fasting for 2 days at a time. I drank 1-3 glasses of water mixed with L-glutamine every day (I still do). Once upon waking up and once before working out.
I also ate high quality coconut fat (non hydrogenated) each time 15 min before my meals and together with my meals.
Thanks so much for your reply, Ludvid. Would you consider yourself cured? Meaning you can eat candy for 2 weeks in a row without symptoms recurring?
Yeah I’m cured.
I’ve never ate candy for two weeks straight, but I can binge drink and eat unhealthy food for 1-3 days without any specific bad effects. But I have a very healthy diet on 95 % of days.
Best website I have ever seen …….thanks for motivating us .
Wow thank you for this comment, this is the type of comment that motivates me to keep writing for you guys.
It is true that one needs a sufficient amount of carbs to function well during the day, but is there any point of eating carbs for dinner, if one isn’t going to burn them?
One more thing: You mentioned that ”since fat slows the digestion of carbs and keeps you full very long.” If so, Is it a good idea to consume mostly fats for breakfast and then carbs in the next meals?
Thank you Oskar and Great article!
Thanks Konstantin!
When you train often your body is in a constant state of recovery so carbs are needed, so I suggest you just keep all meals balanced with some protein-fat-carbs.
Thanks for this and all your articles, Oscar. Always inspiring!
You’re welcome Fabian!
Hey Oskar, hope everything is fine!
Have you ever read “The Vertical Diet” of Stan Efferding? If so, what are your thoughts about it?
Greetings, Pietro.