Testosterone and sleep.

So you hit the gym day in and day out. You’re taking vitamins and getting your protein, with the hopes of adding muscle mass to your frame and hoping at the same time that your testosterone levels are high enough to help push this growth. You’re doing everything right, but wait you’re up all night playing video games and surfing the net. Could this LOWER your testosterone levels? I hate to tell you this, but YES.

We all know that high intensity workouts lead to high testosterone levels, but could sleep play a larger roll in testosterone production?

One problem most men face is that their testosterone production levels decline with age and another problem is that we don’t sleep as long as we get older. As children, we sleep 8-10 hrs a day; then that becomes 6-7 as we grow older. One study from China showed that the testosterone levels of men who sleep 4-6 hours a night are much lower than those of men who get more sleep. Testosterone levels were higher in men who sleep 8 or more hours a night. Not only does this effect show on total testosterone but on Free testosterone levels as well.

So, it is very important that you do get your 8 hours a night for optimal testosterone production along with recuperation from the day’s stress and work.