His testosterone is highest in the morning when he wakes up and his testosterone gets lower as the day goes on. Here’s some of what you can expect throughout his day:
Morning: Testosterone is highest
How his hormones have him feeling: He’s at his most energetic, talkative, aggressive, focused, competitive, independent, impulsive and confident. He also may be “antsy” or quick to anger and is more likely to say “no” to a favor or request for something you want, like a raise. His virility is at its peak. So is his ability to read maps and do spatial thinking.
Best time to… Have him put together a piece of furniture or fix a shelf, have him compete in a contest, give him a project to do solo, have great sex with him, figure out the best driving route
Physical libido: the aggressive, testosterone-dominant sex drive, in which there is a drive to find a sexual mate
Psychological libido: the receptive, oestrogen-dominant sex drive, in which there is a passive willingness to accept the sexual overtures of a potential mate
There is a little of each drive in everyone. Men are said to reach their peak physical sex drive in their teens, while their psychological sex drive peaks after the age of 50 when testosterone levels fall. Women are said to reach their physical sexual peak in their thirties or forties while their psychological sex drive reaches its maximum, like men, in their fifties.
It is easy to take your sex drive for granted when it is working normally and helping you maintain a healthy, loving relationship. When it fails, however, it can have a devastating effect on your life. Low sex drive is common. Surveys suggest it affects 20 per cent of the population at any one time, including 30 per cent of middle-aged women, 60 per cent of stressed executives, over 70 per cent of postmenopausal women and 80 per cent of new mothers.
But testosterone levels can vary for many reasons. For one thing, the hormone seems to fluctuate throughout the day, depending on what are known as circadian rhythms. In men, levels are highest in the morning and concentrations are minimal in the evening. Women generally have lower levels compared to men, but levels can vary tremendously in both men and women. Women may have a different exercise response than men. Although there may be increased levels in men and women that can be detected immediately following certain workouts, overall levels may be decreased after other types of exercise, such as regular endurance training. Even food intake may play a role. If a person drinks a protein-carb shake before and after a workout, the levels can go down. And aging men, for example, have lower levels and may get a lower boost from a tough weight-lifting session than a younger man.
Plus, it's not only levels of the actual hormone that may affect a person, but the amount of receptors present on cells that can interact with the testosterone. Testosterone helps stimulate muscle growth, but different types of muscle fibers are more (or less) receptive to the hormone. This means that the effects of testosterone may also depend upon the proportion of muscle fibers a person may have (which is mostly genetically determined), and what kind of exercise they do to train the muscles.