# Leg weight training releases testosterone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 6, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leg-weight-training-releases-testosterone/227848 "2004-02-06T15:30:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![freewill39](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d2c977/32.png) [@freewill39](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freewill39)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leg-weight-training-releases-testosterone/227848/1 "2004-02-06T15:30:41Z")
Hey, Folks. I was discussing the various weight training routines that exist with a friend of mine the other day, and he said he had heard that spending a fair amount of time really working out the legs releases an additional amount of testosterone for some reason or other in men (and, as we know, testosterone is very significant in the building of muscle mass in men). Can anyone confirm or deny this claim with any degree of authority? - Freewill39. ---
**Author:** ![hauss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5fc32e/32.png) [@hauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hauss)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leg-weight-training-releases-testosterone/227848/2 "2004-02-06T15:37:43Z")
I am no authority, but I can say that this idea is definately widely held as fact around the BB scene. Your body thinks you are in trouble so it attempts to help out by altering your balance… I myself have felt the endorphins coming alive, so I know some pretty cool stuff is going on when you really go hard. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leg-weight-training-releases-testosterone/227848/3 "2004-02-06T16:06:39Z")
Hormone release after weight training is kind of a funny thing. In the first two hours after a workout, your free testosterone levels plummet, and no one knows where the stuff is going. After that, your testosterone levels do rise. The amount they rise by is proportional to the amount of muscle you use. Since various leg exercises involve your lower back, all of your legs, and other stuff, you get a large release. Keep in mind that you need to use a lot of muscle–leg extensions and leg curls just aren’t going to cut it. ---
**Author:** ![DreadLead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@DreadLead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadLead)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leg-weight-training-releases-testosterone/227848/4 "2004-02-06T16:33:52Z")
I’ve heard that “secodary muscle stimulation” (test. release??) was proportional to the size of the muscle originally being stimulated. Your legs are the strongest muscle group in the body, so heavy leg workouts (squats) stimulate the other muscles the most (secondarily) ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leg-weight-training-releases-testosterone/227848/5 "2004-02-06T16:36:46Z")
> [@DreadLead](#): > > I’ve heard that “secodary muscle stimulation” (test. release??) was proportional to the size of the muscle originally being stimulated. Your legs are the strongest muscle group in the body, so heavy leg workouts (squats) stimulate the other muscles the most (secondarily) It’s tough to say, because your quads and glutes are far from the only muscles involved in squatting. ---
**Author:** ![DreadLead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@DreadLead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadLead)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leg-weight-training-releases-testosterone/227848/6 "2004-02-06T16:51:12Z")
Exactly…lower back, abs…which is think is part of the result ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leg-weight-training-releases-testosterone/227848/7 "2004-02-07T06:43:09Z")
A long time ago I read (I know, I know) that heavy sprinting (as opposed to just jogging) also releases testosterone – how much, why, whether related to the OP… I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leg-weight-training-releases-testosterone/227848/8 "2004-02-07T14:51:06Z")
Once again, at least in the world of bodybuilding, I second what **ultrafilter** says. It’s the sheer amount of muscle tissue being targeted by squats that makes them ideal candidates for hormone release. ---
**Author:** ![akirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@akirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akirk)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leg-weight-training-releases-testosterone/227848/9 "2004-02-08T01:36:02Z")
Speaking as a Bodybuilder of 12+ years( and weighing in at 275 lbs, with 30" quads)…I think an alternate theory on how this rumor began, is the simple fact that doing heavy squats on a regular training schedule **WILL** build your body up faster than most anything else. The sheer size of the muscle groups involved, and secondary effects to the other major muscles involved in balancing hundreds of pounds on your shoulders without tipping over, will get you big quickly. So as I see it, maybe there is not a significant testosterone release, but people have to come up with some way to explain the growth. akirk 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leg-weight-training-releases-testosterone/227848/10 "2004-02-08T16:52:21Z")
> [@akirk](#): > > Speaking as a Bodybuilder of 12+ years( and weighing in at 275 lbs, with 30" quads)…I think an alternate theory on how this rumor began, is the simple fact that doing heavy squats on a regular training schedule **WILL** build your body up faster than most anything else. The sheer size of the muscle groups involved, and secondary effects to the other major muscles involved in balancing hundreds of pounds on your shoulders without tipping over, will get you big quickly. > > So as I see it, maybe there is not a significant testosterone release, but people have to come up with some way to explain the growth. > > akirk 😉 No, actually the testosterone release after heavy weight training is pretty well-documented. I’ll try to dig up a cite for you, but the effect is real. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leg-weight-training-releases-testosterone/227848/11 "2004-02-08T16:58:45Z")
Here’s the best [article](http://www.engr.mun.ca/~butt/training/selection.html) I could find. Their take: > [@](#): > > Numerous studies have indicated that weight training exercises that recruit a lot of total muscle mass - the compound exercises - result in the largest anabolic hormonal response by the body. The proportions of anabolic hormones (mainly growth hormone and testosterone) that are actually secreted are thought to be a function of factors such as rep count and rest between sets - with lower rep sets and longer breaks between them favoring testosterone release and higher rep sets and shorter breaks between them favoring growth hormone (hGH). The more total muscle mass involved, the higher the hormone levels rise. For this reason, Squats will cause a greater hormonal response than Bench Presses.