Category: Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding: articles about building muscle (both size and strength) for a more powerful physique.

Testosterone Boosters Review

I’d like to share my review on the classification of supplements known as “testosterone boosters.”  Supplement manufacturers claim these pills and powders increase or maximize levels of the manly hormone.

I’ll start this review with three points:

Three reasons why “testosterone boosters” are worthless:

1.  First and foremost, the wrong people are often the most eager to buy this kind of supplement. 

I regularly see guys in their 20’s wanting to take them or asking which one is the best (on forums, etc).  Please read carefully: if you are in your 20’s, you are already in your natural peak of testosterone production.  Your hormones are most likely not the limiting factor in your gains (I’d say the same thing to guys in their 30’s).

2. This kind of supplement also doesn’t have a great track record as far as real research goes. 

I remember when tribulus terrestris hit the market back in the 90’s.  It had all the usual hype and “scientific” explanation as to why it would raise t levels.  But one study in 2007 showed tribulus supplementation didn’t make any difference in terms of testosterone/epitestosterone (T/E) ratio, strength, or mass.1 An older (2000) study concluded “Supplementation with tribulus does not enhance body composition or exercise performance in resistance-trained males.”2

The industry has changed little–there’s a lot of hype and wasted money with no results to show for it.  I remember another supplement that came out a few years ago with claims of outrageous increases in testosterone levels.  They had “studies” to back their claims, but ATD (1,4,6-androstatriene-3,17-dione) was the main ingredient.  This compound can be mistaken for testosterone.3

3. You’d need a significant increase of testosterone beyond natural levels for it to actually make any difference in strength, size or body composition.

Let’s use steroids as a reference point.  A beginner steroid cycle would be somewhere between 250-500 mg of testosterone a week (it might include other drugs, but this would be the base).  A new user would probably make significant gains by using this dose for 3 months.  But even this beginner cycle is much higher than “natural” testosterone levels: a standard dose of testosterone replacement therapy would probably be around 100-250 mg every 2-3 weeks.

In summary, I don’t see any reason for young men to invest in “testosterone boosters” for the purpose of getting bigger, stronger, or leaner.  Change your diet and exercise program if you aren’t getting the results you want. 

What about older trainees?  Are there any promising formulas out there?

I haven’t seen anything conclusive as far as research goes.  Maca, for example, may be able to affect hormone levels enough to improve sex drive, but the evidence is “limited” at best.4

Here’s another reason to be very cautious: The Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition recently published a study on 23 athletes who regularly used “natural (plant-derived) dietary supplements with ergogenic aims.”  15 of these athletes had abnormal hormone levels (estrogen and progesterone). 5 I’m not sure exactly what these subjects were using, but it makes me think twice about taking something that isn’t backed by extensive research.

Conclusion:

I’m 40 years old, so I’d love to find a natural herb proven to safely maximize testosterone. But I’m underwhelmed by what I see right now.  I’ll just stick to strategies to boost my testosterone naturally.

Note: You may want to check out my post on Supplements for Sexual Health.  

Related Post: Prohormones: Hype and History

References:

1. J Strength Cond Res. 2007 May;21(2):348-53. The effect of five weeks of Tribulus terrestris supplementation on muscle strength and body composition during preseason training in elite rugby league players.

2.Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2000 Jun;10(2):208-15. The effects of Tribulus terrestris on body composition and exercise performance in resistance-trained males.

3. Steroids. 1980 Dec;36(6):717-21. Immunological interference of the synthetic aromatase inhibitor 1,4,6-androstatriene-3,17-dione (ATD) and its metabolite(s) in the radioimmunoassay for testosterone.

4. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2010 Aug 6;10:44. Maca (L. meyenii) for improving sexual function: a systematic review.

5. JISSN 2012, June 19 Consumption and biochemical impact of commercially available plant-derived nutritional supplements. An observational pilot-study on recreational athletes

Training Intensity

I remember my early years of training in a public/commercial gym after graduating college. It was the mid-90’s, and I was trying to figure out the truth about training, diet and supplements. This journey included a lot of trial-and-error, not to mention wasted money (the before-mentioned supplements).

There’s this one guy I’d see in the gym almost every time I worked out. We became friends, and I learned that he normally trained six days a week. He had a good physique, but I began noticing something over the months and years: he never really got bigger, stronger, or leaner. He pretty much used the same weights, same exercises, and had the same look week after week.

As I said, he was strong and muscular. But I suspect he could have maintained his physique with much less time in the gym.

This guy actually ended up with a pretty serious back injury that sidelined his training. I can’t remember if he was injured at work or in the gym. But now I wonder if overtraining had something to do with it (or overusing the same exercises).  I’m not sure if he ever really recovered.

I’m hoping to make a point with all the introductory rambling—I’d like to share some thoughts about training intensity.

Transforming your physique is hard work, and there is some truth to the “no pain, no gain” cliché. But over the years I’ve learned there is something more important than training hard: training smart.

I first learned this lesson when I reached a plateau in my strength gains. The problem wasn’t lack of effort but lack of knowledge. That’s when I discovered periodization, a system used by powerlifters to develop maximum strength.

Years later I learned about deloading—intentionally lifting lighter weights for a week (or taking a week off altogether).

Both of these strategies are intentional adjustments in training intensity—backing off for the sake of better long-term gains.

I’ve taken these principles a little further in my own training philosophy. Here’s what I mean: I think trainees tend to be in either maintenance phase or transformation phase.

Transformation phase means either getting bigger, stronger, or leaner (or a combination of all three). Maintenance phase means doing sufficient training to keep the progress you’ve made (or keep most of it), but no more.

Here’s how it has played out for me lately:

I’m finishing up an 8-week training cycle. I’ve been lifting four days a week, which is the highest training volume I’ve done in years (I normally train only three times a week). This is the biggest and leanest I’ve been in quite some time (implementing the principles of the Renegade Diet has been very helpful).

This cycle came after about three months of bare-minimum, maintenance training. I was lifting only about twice a week from January through April. Working out wasn’t my top priority because I got married in March.

That period of maintenance training was really good for me. I didn’t make any gains, of course, but I was ready for the phase I’m in right now—I went into it with more enthusiasm and focus than I’ve had in a long time. Lowering the intensity/volume, even for several weeks, was very helpful in the long run.

Here’s where I’m going with all this:

I wonder if some of us would get better results by really focusing on diet/training for a few months (transformation phase), achieving the desired result, then backing off (maintenance phase).

This, after all, is how most elite athletes seem to do it: they get themselves in peak condition for some kind of competition (or a whole season), then rest.  Maybe some of us never really peak or rest, instead settling for a mediocre level of intensity year-round.