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WE DEFINITELY KNOW that supplementing with testosterone when your levels are low helps improve all aspects of sexual function, including increasing libido and having better orgasms.
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But we don’t know if it works the other way around and if sex itself boosts testosterone.
It’s not that having more sex absolutely doesn’t increase your testosterone levels—we just don’t know if it does or not, points out andrology expert Charles Welliver, MD, associate professor of urology at Albany Medical College. There’s a chance sex could boost your T levels: “You could argue a very simplistic line of thought which is: Sex is exercise, and we know exercise is great for raising your testosterone levels,” says Rajiv Jayadevan, MD, assistant clinical professor of urology and male fertility expert at The Men’s Clinic at UCLA,
He adds that strength training the large muscle groups, like legs and back, can raise your T levels by up to 20 percent. In fact, weightlifting, has been shown to increase T levels after just five minutes, although that lift doesn’t stick around long. While even the wildest of positions isn’t going to engage large muscle groups to the degree of a muscle-building workout, most energetic get-downs will engage your major muscle groups, like the glutes, back, and whole posterior chain, to some extent.
It's harder to get a testosterone boost from endurance workouts. Researchers at the University of Texas, in a 2020 study, found that healthy guys doing endurance workouts only saw a boost in their testosterone concentrations after high-intensity work—that is, exerting at 90-plus percent of their VO2max.
If you’re dealing with low T—aka hypogonadism—two of the most common symptoms are low libido and erectile dysfunction (ED). So don’t stress yourself out trying to boost levels with sex that you aren’t interested in or able to have.
So while having sex certainly isn’t going to hurt your testosterone levels, hitting the weight room will do a whole lot more if you feel you want a boost.
Rachael Schultz is a freelance writer who focuses primarily on why our bodies and brains work the way they do, and how we can optimize both (without losing our sanity). She’s most passionate about hiking, traveling, mindfulness, cooking, and really, really good coffee.
