If You Shouldn't Use Androstenedione And Creatine, What Should You Use?

There is a possibility that uncontaminated products have a very small effect on the risk of cancer. If you simply cannot work out a stack without these two supplements, at least use products made in Europe, Japan, Australia, or North America. Don't take anabolic steroids you don't intend to take.

However, there are other ways to increase the muscle-building power of the testosterone your body can make without increasing risk of cancer. Here are a few ways to deal with "low T" without endangering your health.

• The most important rule for raising testosterone is not to raise it too much. When the body senses there is too much testosterone, it activates a feedback loop, and the excess testosterone is converted into estradiol, a form of estrogen. Too much testosterone, ironically, can cause breast enlargement and put fat on the thighs and hips.
• Exercise itself increases testosterone production, but not just any kind of exercise. To trigger increased testosterone production, your workout has to stimulate a kind of nerve cell known as a beta-adrenergic receptor. These are the nerve cells that respond to adrenalin. A gentle afternoon game of tiddlywinks will not get your testosterone levels pumping. Working out as hard as you can as long as you can to go for your personal best may do the trick. However, long bouts of endurance exercise suppress testosterone production and may slow down the growth of new muscle.
• Both chronically low calorie intake and chronically high calorie intake can decrease testosterone levels. If you consistently eat 20 percent fewer calories than your body burns, your testes will make less testosterone. Intermittent fasting is not a problem, because you can "catch up" when you are not fasting. Long-term starvation diets are a problem. Any time you have eaten so much that you have become obese, your testosterone levels will fall.
• Sexual activity in men stimulates testosterone production.
• Sleep apnea, snoring, and insomnia can interfere with male sex hormone production, and muscle gain.
• Women's bodies, of course, also respond to testosterone, but much more sensitively. High-progesterone birth control pills may interfere with their bodies' ability to make the "male" hormone.

Even if you don't take any hormones at all, there are some simple (and cost-free) training practices that can do your body just as much good.

• Make sure you get seven to nine hours of restful sleep each night.
• Have an active sex life.
• If you need to lose weight, you need to eat less, but don't eat less than 80 percent of the calories you need for your basal metabolism plus exercise. Lose weight slowly to preserve muscle.
• When you work out, work out hard. Push yourself. It's the drive to excel that activates the nerves that stimulate a man's body to make the hormones that make it more manly.

See Also: Illegal Steroid Use Is a Problem Not Only of Professional Athletes, But Police Too

Still can't imagine your stack without androstenedione and creatine? Try Tribulus and/or chrysin. These herbal products help your body conserve the testosterone it makes without overproduction. Far more important than the supplements you take, however, is the care you give to healthy lifestyle, healthy sex, healthy sleep, working out hard, and eating enough but not too much.