What Happens To Your Body When You Take A Testosterone Supplement?

Testosterone is the daddy of all muscle building hormones.

Men and women both produce testosterone (men in the testes, women in the ovaries) though clearly, males produce much more.

Higher levels of blood testosterone contribute to an increase in muscle protein synthesis (the rate at which your muscles turnover and use protein molecules), faster rates of muscle growth and reduced muscle glycogen during training, which basically means you have more energy and can train harder for longer.

All this is looking pretty good so far.

Unfortunately, you only produce a certain amount of testosterone naturally. For most guys, this is enough and certainly to an extent you can alter how much testosterone you produce by changing your lifestyle. Weight training for instance automatically increases testosterone production a little, as your body realizes that there is more of a demand on it to produce extra test to support growth and recovery.

Diet plays a role too. Eating plenty of protein, along with fats (especially healthy kinds of saturated fat) increases testosterone production. There’s a reason why steak and eggs is the king of muscle building meals. Eating more meat, fish, full fat dairy, whole eggs, grass-fed butter or cream and coconut oil will all aid with test levels.

But what about when this isn’t enough any more? Many guys turn to testosterone supplements when they want a further boost.

The first, and most important thing to note is that testosterone supplements are not the same as anabolic steroids. Anabolic steroids (AAS) are synthesized in laboratories and work to drastically increase your levels of blood testosterone. They’re a bit of a taboo subject. The legality and safety surrounding them is extremely sketchy, so for the purposes of this article, there’s no need to discuss them further.

Just know that all the products mentioned here are completely legal to buy and stocked in most mainstream supplement stores. If you compete in a tested federation though, make sure you get clearance that a supplement is not on their banned list before you start taking it.

We’ve established that to build muscle and strength, testosterone is a must. Everyone knows the guy who only has to look at a weight and his biceps seem to increase three inches, or the friend who hasn’t trained in a year, but steps foot in the gym and deadlifts 500 pounds in his first session back.

What’s their secret? Testosterone.

Chances are they just have naturally high test levels, so to get to their standing, a testosterone supplement could be your best bet. It’s vital you understand what these supplements do to your body before you take the plunge though.

Testosterone Supplements: The Lowdown

You won’t just walk into your local supplement store or health food shop and find a bottle that reads “Testosterone Supplement.” If you do, turn tail and run – generic supplements like this, with no information on them may be safe, but they’re generally worthless.

Your product should be labeled clearly with exactly what it is. Just like you get different types of protein powder – whey, casein, soy, pea, hemp, rice, etc. and different vitamins and minerals, you also get different testosterone boosters. We’ll break test boosters down into the most popular forms to take a look at the effects each one has.

Tribulus Terestris

Tribulus terestris, or trib, is the most commonly used testosterone supplement. It actually comes from a plant that’s found in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, and the main active compound in it is protodioscin.

Trib stimulates your pituitary gland to produce more testosterone, by promoting an increase in the luteinizing hormone. As well as boosting testosterone, tribulus terestris also increases your blood levels of nitric oxide, which has also been associated with an increased rate of muscle growth and strength gains.

D Aspartic Acid

D Aspartic acid is a relative newbie in the testosterone supplement game, but is rapidly gathering a positive reputation and a large following in the supplement world. It’s an amino acid (one of the building blocks of protein, much like creatine, glutamine and leucine) and like tribulus terestris, stimulates increased production of the luteinizing hormone. This also aids an increase of testosterone release from the testes, meaning it has a double pronged attack my increasing not only increased test production, but also releasing a higher percentage of the test you already produce.

DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone)

DHEA walks the natural line. Many organizations and federations actually have it on their banned substances list, so you need to be careful.

It works by acting on the androgen receptor and can eventually boost testosterone. Natural levels of DHEA peak between the ages of 25 and 30, but start to drop off after that. So typically males from their mid-30s onward tend to use and benefit most from DHEA supplementation.

Anti-Estrogens

Just as women produce testosterone, men produce estrogen.

While a certain amount is needed, estrogen has sort of an opposite effect to testosterone. It can act to increase fat gain and prevent muscle gain. Your ratio of testosterone to estrogen is important, and ideally you want as big a ratio in favor of test as possible. When testosterone levels are high, your body produces an enzyme called aromatase that works to convert excess testosterone into estrogen. Fortunately for all the muscle building guys out there though, anti estrogenic supplements reduce the impact that aromatase has.

Potential Side Effects

As with any supplement, testosterone boosters do carry the risk of several side effects.

When starting on a testosterone supplement, you may suddenly notice an increase in all the functions testosterone is designed to facilitate. These include hair growth, sex drive, and libido.

On top of this, you may experience an onset of acne and oily skin. While the notion of the general public that taking testosterone (and in particular anabolic steroids) leads to “roid rage” is relatively unfounded, you might find yourself feeling a little more aggressive, though this will more likely translate to an increased level of drive and aggression in the gym.

Provided you stick to the recommended dosage and consult your Doctor before taking any products, testosterone supplements are generally safe.