Building substantial muscle isn’t easy, it involves a lot of time and effort. It also requires you to have all your ducks in a row. Your sleep needs to be high quality, your training needs to be intense, your diet needs adequate protein and calories, and your supplement choices need to be well thought out.
Whey protein, caffeine, creatine, and a multivitamin are all obvious (yet sensible) choices, but what about a testosterone booster?
With so many different testosterone boosters out on the market right now, it may be a little difficult for you to decide which one is the right one for you…
In this article we are going to highlight a supplement that we believe is the best testosterone booster for muscle gain… Performance Lab SPORT T-Booster. We’ll reveal why it’s our favorite shortly, but first, let’s discuss the basics…
How Does a Testosterone Booster Affect Muscle?
Increasing muscle mass is a common goal, usually for young men (though by no means exclusively).
On the surface it seems like a really simple task. Lift weights which will in turn build muscle.
But it’s not quite as simple as that.
When you exercise, your muscle fibers are broken down, this is called muscle damage. After you have finished, your muscles rebuild and repair the damaged muscle fibers using a process called muscle protein synthesis.
The more protein synthesis your body can manage, the better the gains you can receive from training.
You need to consume protein to fuel protein synthesis, which is why people are required to increase protein intake (usually through a whey or other form of protein shake) when they start training.
But it is not just protein that is required for muscle growth; one of the main drivers for protein synthesis is testosterone. The more testosterone you have, the more muscle you can build. Your natural testosterone levels form a ceiling for progress.
It is for this reason that women can eat as much protein as men, exercise just as hard, but never hope to build muscle in the same way.
There are many ways that you can naturally boost testosterone…
How to Boost T-Levels Naturally
–Exercising more is a great start when it comes to boosting testosterone naturally. Prioritizing free weights over machines is another, with studies showing that free weight exercises provide larger releases of both testosterone and growth hormone.
–Improving sleep is another way to naturally increase testosterone, as is changing your diet (increasing dietary fat, increasing protein, lowering alcohol etc..).
-Finally, there are natural testosterone boosters.
Supplements that contain naturally occurring ingredients that have been shown to increase testosterone levels. They may not be quite as effective as anabolic steroids, BUT they are legal, provide zero side-effects and are better for the body overall.
They also have many benefits… Increased libido, improved mood, boosted cognition, and better sleep are all common benefits associated with testosterone boosters.
But perhaps most importantly, testosterone boosters can help you to recover from exercise and build more muscle mass. Provided you combine them with an effective dietary and training regimen, of course.
Now that we know how testosterone boosters can help build muscle, let’s take a look at a product that we believe is incredibly effective at increasing muscle gain: Performance Lab SPORT T-Booster.
Performance Lab SPORT T-Booster
Performance Lab have a varied range of products that all tie-in to an overall theme of improved health and performance. The Performance Lab SPORT T-Booster is, as you have probably guessed, their testosterone boosting supplement and is part of their “Sport range”.
T-Booster is a natural (and more importantly legal) testosterone booster that contains ingredients specifically designed to boost testosterone and increase muscle mass.
Performance Lab T-Booster Ingredients
The four main active ingredients contained with T-Booster are; Ashwagandha, D-Aspartic Acid Calcium Chelate, Mucuna Pruriens, and Luteolin.
There are also some important nutrients present as well; we’ll come onto those shortly.
-Ashwagandha, 300mg
Indian traditional medicine (Ayurveda) has long used ashwagandha as a testosterone and libido-boosting ingredient.
There is some evidence that ashwagandha can boost testosterone levels; a 2010 study by Ahmad et al found that taking ashwagandha helped to improve semen quality, reduce oxidative stress, and boost testosterone.
Ashwagandha’s main benefit though is that it can lower anxiety and lower cortisol. A 2012 study in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine found that taking ashwagandha led to a 27.9% reduction in serum cortisol and a reduction in anxiety.
Reducing anxiety and cortisol can have many benefits, and it can help to protect testosterone production. Lowered cortisol can also help to improve sleep quality and length, which has been shown to improve morning testosterone levels.
-D-Aspartic Acid Calcium Chelate, 300mg
D-AA-CC is an amino acid that is involved in the regulation of testosterone and other sex hormones. It can increase testosterone by increasing the production of luteinizing hormone and growth hormone, both of which can help to increase testosterone production.
D-Aspartic acid is often mentioned when it comes to fertility, with studies finding it to increase semen production, semen quality, and male fertility.
-Mucuna Pruriens, 150mg: Mucuna pruriens is a bean that grows on trees and is often used in fertility or nootropic supplements. While it does have a minor influence on testosterone production, its main benefit is that it can help to control cortisol production.
A 2007 study on chronically stressed and infertile men found that taking Mucuna pruriens led to a reduction in cortisol and an improvement in semen quality.
-Luteolin, 30mg
Luteolin is an antioxidant that has been extracted from oranges, it may help to prevent aromatase production. Aromatase is an enzyme that can convert excess testosterone into estrogen; aromatase-inhibitors are used a lot by bodybuilders. They can help you to protect testosterone production and prevent the increase in estrogen.
As you can see, T-Booster from Performance Lab contains some knock-out ingredients. Combining cutting edge science and traditional medicine, you get the best of both worlds.
Performance Lab SPORT T-Booster also adds some important vitamins and minerals to the formula.
Such as:
-Zinc, 15mg
-Magnesium, 25mg
-Boron, 3mg
-Vitamin D, 1000IU
-Vitamin K1, 20mcg
-Vitamin K2, 5mcg
Zinc has been shown to have a small but direct effect on testosterone, particularly for men who exercise a lot. Depleted zinc levels can reduce testosterone levels.
Magnesium may reduce stress cortisol levels which directly impact T-levels, and it helps to convert the vitamin D also in this formula into an active form. There is some evidence that vitamin D supplementation can boost T-levels in healthy men.
Vitamin K is thought to help with age-related testosterone falls in particular.
All these nutrients are created in lab conditions using a production technique called NutriGenesis™ — a process which allows lab-made nutrients to be created on cultures along with the natural cofactors, enzymes and probiotics that you would find in nature. Meaning these are nature-identical nutrients, and therefore more easily absorbed by the body.
Performance Lab SPORT T-Booster is a very clever formula with ingredients that work in synergy down several different bio-pathways to boost testosterone, whilst also neutralizing female hormones and T-killers. All of which means more bioavailable testosterone coursing through your bloodstream for longer.
T-Booster from Performance Lab is a 100% natural supplement, that uses plant-based capsules to deliver the ingredients. Each pack contains 30 servings (2 capsules per serving).
Performance Lab Stack
T-Booster from Performance Lab is a fantastic testosterone booster, and it should make quite a bit of difference if you are looking to build muscle. Increasing your testosterone levels, reducing cortisol (which can prevent muscles from growing and impact on sleep and recovery), and increasing luteinizing hormone (which can lead to increased testosterone).
Performance Lab are a well-known supplement company with a fantastic reputation. One of the best things about their supplements is that you can combine multiple products of theirs to improve your results.
For example, alongside T-Booster, you could also take their BCAA supplement (which can help to fuel muscles during a workout), their Pre-workout, Post-workout, and their Sleep supplement. This supplement ‘stack’ would work really well together.
The sleep supplement would help to improve your sleep quality and would mix well with T-Booster, this would lead to increased growth hormone and testosterone production = more muscle!
The BCAAs would help to fuel protein synthesis, reduce muscle fatigue, and increase power output, combining well with T-Booster to increase muscle recovery. The Pre and Post-workout supplements would also help to increase performance and recovery
Final Thoughts
As we mentioned at the start. if you want to see some real muscle gain, you need to have all of your ducks in a row.
You need to be following a well thought out training program which prioritizes free weights over resistance machines. You need to get your diet perfect, with lots of high fat foods and protein. Sleep should be consistently high in quality, and you should also consider using a testosterone booster such as T-Booster from Performance Lab.
None of these methods will work in isolation but making sure that every single one has been accounted for will mean that you can rest easy knowing that you have done everything that you can.
Not only will you see your testosterone levels rise naturally, you will see an overall improvement in many aspects of your life. Your sleep will improve, your mood, your cognition, and your libido. What’s more, as your testosterone levels rise, they will in turn begin to reinvigorate your body composition. Bigger muscles, less body fat, and improved recovery time.
Improving your testosterone is not something that happens overnight, but the journey itself is crucial. Not only are you boosting this incredibly important hormone, you are also improving your health.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!