mikeh40+
02-26-2009, 12:02 PM
Below is an article I took from A-ron21 over at BodybuildingDungeon.com I feel like it applies here and would be a good read for the people on this board. Sorry for not citing it earlier when I first posted it.
I am sick of reading about 18 year old kids who haven't gained 20lbs in one month and think that they need to buy a test booster. In the following paragraphs I am going to point out why people under 25 do not need testosterone boosters, and why it is stupid to mess with your hormones if you don't know what you are doing
The effect of diet and exercise on testosterone production
Having a proper diet and exercise routine is the best way to maintain healthy testosterone levels. If you do not have your diet, training, and rest tuned in, then your gains, and eventually your test levels, will suffer.
Your body needs Protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, and minerals to be able to function properly. Specifically, if you want to gain weight, you need to be taking in more calories each day than you burn.
Focus: A testosterone booster should never be a substitute for a poor diet.
If you are having trouble gaining weight, then the first thing you need to do is examine your diet. Avoid alcohol. If you want to learn more, go to the nutrition section of this forum.
The next part is your training and recovery. Your body releases testosterone, growth hormone, and other anabolic hormones when you exercise. The best way to keep a high testosterone level is to train hard and regularly. Going to the gym and benching every other day isn't going to cut it. Train your legs. The biggest muscles will release the most testosterone.
Also, do cardio. Men with lower bodyfat have higher test levels because fat cells convert testosterone to estrogen.
Recovery: Training balls to the wall every day is not good for your body. You break it down in the gym, and you build it back up when you rest. You need a good 8 hours of sleep or more each night to really recover from tough workouts. Your pituitary and testes release the most GH and Testosterone during sleep. So get your rest.
Why you shouldn't mess with your hormones
If you have to ask about a test booster, you shouldn't be messing with your hormones. Period. Your body's hormonal cascade is very delicate: changing one part changes everything else. Hormone fluctuations can produce very serious side effects and it is not just all kittens and rainbows like the advertisements say. Testosterone production is at its highest in males around age 17 and 18. Your body is literally a test factory.
This is in fact a very BAD time to mess with your hormones. Why? Because your body's organ systems and tissues have not fully matured yet. You are still growing just like you were 10 years ago. Your endocrine system is not fully developed, and introducing changes to it can alter it permanently. For example: in men, testosterone is what signals the body to close the growth plates in your bones. Around age 18 or so your body's test production is at its peak. This causes ossification (the process of making bone) to increase around the area of the growth plates in your bones so that it overtakes the cartilage growth plate. This effectively closes your growth plates and you are done growing. Taking something that boosts or alters your test levels can cause them to close too early.
Furthermore, your body has what is called a negative feedback system to regulate certain hormones. Test production is one of them. Basically, when test levels are at a certain hight, it sends a signal back to your brain that tells it that your hormones are at a max, and your body stops producing test. So anything that boosts your test will only work for a short period of time, if it even works.
So thats that guys. Don't mess with your hormones until you are over 25 years old and have spend 5 years or more training naturally. Here is a good way to think about it: If you wanted to learn how to ski, you wouldn't start by buying ski accessories, you would start by learning how to go down the hill. So learn how to eat and train before you mess with your body. Because you only get one of those, and you don't want to mess it up.
Also, a word on anti-estrogens: Don't use those either. Your body needs estrogen to build muscle, and low estrogen leads to a whole host of bad side effects, one of which is the inability to get an erection.
Here is a good source to start reading:
http://www.patientedu.org/aspx/HealthEL ... cid=N0108a (http://www.patientedu.org/aspx/HealthELibrary/HealthETopic.aspx?cid=N0108a)
I am sick of reading about 18 year old kids who haven't gained 20lbs in one month and think that they need to buy a test booster. In the following paragraphs I am going to point out why people under 25 do not need testosterone boosters, and why it is stupid to mess with your hormones if you don't know what you are doing
The effect of diet and exercise on testosterone production
Having a proper diet and exercise routine is the best way to maintain healthy testosterone levels. If you do not have your diet, training, and rest tuned in, then your gains, and eventually your test levels, will suffer.
Your body needs Protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, and minerals to be able to function properly. Specifically, if you want to gain weight, you need to be taking in more calories each day than you burn.
Focus: A testosterone booster should never be a substitute for a poor diet.
If you are having trouble gaining weight, then the first thing you need to do is examine your diet. Avoid alcohol. If you want to learn more, go to the nutrition section of this forum.
The next part is your training and recovery. Your body releases testosterone, growth hormone, and other anabolic hormones when you exercise. The best way to keep a high testosterone level is to train hard and regularly. Going to the gym and benching every other day isn't going to cut it. Train your legs. The biggest muscles will release the most testosterone.
Also, do cardio. Men with lower bodyfat have higher test levels because fat cells convert testosterone to estrogen.
Recovery: Training balls to the wall every day is not good for your body. You break it down in the gym, and you build it back up when you rest. You need a good 8 hours of sleep or more each night to really recover from tough workouts. Your pituitary and testes release the most GH and Testosterone during sleep. So get your rest.
Why you shouldn't mess with your hormones
If you have to ask about a test booster, you shouldn't be messing with your hormones. Period. Your body's hormonal cascade is very delicate: changing one part changes everything else. Hormone fluctuations can produce very serious side effects and it is not just all kittens and rainbows like the advertisements say. Testosterone production is at its highest in males around age 17 and 18. Your body is literally a test factory.
This is in fact a very BAD time to mess with your hormones. Why? Because your body's organ systems and tissues have not fully matured yet. You are still growing just like you were 10 years ago. Your endocrine system is not fully developed, and introducing changes to it can alter it permanently. For example: in men, testosterone is what signals the body to close the growth plates in your bones. Around age 18 or so your body's test production is at its peak. This causes ossification (the process of making bone) to increase around the area of the growth plates in your bones so that it overtakes the cartilage growth plate. This effectively closes your growth plates and you are done growing. Taking something that boosts or alters your test levels can cause them to close too early.
Furthermore, your body has what is called a negative feedback system to regulate certain hormones. Test production is one of them. Basically, when test levels are at a certain hight, it sends a signal back to your brain that tells it that your hormones are at a max, and your body stops producing test. So anything that boosts your test will only work for a short period of time, if it even works.
So thats that guys. Don't mess with your hormones until you are over 25 years old and have spend 5 years or more training naturally. Here is a good way to think about it: If you wanted to learn how to ski, you wouldn't start by buying ski accessories, you would start by learning how to go down the hill. So learn how to eat and train before you mess with your body. Because you only get one of those, and you don't want to mess it up.
Also, a word on anti-estrogens: Don't use those either. Your body needs estrogen to build muscle, and low estrogen leads to a whole host of bad side effects, one of which is the inability to get an erection.
Here is a good source to start reading:
http://www.patientedu.org/aspx/HealthEL ... cid=N0108a (http://www.patientedu.org/aspx/HealthELibrary/HealthETopic.aspx?cid=N0108a)