Testosterone and Sleep are closely linked.

Testosterone And Sleep – Sleep Deprivation Decreases Testosterone

In a 2011 study in 1274 men, sleeping less than 5 hours per day for 1 week:

• Decreased Testosterone by 15%
• Increased the stress hormone cortisol by 15%

This Testosterone decrease is the equivalent of aging 15 years – as for the average male, Testosterone levels decline by 1% per year after the age of 30.

In a 2007 study, men who slept:

• 4 hours daily had Testosterone levels between 200 to 300 ng/dL range (Low Testosterone).
• 8 hours daily had Testosterone levels between 500 to 700 ng/dL range (High Testosterone).

Simply put, the men who slept twice as long had more than double the Testosterone levels.

Alongside lowering Testosterone, sleep deprivation also:

• Increases blood pressure and risk of heart disease
• Reduces protein synthesis, impairs muscle growth and exercise recovery .
• Impairs brain function, focus & learning

Optimal Sleep Time To Increase Testosterone

According to the 2011 study, the optimal sleep time to increase Testosterone naturally is between 7 to 9 hours per day.

The study found sleeping longer than 10 hours decreased Testosterone levels.

The time you fall asleep has no effect on Testosterone production. What matters is how long you sleep for.

This means that you can go to bed at 5AM and wake up between 12 PM or 2 PM.

As long as you get 7 to 9 hours of sleep, you will have optimal Testosterone production.

The Sleep Cycle

Sleep is divided into two categories:

• REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement)
• non-REM sleep.

You begin the night in non-REM sleep followed by a brief period of REM sleep.

The cycle continues throughout the night, repeating every 90 minutes until you wake up.

Testosterone Is Produced During Sleep

Your body only produces Testosterone while you sleep, during the REM stage of the sleep cycle.

It produces about 7mg of Testosterone per night.

Your body continues to produce Testosterone until you wake up.

This is why Testosterone levels are highest in the morning. For men with healthy Testosterone levels, they wake up with morning wood.

As the day progresses, Testosterone levels decrease, hitting their lowest point at night time.

Testosterone levels decrease the longer you are awake (PubMed, 2014).

How To Improve REM Sleep

Improving REM sleep will enhance your body’s Testosterone production.

To improve REM sleep:

Supplement On Zinc And Magnesium

A 2017 and 2011 study found Zinc and Magnesium supplementation:

• Made it easier to fall asleep,
• Enhanced sleep quality,
• Improved alertness and focus upon waking up.

The 2011 study found supplementation effectively treated insomnia. The patients took 225 mg of Magnesium, 11.25mg of Zinc and 5mg of Melatonin for 60 days.

The 2017 study found Zinc improved sleep quality for nurses working in intensive care units. The nurses took 220mg of Zinc Sulphate per day for 1 month.

Zinc and Magnesium are powerful anti oxidants that reduce stress, inflammation and free radical damage in the body.

Magnesium relaxes your muscles. Tight, tense muscles make it hard to relax and fall asleep. Relaxed, lose muscles make falling asleep effortless.

A 1996 study found Zinc at 30mg daily increased Testosterone by 294% in 3 months.

In a 4 week study from 2011, Magnesium raised Testosterone by 24% at 400mg per day.

The Zinc and Magnesium supplement I recommend is Optimum Nutrition’s ZMA.

It contains Zinc, Magnesium and Vitamin B6 at the recommended dosages. It will help enhance sleep quality, increase your Testosterone and energy levels.

Reduce Blue Light Exposure At Night Time

At night, your brain’s pineal gland releases a hormone called melatonin.

Melatonin encourages your body to fall asleep.

Blue light exposure suppresses melatonin production.

This stops you from falling asleep.

Devices like phones, computer and TV screens emit blue light.

Make sure to turn on the blue light filter on your devices to limit blue light exposure.

You can also purchase special glasses which filter out blue light.

I highly recommend Blue Cut’s blue light blocking glasses from Amazon.