So whilst traversing mountain ledges and facing sheer drops might get your adrenaline pumping; does it also boost testosterone?<\/p>\n
In this article we take a look.<\/p>\n
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Testosterone<\/h2>\n
The primary sex\u00a0hormone in men is called testosterone<\/strong><\/em>. It is a naturally occurring steroid which is synthesised from cholesterol.<\/p>\n It helps you develop and then regulate a number of male characteristics. These include anabolic traits such as muscle mass, strength and athleticism, as well as androgenic traits like hair growth and voice deepening.<\/p>\n Without it you wouldn’t be the masculine man you are now.<\/p>\n T is released into your bloodstream from the Leydig cells of your testes. And once there it is taken up by various tissues so that it can carry out it’s duties.<\/p>\n But the way in which it is signalled to be released is a little more complex:<\/p>\n T is not released in a constant flow. Instead it is ‘pulsed’ from your testes.<\/p>\n This is because when your body thinks there’s too much T it slows things down. And when there’s not enough it speeds up the release of the hormone.<\/p>\n Testosterone relies on signals being sent via the brain, your levels change throughout the day. They are usually highest in the morning and lower in the evening.<\/p>\n Although testosterone changes throughout the day, your serum levels should consistently fall between 300 – 1000 ng.dL. Measurements are usually taken in the morning.<\/p>\n If you drop under the 300 ng.dL lower limit then you would be diagnosed as having clinically low T – what’s known as hypogonadism.<\/p>\n A study published in Fertility and Sterility\u00a0<\/em>[1]\u00a0wanted to explore the effects of high altitude climbing exercise on fertility and male reproductive health.<\/p>\n The research team, based at the\u00a0University of L’Aquila, Italy, <\/em>monitored a group of climbers as they trekked for a 3-week period in the Himalayas, Nepal.<\/p>\n During the climb, the group reached heights of just under 6,000 meters but didn’t use any extra oxygen. This meant they were reliant on the low oxygen saturated air of the mountain climate.<\/p>\n Ten days upon their return, the research team analyzed the blood of the climbers, looking for anything that might indicate a change to either fertility or male hormones.<\/p>\n Unsurprisingly, the climbers came back in much better shape than before. They had a better body composition, smaller waist circumference and lower body fat. On average their body fat reduced from 26 to 23%.<\/p>\n The trek will have been pretty brutal and required some hard exercise to complete.<\/p>\n Hormone levels had changed too. LH and FSH had increased. And this led to more stimulation of the Leydig cells and a higher concentration of testosterone.<\/strong><\/p>\n Note:<\/em> Testosterone rose during the climb too but it wasn’t classed as statistically significant until after they arrived back at home.<\/p>\n So is there a case for strength athletes and bodybuilders to train in an altitude tent?<\/em><\/p>\n The short answer is yes<\/strong>. Or at least go on a climbing expedition to the Himalayas!<\/p>\n When you are exposed to hypoxia<\/strong><\/em>, or low oxygen levels, you naturally begin to breathe deeper and harder until your body becomes used to the air.<\/p>\n It does this by increasing levels of a hormone called erythropoietin<\/em> which helps you make more red blood cells.<\/p>\n Here’s where it get interesting.<\/p>\n The hormone that helps you regulate\u00a0erythropoietin is of course testosterone [2]. It plays a direct role in helping you acclimatize to hypoxia.<\/p>\n Not only does T increase with short term exposure to high altitude, natives who live in high altitude areas and have high red blood cell counts also have high T levels.<\/p>\nHow is testosterone regulated<\/h3>\n
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Pulsatile release of T<\/h3>\n
What is a normal T level?<\/h2>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Himalayan-Mountain-Range.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nMountain Climbing and Testosterone Research<\/h2>\n
What were the results?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Man-Climbing-Mountain.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nHigh Altitude and Testosterone<\/h2>\n
The testosterone and\u00a0erythropoietin link<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/T-Levels-and-Endurance.jpg\")
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