Testosterone can make all the difference at the gym and in the bedroom. The problem is: as men approach their 30s, most experience a decrease in testosterone production, forcing them to visit their GP for a total testosterone level check. Before going down this path, one way men may boost testosterone levels is to maintain muscle mass.

To do this, there are two words to remember: anabolic and catabolic. These are key factors that determine whether the body can increase its testosterone levels or whether they diminish with age.

Being anabolic is the key. This means the body is building and repairing muscle and looking after vital organs. On the other hand, if the body is in catabolic state, the metabolism slows down, and the body begins to eat away at that the hard-earned muscle and increases the ageing process.

All these problems lead to a lack in muscle definition, or as some call it ‘skinny man syndrome’ where the arms get smaller, there’s no muscle being built and excess fat builds around the stomach.

There is an answer to all of this. Here are four ways to look like a lean muscle machine while helping to keep testosterone levels in check.

Progress to impress
To build lean muscle, men need to stress and ‘tear’ the muscle. It doesn’t sound great but it’s a good thing. These ‘micro tears’ allow the muscle to start to repair and rebuild itself. Each time this happens the muscle gets stronger, thicker and bigger. Muscles need to be constantly stimulated and challenged every 3-4 weeks to get this growth.

Become a sleeping beauty
To build good quality lean muscle everyone needs good quality sleep. While sleeping, the body is recovering from working out and building lean muscle. Research has shown that the body goes through two stage of repair: between 10pm until 2am the physical repair takes place and from 2am until 6am the psychological repair takes place. Structured sleep patterns from 10pm to 6am work best for adequate rest and repair.

Break the fast
It’s extremely important to eat breakfast as soon as you wake up to feed growing muscles. Although they have gone through stages of repair during the sleeping stage the muscles need to be fed. If the body doesn’t receive the highest quality nutrients early during the day the body begins to use up hard earned muscle as energy and that’s when muscle mass starts to deteriorate. For those not used to eating breakfast early, start with something small and build up the size of your breakfasts.

Train to gain
Muscles need regular training to build and maintain muscle mass. Do three large weights sessions a week that include mainly ‘compound’ exercises. These are exercises that include more than one muscle. For example the muscles included in a chin up work the lats, biceps and shoulders. Compared with an ‘isolation’ exercise such a bicep curl, which will only target the biceps.

How do you get your burn on? Share your training regime below and let us know what’s worked for you!

Source: news.com.au