Let's talk about the most critical muscle building and fat loss substance in your body which is testosterone. Without enough testosterone flowing through your blood stream you won't be able to build muscle or lose fat and in this article I'll explain to you how you can naturally increase the levels of this hormone in your body.

Testosterone is the natural male hormone primarily secreted in the testes. It keeps your bones in good shape, keeps you in good mood, and, most critically, gives you strength and builds your muscles. Low levels of testosterone lead to bone loss (osteoporosis), shut off your sexual drive and make your muscles small, weak and flabby. Therefore it's very important to keep your natural testosterone secretion at high levels, especially if you're a bodybuilder or a sportsman.

Luckily, you can use my simple training and dietary techniques to increase the level of testosterone naturally.

Rule #1: Use short, intense burst training instead of lengthy cardio sessions.

Make hormones work for you, not against you. If you're running for a long time on a treadmill, you're burning your growth hormones, including testosterone. You may burn some fat during the session as well, but you will not burn any more fat from this exercise for the following 48 hours because the testosterone levels are so low.

Use burst training instead. High intensity, short training will make your testosterone levels spike! An example of a burst training is running as fast as you can for 30-60 seconds, and then rest until your heart rate goes back to a convenient level.

Another example of burst training is kettlebell swings training with a challenging weight. Try doing 60 seconds of swings with a really heavy kettlebell to get your heart rate to the maximum, then rest for a couple of minutes. Repeat 4-5 times for best results.

Dr. Pompa has published an excellent video on burst training and I strongly encourage you to watch it if you still don't get the idea.

Watch the video here.

After this type of a training your testosterone levels will elevate for the next 24 to 48 hours.

Rule #2: Use compound exercises with a challenging weight at a very high intensity.

Compound exercises are the exercises that train multiple muscle groups at the same time. This type of exercises should be the foundation of your every workout if you're thinking about increasing your testosterone levels naturally. Forget about lifting weights for sissies – get a grip and lift something really heavy!

Only a very intense resistance training with compound exercises can stimulate testosterone secretion, so don't even think about leg extensions, shrugs, tricep kickbacks or bicep curls. Doing 20 reps with a set of baby dumbbells will bring you absolutely nothing but waste of time when it comes to muscle growth stimulation and fat loss.

Having that said, your training should involve large muscle groups and be as challenging as possible. You definitively should go for deadlifts, squats, lunges, rows, chest presses, overhead presses and weighted pullups. Watch this guy and let him be your idol.

These exercises will place a great amount of stress on your body and stimulate muscle growth through increased testosterone secretion. This is because the rule of adaptation – your body will try to adapt to the stress you're putting on it and if it “thinks” your muscles are too small or too weak, it will do everything it can to prepare itself to perform better the next time. So, the high stress level during exercise will naturally force your body to produce more testosterone, which builds up muscle, burns fat and allows quicker recovery.

Rule #3: Reduce Alcohol Consumption.

Alcohol consumption can and will decrease testosterone levels in your body by up to 20%. If you want to gain muscle 20% SLOWER then you should intoxicate yourself as often as possible. Otherwise stay away from the alcohol. It simply doesn't do you any good if you're serious about bodybuilding or any type of sports.

Moreover, alcohol dehydrates you, flushes minerals and vitamins out of your body, inhibits post-workout recovery and because it's high in calories it also cranks up fat storage.

Rule #4: Increase Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) Consumption.

Many people don't realise how important the EFAs are for their health, and they are afraid of any type of fat because of the bad reputation this word gained in the media through the last years.

Essential Fatty Acids are known as the “good fats” and are contained in many healthy foods such as seeds, nuts, olives and olive oil. EFAs are necessary fats that your body cannot synthesize, and therefore you must obtain them through diet. Essential Fatty Acids support your cardiovascular system, as well as immune, nervous, and reproductive systems.

On top of that, Essential Fatty Acids contribute to manufacturing and repairing of cell membranes, allow expelling of waste products from the cell and ensure all necessary nutrients are being delivered to the cell.

Essential Fatty Acids also play a very important role in keeping your testosterone levels high, so make sure that at least 20% of your daily calorie intake comes from EFAs, because if your diet is poor in EFAs, your testosterone levels will drop drastically too.

Rule #5: Get as much sleep as possible, avoid stress.

Last but not least, getting enough sleep and avoiding stress is probably the most important factor in keeping your testosterone levels elevated. Proper amount of sleep and rest will not only ensure quicker recovery from your hard workout sessions, but also will make sure that your testosterone levels are high at all times.

If you're under stress a hormone called cortisol is secreted to your blood steam which is known to neutralise testosterone. That's why you should avoid stress situations at all costs, get proper sleep every night and proper rest between workout sessions.