Testosterone is largely considered a youth hormone that keeps your muscles and bones strong, maintains healthy fertility and sex drive, and maintains overall energy. Healthy testosterone levels also help the human body resist excess fat from accumulating. Exercise is one way of increasing your testosterone naturally and safely. However, not all exercise routines are as effective as others. So the question is, can a workout on an elliptical trainer effectively increase your body’s production of testosterone?

Testosterone is an androgen secreted mostly from the testicles of males and the ovaries of females. It is best known for its effects on increasing lean muscle mass, reducing body fats and slowing aging processes. It also important for sexual desire.

The normal level of testosterone in your bloodstream is between 350 and 1,000 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dl). After age 40 you start losing this hormone at the rate of about 1% per year, on average. Also, as your body weight approaches 30% over its normal healthy level, your estrogen levels will increase which may reduce your testosterone. So weight control is another important factor when trying to maintaion healthy levels of this hormone.

Exercise is one way to increase the testosterone as well as reduce body fat, decreasing the likelihood that excess weight will cause your testosterone to decrease. Exercise stimulates the pituitary gland and testes which directly affects testosterone production. However, it is important to pick the right type of exercise if you want to increase your testosterone levels. It may surprise you that over training can actually decrease this hormone because it doesn’t allow enough time for repair and recovery and tissue damage occurs. Studies show that testosterone will increase with exercise for the first 45-60 minutes, then after that cortisol levels increase which will cause this important hormone to decline.

Experts say the best exercise to increase your testosterone should involve large muscle groups simultaneously. The body’s largest muscles are in the legs, butt and back. That is why working out on elliptical trainer is such an effective way to increase your testosterone level. Elliptical trainers are an excellent fitness machine to target the muscle groups in your legs and butt. If you have an elliptical with moving handlebars you will also work the muscles in your back. Remember, your workout should last 45-60 minutes but no longer, to avoid reducing your testosterone by over exercising.

So get on your new or refurbished elliptical trainers help to maintain healthy aging by maintaining healthy testosterone levels.