It being Valentine’s Day, we have teamed up with the people at Myprotein.com and put together these 6 simple tips to help you raise hormone levels and libido therefore ensuring you not only get more muscle this Valentine’s, but more sex as well. And that’s a win, eh.

Go Big & Heavy

If you want to increase testosterone levels and send your libido through the roof, forget the small exercises like bicep curls and instead opt for the big, heavy compound movements like squats, dead lifts and bench press since a study conducted at Baylor University in the US showed that testosterone levels are at their highest 48 hours after an intense, heavy, compound weight training session.

Just A Quickie  

Researchers at the University of North Carolina found that overtraining can lower your testosterone levels by as much as 40% since excessive training can increase cortisol levels, the stress hormone that competes with testosterone and breaks down muscle. So try keeping your weight training sessions to a maximum of 45 minutes, any longer and your testosterone levels start to dip.

Enhance Performance     

A study conducted at the National University of Singapore found that that Bulgarian weed tribulus terrestris can improve the quality of your nocturnal activities as well as your workouts due to its aphrodisiac and androgen increasing properties (increasing male hormone production.) (90 capsules is available from Myprotein.com for £7.49 http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/tribulus_pro

Train Outside  

A report published by the Boston State Hospital in the US found that exposing the skin to sunlight for just 15minutes can raise your testosterone levels by 120% and that exposing the skin in your genital region to the sun further increased testosterone levels by as much as 200%. So try taking your training outside (but maybe wait till the summer when things warm up before you try the latter.)

Skip The Treadmill     

At the University of Alberta in Edmonton it was found that testosterone levels were lower in male athletes that ran at least 64km a week compared to those who lead a sedentary lifestyle. Whilst cardio clearly has many benefits, boosting testosterone and possibly libido isn’t necessarily one of them, so try avoiding the treadmill and hitting the weights this Valentine’s day.

Get Some Zinc       

Researchers at Wayne State University School of Medicine found that Zinc plays an important role in modulating serum testosterone levels in men, part of the reason Oysters (a food very high in zinc) is considered to be such an aphrodisiac. But don’t worry you don’t have to buy buckets of oysters to raise testosterone levels, since 90 tablets of Zinc is available from Myprotein.com for £5.99 http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/zinc-tablets.