According to Hims, “There’s a commonly held stereotype that men with high testosterone levels are aggressive beefcakes who are prone to roid rage, ready to throw a tantrum if you look at them the wrong way.” Meanwhile, 7-time Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger has shared his opinion on this topic.

Schwarzenegger is calling out this common myth in the world of fitness about testosterone.

In the July 23 edition of the Arnold Pump Club newsletter, the bodybuilding legend shared, “Does Testosterone Lead To Reckless Thinking? –  You’ve heard the theory, maybe used it as a punchline. Testosterone makes you more impulsive, floods your brain with confidence, and kills the ability to catch a bad decision before it happens. And that doesn’t even mention the most common belief about aggressiveness.”

According to The Austrian Oak, research has shown that testosterone does not make a person aggressive.

He said, “Scientists have tested the idea. And the answer is more interesting than the myth because testosterone does not influence mood or decision-making the way most people think. And it doesn’t create angry people.”

Schwarzenegger believes the myth was created by flawed studies. He even referred to the 2017 study by Gideon Nave and the team, in which some men were given testosterone while others were given a placebo. After that, a reasoning test with tricky questions was administered, and the individuals with testosterone performed poorly, creating headlines claiming that testosterone harms decision-making.

However, this research was challenged by other labs, highlighting new research. He said,

“But it was refuted. Other labs ran the test three more times and came up empty. But the die was cast, and everyone remembered the first study. Then something rare happened that we wish would happen more often in science: the scientists with opposing findings teamed up.

The original researcher and his critics designed one study together and tested 1,000 men. Every prediction was locked in before a single result was analyzed, which helped ensure that nobody could move the goalposts later.”

The new research by Erik L. Knight and team in 2026 revealed that testosterone did not influence reasoning after tasting fairness, competitiveness, generosity, and risk-taking.

Now talking about aggressive nature, Schwarzenegger said, “In a placebo-controlled trial, testosterone by itself did not make men more aggressive.”

He later said, “However, there was an exception: among men already high in dominance or low in self-control, researchers observed greater aggression. 

And a meta-analysis of 12 randomized steroid trials backed up that finding by observing a small bump in aggression men reported about themselves, but no bump in what observers actually watched them do.”

So, testosterone by itself does not make you aggressive. However, it can slightly enhance the aggressive behavior of those who are naturally aggressive. In simple words, it makes one’s existing traits a little stronger.

Apart from that, Schwarzenegger also talked about some HIIT that can serve as a natural testosterone enhancer.

Arnold Schwarzenegger shares HIIT as a testosterone enhancer

According to Fitness Volt, in an edition of the Arnold Pump Club newsletter, Schwarzenegger explained the natural way to enhance testosterone.

According to the bodybuilding legend, following a high-intensity training approach just 3 times a week can help one increase testosterone levels.

Schwarzenegger said, “Can your workout preferences change your hormones? Maybe — but not in the way you might think. A recent study suggests that high-intensity interval training boosts testosterone.”

He talked about a study in which researchers studied sedentary men in a 12-week program. During the program, they performed a weekly HIIT workout, including “four sets of four-minute sprints, each followed by three minutes of rest.”

As a result, “The participants increased their testosterone up to 16 percent by the end of the program.”

HIIT may help increase testosterone. But “many variables influence testosterone levels, including muscle gain, fat loss, stress reduction, and sleep quality”.

People doing HIIT lose body fat and build muscle, and these changes can also enhance testosterone. Daily workouts can also decrease stress and improve sleep, which supports testosterone levels.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil