Does Building Muscle Increase Testosterone?

Welcome to bodybuilding’s version of the classic “chicken or the egg” paradox. It’s well known that elevated testosterone levels can help you pack on slabs of muscle, but is the inverse true as well? Does building muscle by itself directly increase testosterone?   There are plenty of factors to consider here, so let’s dive right in.   How is Testosterone Produced?   In males, the vast majority (~95%) of testosterone is produced by the testicles. After all, the roots of the word (“testis” and “sterol”) lead to a literal translation of “testicular steroid hormone.” In short, the hypothalamus releases gonadotropin-releasing...[Read More]