Non-prescription ways raise Testosterone?

[Tyler]

Hey! So where I am currently in my transition and due to being underage/ mental health problems, I cannot yet start T. Are there any ways to raise Testosterone naturally? Thank you!

[Alexthecat]

Not really. Best thing you can do is exercise and eat healthy.

[Dena]

As far as I know there isn't any legal or natural products that you could safely use. My best advices is your parents should have you see a therapist and possibly an endocrinologist so you can receive estrogen blockers until you are old enough to receive testosterone. Depending on your age, the blockers will allow you to gain additional height and will prevent additional feminine development.

[FTMax]

Exercise and eat well. Some foods boost testosterone production but that only works so well when you still have ovaries. You could pursue hormone blockers if your parents agree.

[November Fox]

I believe resistance training boosts testosterone as well (weights). What you could do is go online and see what boosts testosterone in women, because they have the same physical configuration, but they can still boost T in different ways.

Certain foods and additives boost T as well. A matter of going on a search engine and clicking away.

[Deborah]

There is evidence that weights will provide a testosterone boost.  However, there is a caveat.  It doesn't really work with just any generic weights.  It works with the heavy compound lifts, particularly barbell back squats and deadlifts.  The right weight for this is where you can do around five repetitions before failure, or about 80% one rep max. 

These are really gut busting, leave you dizzy, lifts.

[AnxietyDisord3r]

Excessive body fat will raise your estrogen levels, so staying reasonably active (biking, swimming, walking) is a good plan. Don't give yourself an eating disorder, that will not help at all (starving yourself will kill hormone levels) and remember you should be in female reference body fat range at this time. Regular aerobic exercise multiple times a week should keep anyone pretty healthy and as other have said, eat food with good nutrients not just junk as teenagers are so prone to do.

Hormone blockers are considered a fairly conservative choice these days. I would bring up the idea aggressively with parents, school, and pediatrician.

[WolfNightV4X1]

Not recommended or anything but I in an article Ive in other countries women who ate animal testicles ended up with body hair and deeper voice

When I was desperate and thought I would never get on T I was seriously imagining that route

[Heita]

Don't give yourself an eating disorder, that will not help at all (starving yourself will kill hormone levels)

I didn't know that! I have no eating disorder but sometimes I try to out-badass myself and soldier on with minimal food, and then I end up ravenous and/or slightly fogged.

I am totally on board with the healthy food + workout as a way to do body transition, I would like to ask any of you how do you deal with dysphoria while exercising. At my worst I try and stop after a day thinking "You're faaaat, weeaak, look like a wooooman..." but if I don't do that regularly my natural testosterone isn't going to go anywhere.

[Kylo]

I would like to ask any of you how do you deal with dysphoria while exercising.

Translate it to workout rage/energy and do it to some music that fits. I tend to think a body that isn't doing something is in atrophy. Mine was totally in atrophy. Now it's like... a choice between rotting away and building up a new body. There's really isn't anything else for me to do.

[becky.rw]

You'll likely want the strength for later once an adult and can make your own decisions about what to do.   And you can't build strength on minimal food.   Little secret.   Lifting weights breaks and damages muscle tissue; its the adaptive response that comes later that increases strength and mass.   That adaptive response requires sufficient food calories, *AND* sufficient rest.   

Lift hard.
Then eat and sleep like its a profession.

lifters don't do 1500, 2000, or 2500 kcal menus;  they do 5000+.    obviously dependent upon total lean body mass.

check with doc and trainers on appropriate regimens for strength training.

[Heita]

Thank you guys for your help!

I'm currently figuring out how to workout at home, music at all. Sounds fun!

I tried to get a training regime from a gym, but they assigned me a girl trainer and at some point she gave me a hard stare and proclaimed "you must have a difficult time accepting your femininity". I wanted to answer "and you must have a difficult time accepting your stupidity", but I just fumed on my own and was never seen again there.

[becky.rw]

simple thought for getting a suitable response from a trainer.   If in high school or college, just tell'em you want to try out for track&field next year and want to throw the javelin.    Its a full body, burst strength event.  They won't be able to suggest a suitable program, without it also being suitable for acquiring the baseline strength you'll want.

nb... kinda funny describing how to do, exactly what I want to undo... lol.

[Deborah]

Or you can tell them you want to develop yourself as a power lifter.  You can get massively strong that way.  There is a CIS girl here that I work with sometimes that competes nationally.  She is kind of petite, not overweight at all, and deadlifts 305 lbs.

[xchrisx]

Lift heavy.

Also, there are foods that can help; I have a list but I'll just say google away! Veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts (look up DIM) apparently block E

[SiobhánF]

Indeed, lifting heavy is a great way to boost it. Another way would be cold showers/baths, eating more fats and cholesterol (Study), getting more sleep, HIIT workouts, avoiding storing or heating food in plastic containers (glass preferable), and managing stress in healthy ways (deep breathing, taking a walk, meditating, etc.).

[xchrisx]

Ooh yes healthy fats like avocados
...so yummy. Good advice on the plastics too. I always store in glass. Cheers!

[Muscle Matt]

Indeed, lifting heavy is a great way to boost it. Another way would be cold showers/baths, eating more fats and cholesterol (Study), getting more sleep, HIIT workouts, avoiding storing or heating food in plastic containers (glass preferable), and managing stress in healthy ways (deep breathing, taking a walk, meditating, etc.).

I highly recommend everything stated here. Believe it or not, these will all help, even if slightly (plastics used for food containers contain xeno-estrogens, which are basically outside estrogens that you put into your body--heating food in such containers puts the highest amount of these xeno-estrogens into the food you consume).

You will get the most benefit out of a strong weight-lifting regimen. It will take time to learn how to workout properly, so unfortunately, a trainer is your best bet for quick progress. Maybe you can ask for a different trainer at your gym, or tell her that you don't care about looks, you just want to be STRONG (assuming you don't want to just come out). Perhaps the more she works with you and gets to know you, the more she'll look at you for your effort and goals, and less about your lack of feminine qualities. Unfortunately, working out at home will not give your muscles the workout you need to produce more T. I spent years working out at my house because my friend didn't want people at the gym judging her, but since we finally joined, we've learned we can progress further than ever before, and at a much faster pace than with the limitations of a home workout (although you can't tell from looking at us, since we both have health problems and can't go as frequently as we would like).

There are vitamins and supplements that you can technically take to slightly boost T; that's what I did before getting on T, and it did help almost completely stop my monthly girl problem, although it didn't give me any more male traits. However, I had done a LOT of research for YEARS and had taken many supplements prior to that, so I was able to do it safely. I would not recommend that approach for most people, because you can cause serious health problems with the supplements needed to SLIGHTLY boost T in female-bodied individuals. If you feel the need, maybe just take daily men's multivitamins; they'll help you make the most out of your training, and seeing the word "Men's" on the label might make you feel better about yourself when you take them.

I've heard good things about hormone blockers, and you should consider that as a stepping-stone to regular hormone treatment. I really wish I knew about this sort of thing when I was younger, so I could have at least tried to begin some sort of transition back then. Even as an adult, I might have felt better about my decision to transition if I could have tried hormone blockers first and see how it made me feel, without worrying about jumping from one gender extreme to the other (the actual transition process is what made me so hesitant for so many years; if only we could just wake up one day as the right gender!)

Good luck and stay healthy. I often think back about all the times I starved in high school, and how that probably stunted my growth at least a little bit. Keep your body healthy and growing while you still have a chance! (Also, HIIT that people mention, is supposed to be GREAT for raising Human Growth Hormone production in the body, which helps you grow taller and develop properly.) Don't forget your protein!