RIO Fitness Chicago® Exercise & Nutrition Blog

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Men & women have both hormones testosterone & estrogen in them. Men have more testosterone, which is what makes them a man and why men are able to burn fat/gain muscle quicker than women. Here are FOUR ways you may be decreasing your testosterone levels & not even know it = seeing little to zero results from exercise/healthy eating.

1) After just THIRTY minutes of exercise, testosterone levels begin to plummet. Keep exercise between 30-60 minutes MAX. Even if you're going to do weights & cardio together, 30 minutes of weights, then 25 minutes of cardio, 5 minutes of static stretching for 60 minutes total.

2) Limit your alcohol consumption. Alcohol lowers testosterone levels, increases levels of the body fat producing hormone cortisol, and obviously has calories which can lead to body fat gain from over-consuming them.

3) Start reading nutrition facts & labels on everything you consume to find out if SOY is in your food/drink. Soy raises estrogen levels in the body, and when one hormone is raised (estrogen), the other (testosterone) goes down. Soy is in a lot of items, because it is cheap and often used as a filler.

4) Do NOT heat or freeze food/drink in a plastic container. Doing so leaches synthetic chemicals (BPA and phthalates) which mimic estrogen. These plastic-based chemicals trick our bodies into storing fat and not building/retaining muscle. These chemicals can also be found in fatty foods like meats that are packaged in plastic wrap and canned foods like tuna.