If you’re hoping to boost your testosterone levels and see superior results with your fitness program, you should take a look into using the prohormone 1-Testosterone. Not to be confused with a real steroid itself, 1-Testosterone is going to work by promoting an increase in natural testosterone levels. When used properly, this can make a dramatic difference in your overall hormonal profile and can ensure that you are putting your body in an optimal position to grow lean muscle tissue.
You may ask, what can I do to help maximize the results I get from 1-Testosterone supplementation? While it will start working all on its own, there are certainly ways that you can ensure you take your results one step further.
Let’s take a look.
Train Heavy
Don’t let the fact that you’re using 1-Testosterone mean that you don’t have to hit the gym and work hard. That isn’t the case at all and in fact, it’ll be more beneficial than ever to be pushing your limits and increasing the weight.
When using 1-Testosterone, you’ll notice you have more energy and recover faster, thus this lends well to doing more intense workouts.
This said, do be careful about joint pain. At times, if your muscles grow faster than the rate of your joints strengthening, it can be the cause of potential injury.
By training heavy and hard, however, you are providing the stimulus your body requires to generate more muscle with the newly improved hormonal environment you’re creating.
Eat Sufficient Fat
Here’s something you don’t hear every day – optimize your fat intake. We are not saying you need to go on a ketogenic diet, making your diet primarily saturated fat content, but you should be getting enough fats.
Men who aren’t getting enough saturated fat in their diet are more likely to suffer from a decline in testosterone levels(1), so you don’t need this working against you.
Focus on naturally occurring forms of saturated fat such as the fat found in beef, eggs, and dairy.
Take Sleeping Very Seriously
Another thing that you should do if you’re going to optimize your testosterone while using 1-Testosterone prohormone is to make sure that you’re taking your sleep needs seriously. Sleep is not something you should take lightly.
Research(2) has shown that healthy young men who’ve undergone sleep deprivation of five hours per night for one week show overall testosterone levels 10% lower than their standard. If you aren’t sleeping enough, you’re already at a strong disadvantage so using 1-Testosterone may just bring you back up to where you should normally be, rather than helping you gain an edge over what your actual potential is.
Make The Most Of Your Calories
Chances are you’ve set out to build muscle, not gain fat. While some fat gain is almost always to be expected if you’re attempting to build muscle, some men become far too concerned about adding a little extra body fat.
This is harmful because typically it causes them to eat far fewer calories than they really should, which does not help optimize their muscle-building results.
You’ll want to ensure that you are eating a hypercaloric diet plan when using 1-Testosterone to provide additional raw materials to build lean muscle mass. If you build muscle effectively, you’ll be in a good position to lose any excess fat you gained during that time because your metabolic rate will be optimized. This is due to both having sufficient food coming in as well as the fact that you’ve just built more muscle than you had before.
Those using 1-Testosterone should aim for a calorie surplus with a minimum of 350-500 calories above maintenance to a maximum of 750-1000 calories above.
For most guys, this should have them gaining around one pound of lean body mass per week depending on their genetics and metabolic make-up.
Control Your Stress Levels
Yes, it’s easier said than done, but if you want to optimize your natural release of testosterone so 1-Testosterone can do its job effectively, focus on controlling your stress.
Some stress in life is simply unavoidable, but many stressors come on simply due to you not having appropriate coping methods or due to poor choices to begin with.
First, learn how to say no to people. If you can’t say no to requests, you’re already adding more stress onto your plate than you have to.
Next, learn how to recognize the early warning signs of stress in yourself. Realize that everyone responds to stress differently, so you must discover what your signs are.
Some may notice they’re sweating more than normal (a sign your sympathetic system is working overtime). Others may start noticing tension headaches. Still, some people may find that they just don’t have their regular high motivation level they normally do.
By recognizing what your stress levels happen to be, you can then take more appropriate steps to resolve them. If you aren’t able to recognize what they are, however, you may need to wait until you see the obvious signs, at which point controlling that stress just became a whole lot harder.
Proper stress reduction techniques can vary and range from things like journaling, talking to a friend or loved one, going for a brisk walk, watching a funny movie and so on. Just like the initial warning signs that you’re stressed will vary, so will how you treat your stress.
Those who have a variety of ways to manage stress are far less likely to suffer from issues related to low testosterone levels.
Use Additional Natural Supplements
In addition to taking your 1-Testosterone, you might also want to consider some other supplements that will help optimize your hormonal environment. Certain vitamins and minerals do contribute to the hormone release of testosterone so you’ll want to ensure these are where they should be.
Zinc is one of the most important ones to be taking in. While you will be getting some zinc in your diet plan if you eat red meat, you should probably be taking more of it since you are exercising heavily. Men who do not have sufficient zinc levels typically do show testosterone deficiency.
Vitamin D is another nutrient that you’ll want to take in if optimizing testosterone is important to you(3). Vitamin D is a lot harder to find in whole foods so unless you’re drinking fortified milk or orange juice regularly, you probably need a supplement.
Similarly to those with a zinc deficiency, men who suffer from vitamin D deficiency typically have lower than normal testosterone levels.
If you keep these tips in mind and apply them to your supplement regimen, you should notice that you see better results while using 1-Testosterone than taking the prohormone itself. Remember that no supplement will work for you – it’s up to you to make the most of it through optimal lifestyle, exercise, and nutrition choices. When you do that and have realistic expectations going in, that’s when you’ll see the success you desire.
References:
- Hämäläinen, E. K., et al. “Decrease of serum total and free testosterone during a low-fat high-fibre diet.” Journal of steroid biochemistry 18.3 (1983): 369-370.
- Leproult, Rachel, and Eve Van Cauter. “Effect of 1 week of sleep restriction on testosterone levels in young healthy men.” Jama 305.21 (2011): 2173-2174.
- Pilz, S., et al. “Effect of vitamin D supplementation on testosterone levels in men.” Hormone and Metabolic Research 43.03 (2011): 223-225.
