Longterm Health
The Skinny Guy’s Guide to Natural Testosterone Production
This is a guest post written by Dr. Robin Bhavsar, a physician with a specialization in urology (the field of medicine concerned with testosterone). He works at St. Joseph Health. You can see his credentials here.
After bulking up with our Bony to Beastly Program, he wrote a guide in our coaching community that became immensely popular with our members. He also answered many of their questions, including ones like:
- Does being skinny mean I have low testosterone?
- Am I skinny-fat because I have low testosterone?
- How can I increase my natural testosterone production?
In this article, Dr. Bhavsar will explain everything a skinny guy should know about their own natural testosterone production.
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How to Maintain Your Muscle Mass Without Lifting Weights
Imagine being in the midst of a bulking routine, and things are going super well—you’re gaining weight on the scale each week, steadily building muscle. But then, lo and behold, disaster strikes. And not just a run of the mill muscle disaster, like running out of trail mix, but the worst kind of disaster imaginable: a vacation.
And I’m not talking about one of those cushy vacations at a resort that includes a gym, I’m talking about one of those vacations where we’re forced to stop lifting weights entirely.
For many of us, even just the thought of taking a break from our workout routines gets our hearts racing, our minds spiralling down into the depths of pure terror. Unfortunately, I’ve been there too. I know what you’re thinking:
- How much muscle will you lose if you don’t go to the gym for a week or two?
- Can you build muscle with bodyweight workouts?
- How many mojitos does it take to spike muscle protein synthesis?
- Why don’t they make luggage big enough to fit a barbell?
- Will the customs agent see whey protein but think you’re trafficking drugs?
- Will you be able to build muscle in prison?
In desperation, you might start googling around to learn more, but since only 3% of the population is trying to gain weight, good luck trying to find an article for people who are worried about losing weight when they stop working out.
So what do you do? Cancel your vacation? Do bodyweight workouts? Or take a break from lifting?
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Should Skinny Guys Use Milk to Bulk Up? (GOMAD)
If you’re a naturally skinny guy who’s been having trouble bulking up, milk can often help. There’s a simple reason for that: by drinking more milk, you’ll be adding more calories and protein into your diet. Milk is also a rich source of nutrients that are helpful for guys who are trying to build muscle. Finally, milk is extremely easy on the appetite, making it easier for us ectomorphs to gain weight.
However, if you add too much milk into your diet, then you may find yourself gaining quite a bit of fat along with your muscle (study). Worse, since whole milk is so high in saturated fat, going overboard with it can cause you to store proportionally more visceral fat, which can negatively impact your longterm health (study). That’s why GOMAD, where you drink a gallon of whole milk every day, is so infamous for making guys fat.
You could avoid some of those problems by choosing low-fat milk, yes, but higher-fat milk has some unique muscle-building properties that you might want to take advantage of.
So, what’s the best way to bulk up with milk?
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