Muay Thai is one of the most dangerous combative sports in the world, regardless if you’re competing or sparring. Fighting, in general, can cause anxiety and increase cortisol levels in our bodies. Muay Thai has an interesting effect on your hormonal system, which is an extremely interesting finding. One of the hormones this martial art affects is testosterone, one of the most important hormones that our body produces.
Muay Thai increases testosterone, according to the latest meta-analysis. Testosterone is linked with physical aggression and anger, which Muay Thai promotes through various drills, including sparring, competing, and even doing pad work. Therefore, it promotes a healthy amount of testosterone.
I know what you’re thinking, if that’s the case, let’s all go train in Muay Thai and increase our testosterone. However, that’s not entirely the case.
What we’ll do in this article is cover everything about Muay Thai, aka The Art of Eight Limbs, aka Thai Boxing, with its link to the male hormone (which also exists in women), testosterone.
We’ll cover everything from what it is, to its benefits and potential effects on your body. So stay tuned for the article, and let’s dive into the first part: definition.
Table of Contents
- What Is Testosterone?
- Does Muay Thai Increase Testosterone?
- Effects of High Testosterone
- Final Words
What Is Testosterone?
You probably know someone who took some type of growth hormone when he was a teenager. And yes, it’s likely a he. You also are likely to have seen a bodybuilder that’s most likely on external testosterone. There are a few key effects such a hormone has on your body, which makes it highly desired and attractive in today’s world.
Testosterone is a hormone that belongs to the class of androgens, which are male sex hormones. It is primarily produced in men and much smaller amounts in women. However, both men and women have testosterone in their bodies, and it plays a crucial role in their overall health and development.
The last thing I want to do here is to get scientific. I’m no professional and I’m not faking to be one. I’m citing as many studies as possible, but I still want to focus on the reason you’re here today: to know whether Muay Thai increases testosterone.
To answer that question, let’s dive into the 2nd part of the article, which will not focus as much on science but more on genuine experiences and real-life stories.
Does Muay Thai Increase Testosterone?
Muay Thai practice plays with your hormonal system more than you think. I have to cite a study in this part of the article, as I want to give you an honest of an answer as I can. But first, let’s see whether Thai Boxing has any effect on the male hormone.
Regular Muay Thai practice will increase testosterone for two primary reasons. The first reason is that it’s an intense workout, which increases the male hormone for short periods of time post-workout. The second, and more influential, reason is that it’s a combative sport that promotes physical aggression.
Research shows that testosterone levels rise for short periods of time after exercise — ranging from 15 minutes to one hour, depending on the man. Younger men get a bigger post-exercise boost.
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Indeed, one of the primary effects of testosterone is increased physical aggression and anger. From my personal experience (this might not apply to you), I typically get fairly angry when I spar and very much when I compete. My guess after the long periods of researching for this article, is that testosterone is responsible for the boosted feeling of aggression and anger toward nothing specific.
In conclusion, irrespective of striking combat sports types, the results showed that both official and simulated bouts are a real stressor of the hormonal system of practitioners. Coaches and applied practitioners should adopt “pre-competitive cognitive/coping strategies” to improve the psychological state that mediates the hormonal changes-competition/outcome relationship of their athletes in order to mitigate athletes’ stress.
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The Effects of High Testosterone
Let’s now review some of the primary effects high testosterone will have on your body, behavior, and hormonal system. These will definitely make sense when you understand that a noteworthy role of the male hormone is to assist in the many activities and roles males deal with on a daily basis.
I do want to note a key point. If you’re a woman and reading this, I urge you not to worry about having more testosterone in your body. Muay Thai is, at the end of the day, an intense workout. If you’re interested in fitness and sports, you’ll benefit from any consistent practice in any martial art, which promotes a healthier lifestyle.
So now, let’s dive into some of the effects of high testosterone, which Muay Thai might as well lead to.
Effect #1 – Physical Aggression
Anecdotal and early correlational evidence suggests that higher levels of circulating testosterone in men are associated with increases in male-typical behaviours, such as physical aggression and anger.
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From the study above, we can understand that higher levels of testosterone in men are associated with an increase in physical aggression. Combative sports (martial arts) are all about being physically aggressive. Well, at least most of them.
If you examine Tai Chi, for instance, it promotes calmness and peace of mind, which is rather the opposite of being physically aggressive.
I’ve been training Muay Thai for some time now and I have to share some of my personal experiences with you. Whenever you’re fighting, sparring, or competing with someone, even if it’s your close friend, you’re going to feel aggressive toward him, which might feel a little bit weird at first.
However, this is simply the effect Muay Thai will have on you. You’ll have an innate desire to survive, which will lead to a shift in your hormonal system, which you won’t feel as often in today’s society.
Effect #2 – Anger
The second effect of high testosterone is anger. Physical aggression and anger might sound the same, but they’re not. What they do is fuel each other. So if you’re angry, you’ll want to be violent and aggressive toward that thing. On the other hand, if you’re physically aggressive with something, your natural anger levels will rise.
Testosterone activates the subcortical areas of the brain to produce aggression.
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This cycle is crucial to understand because you will feel angry when you’re training Muay Thai, especially when you’re on the losing side. You’ll want to win badly, which will make you more aggressive and angrier, particularly when you have high levels of testosterone.
Effect #3 – Increased Muscle Mass
Let’s now talk about another primary effect of having high levels of testosterone. This effect is typically the reason that people inject external testosterone into their bodies, especially athletes. This effect is increased muscle mass.
I’ve found that the more I exercise, the more fueled I am to tackle life’s problems, which we have discussed previously. And, the more I exercise, especially lifting weights and doing martial arts, the more the effects of testosterone come into play in my body.
When that occurs, I always see a spike in my strength levels and my overall muscle mass level, which is so motivating to see. Testosterone is a hormone that will assist you in your sports endeavor, primarily by letting you build more muscle mass, which influences speed, explosiveness, and strength.
Final Words
I encourage you all to begin training in Muay Thai, as it influences your hormonal system and allows you to become a much greater athlete. It also influences, typically increases, your testosterone levels, which impact many factors, such as muscle mass, strength, and how prone you are to aggression and anger.
However, these benefits come to those who invest more effort into their training and into the craft. You must also remain as consistent as possible, which might sound difficult, but will benefit you in all aspects of life.
Here are other articles you’d benefit from reading:
Boxing and Its Effects on Manliness and Testosterone
Boxing – Drug Testing Policies – Complete Guide
Does Boxing Increase Testosterone? The Answer Inside
The 7 Best Muay Thai Conditioning Exercises (Fight-Preparation)
10 Ways to Increase Elbow Power in Muay Thai (Sharpen Elbows)