Does Low Testosterone Affect Muscle Growth and Weight Gain?
Does low testosterone cause weight gain and affect muscle growth? It’s undeniable that this hormone is crucial for men. It may be the most significant characteristic that can distinguish between men and women. Although it can be found both in men and women, but men have much more testosterone than women. Therefore, men are likely to have bigger muscles than women.
It is perfectly normal to have the gradually declining testosterone as we get older, particularly after the age of 40. During puberty and before the age of 40, this hormone reaches the highest levels (about 1,000 to 1,200 ng/dL). Then after the age of 40, it will gradually declines for about 1 to 1.5 % / year [1].
However there are also some conditions that can make the decline get worse. These include obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, lack of workouts, poor diet, etc.
Does low testosterone level affect muscle growth?
Testosterone has a significant contribution to regulate the mass and strength of muscles [2]. As mentioned before, the amount of this hormone is much higher in men than in women. That’s why men are relatively easier to build and have stronger /bigger muscles than women.
In case of muscle growth – the body with low testosterone doesn’t respond workouts as well as when it has normal level of this hormone! In fact, men before 30-40 are relatively easier to build their muscles if compared to men after the age of 40.
So, if you seriously want to boost the strength of your muscles from your workouts, maintaining your testosterone level is a must. Read also natural ways to boost testosterone levels!
While your body continuously creates hormone testosterone, some dietary deficiencies may significantly limit this process. Therefore, what you eat also has an effect!
A modest amount of fat is one of common choices, because fats are one of commonly dietary sterols. But this doesn’t mean that you need to eat more butter, lard, or bacon! Choose healthy fats, such as fish (sardine, tuna, salmon, etc), which are also loaded with omega-3 fatty acids.
Other good sources for your dietary sterols are seeds, nuts, and olive oils. Ask a dietary /professional trainer for more advice!
Does lack of exercise affect testosterone levels?
While low testosterone can affect the way on how you to build muscles, exercise also can affect the levels of this hormone. In fact, the abnormal declining of this hormone is quite common in men with lack of physical activities.
In other words, lack of exercise can increase your risk of developing low testosterone. This is reasonable since lack of exercise can lead to other risk factors of low testosterone.
Did you know that low testosterone is relatively 1.8 times higher in those with high blood pressure and 2.4 times higher in those with overweight /obesity? If you become a sedentary individual, you are at high risk of obesity, hypertension (high blood pressure), and other health problems.
Does low testosterone cause weight gain?
Here the muscle growth and the fat distribution take attention.
Again, testosterone can affect the growth of muscles. And if you have more muscles, you’re likely to control your weight better. For this reason, adequate amount of testosterone also matters to help keep your weight off.
Also, testosterone might also affect the fat distribution.
