As you explore the various supplements designed to help you achieve greater results with your bodybuilding efforts, you are sure to be confronted with the great testosterone supplement debate. Do you need testosterone supplements? Are testosterone supplements safe?

This debate has been going on for some time now. There are testosterone supplements that are safe, but they are typically made of all natural ingredients, and do not contain anabolic steroids. All bodybuilding organizations ban the use of anabolic steroids, and the FDA bans over the counter supplements that contain anabolic steroids as well.

When using natural testosterone supplements, there are no side effects – under the right conditions. You see, you can have a testosterone level that is normal, low, or high. If it is low or high, there is a negative impact on your health and your bodybuilding efforts.

Bodybuilders should strive for a normal testosterone level, and the level of your testosterone can only be determined by a visit to your doctor, with a simple blood test.

It is important to realize that a high testosterone level does not result in bigger muscles or better performance. Only a normal level of testosterone can accomplish this. When excess testosterone is detected by your body, it stops production of its own testosterone. It also turns the excess testosterone into DHT, which is responsible for baldness and leads to prostate problems.

The body can also turn excess testosterone into estrogen, which is a female hormone, which can result in an appearance that a male bodybuilder definitely does not want. It does all of this, and you get absolutely zero bodybuilding rewards from it.

Typically, when a bodybuilder is using testosterone supplements, without even knowing if he has a low testosterone level, it is because he has been misinformed concerning the benefits – or lack of benefits – of an increased testosterone level.

If you aren’t sure whether you need a testosterone supplement or not, you should first visit your doctor for that blood test. Talk to him about your bodybuilding efforts, and how testosterone affects the building of muscles – and how too much and too little testosterone have a negative effect on your efforts.

If you are in your teens or twenties, you can probably save yourself some money on that doctor’s visit. This is when your testosterone production is at its highest, and you most likely have a normal level of testosterone. However, if you are over thirty, and you are serious about bodybuilding, a visit to your doctor for that blood test to determine whether you need a testosterone supplement is definitely in order.