Question re. Testosterone & Strength

[eiff]

Hey guys,
Hope this is an acceptable section to post this question.

How much of a hinderance would borderline low T have on strength gains with strength training?

I've heard that Testerone going up and down but staying within physiological range won't amount to a whole lot in the weight room, but I've also heard that a 10% in T would significantly hurt strength gains.

Any opinions?

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FWIW:
Me:
Total T - 3.8 (2.5 - 11.5 ng/mL)
Free T 7.25 (9.00 - 47.00 pg/mL)
Bioavailable T 194 (131 - 682)

[sirupate]

I'd say that low-T is likely a hinderance to making gains in the gym. I also agree that you are probably not going to be a professional bodybuilder unless you exceed the normal ranges some how. Let's just say that you'll make more gains and recover more quickly from your workouts if you are at the high end of the normal range...all other things being equal.

Lots of guys here lift...let's see what they have to say about this.

[zaggahamma]

if you were low normal and bumped yourself up to top of the physiological range i would expect some strength gain...as pretty much this is what i experienced quite rapidly on 5mg of androgel

i know you have another thread and a problem there has that been resolved and now curious as to strength?

[eiff]

if you were low normal and bumped yourself up to top of the physiological range i would expect some strength gain...as pretty much this is what i experienced quite rapidly on 5mg of androgel

i know you have another thread and a problem there has that been resolved and now curious as to strength?

Thanks for the response. Yeah my T is pretty low for a 29 year old. My doctor basically gave me the choice of going 'on' or not, and I'm currently trying to decide. There's definitely a couple lifestyle disadvantages: sex drive, fatigue, etc but I'd be lying if I didn't say that the biggest deal was the feeling that I'm at a disadvantage strength wise. This past year or so I've been training for my first power lifting meet (I've been shooting for a 1000lb total, so I'm a beginner), I was frustrated at strength gains which is why I asked dr to get tested.

I guess I'm curious about this strength stuff b/c I don't know if pursuing any sort of respectable strength goals is realistic or not for someone who is at the lower end.

[zaggahamma]

Perfectly understandabke bro...Low t sucks

[bullshark99]

^^^^Agreed, you do need to ask yourself is the desired strength your looking for worth being put on TRT for life?? Only you and how you live could answer that but dont fool yourself, TRT is not a part time gig. This is especially true for people on the low end as yourself because the chances of a succesful restart will only get you back to baseline which is already low. I would think long and hard if you really do not have any other symptoms?? The flip side, chance are its only a matter of time before your levels decrease into a range where you experience other sides. the question is "when will that be"???????

[SEOINAGE]

I'm 30 years old, and T levels are on the low range of things as well. I was still able to get over 1200 lb total with my condition but really only make gains when I eat exorbitant amounts of food. Hardest part is recovery and eating gets me there, of course that results in more fat. And body composition can be a tougher thing to deal with being low T. If you want to start TRT, do it for other reasons, if you have other symptoms etc. If you want to get stronger, work on your diet and your training program, you should still be able to get gains, especially since a big part of strength and powerlifting is traing the nervous system.

[zaggahamma]

Couple of great posts there

[eiff]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Yeah it's a tough thing to decide.

Definitely not wanting to rush into anything, but I agree if it's just going to drop from here that it may just be a matter of time.

As far as the other symtoms go, I THINK I feel some of them but it's kind of a subtle thing. And I've read that that's one of the hard parts of hormone problems, they can very gradual and very subtle.

I can say that my 27 year old wife (I'm 29) wants to have sex more than I do (we have sex maybe once every 2 weeks), which I never thought would happen, but who's to say if that would radically change. Maybe that's a regular frequency for a married couple.

Same with energy, I definitely used to be a more 'ambitious' guy, but maybe that's just me being lazy.

Decisions, decisions.

[eiff]

I'm 30 years old, and T levels are on the low range of things as well. I was still able to get over 1200 lb total with my condition but really only make gains when I eat exorbitant amounts of food. Hardest part is recovery and eating gets me there, of course that results in more fat. And body composition can be a tougher thing to deal with being low T. If you want to start TRT, do it for other reasons, if you have other symptoms etc. If you want to get stronger, work on your diet and your training program, you should still be able to get gains, especially since a big part of strength and powerlifting is traing the nervous system.

Thanks for the response. Do you ever wonder if you'd be able to add a few hundred pounds to your total (w/o becoming a tub of lard) if you didn't have the T issue? I work with youth, and some of those 20 year old dudes can lift significantly more than me with 25% of the commitment I have to it. Makes me want to find a new hobby.

[SEOINAGE]

You know what eiff you do kind of sound like me. I personally want to feel like I did when I was 21, gains were easy, I could eat plenty, i felt great, fat wasn't an issue, hormones were powerful and always wanted it. But now its similar to you, wife wants it more than i do, thought it was jsut being married and me not wanting to push having sex more often then she wants to, but I think it is more the low libido on my part. Its kind of a hard thing to deal with, not having that driving libido, and trt for me is debatable and not covered by insurance, but if it doesn't get me going I don't know what will. I honestly thought I was just maturing and being more in control of my body and desires, but in actuality they just aren't there. Maybe you have similar feelings, I hope I can get my protocol right so i can feel good again.

[eiff]

You know what eiff you do kind of sound like me. I personally want to feel like I did when I was 21, gains were easy, I could eat plenty, i felt great, fat wasn't an issue, hormones were powerful and always wanted it. But now its similar to you, wife wants it more than i do, thought it was jsut being married and me not wanting to push having sex more often then she wants to, but I think it is more the low libido on my part. Its kind of a hard thing to deal with, not having that driving libido, and trt for me is debatable and not covered by insurance, but if it doesn't get me going I don't know what will. I honestly thought I was just maturing and being more in control of my body and desires, but in actuality they just aren't there. Maybe you have similar feelings, I hope I can get my protocol right so i can feel good again.

Totally!!
But also what if you decide to take the TRT plunge and you feel the same? How much would that suck?!

[SEOINAGE]

Totally!!
But also what if you decide to take the TRT plunge and you feel the same? How much would that suck?!

Depends on how long you do it, but you should be able to get back to your normal levels should you choose to come off of it, steroid users are usually able to if it isn't a prolonged cycle, although some end up on trt for life. I have had 2 shots so far and honestly I feel slightly different, don't feel the occasional little spikes, feel fairly even but way too low to be considered worth it. In about a week and a half I will get blood work to see if I need to adjust dose, but guessing this starting amount is no where near sufficient, cause I expect to experience a real gain in libido. Issues like estrogen being out of wack I have heard can affect it also, so if t levels are up where they need to be I will have to check those out if I still don't have the libido I am after.

[eiff]

I have had 2 shots so far and honestly I feel slightly different, don't feel the occasional little spikes, feel fairly even but way too low to be considered worth it.

Oh, I didn't realize you had started! Well I'll be excited to see how it ends up working out for you. If you don't mind sharing, what's your regimen? Sounds like Test Cyp, anything else? HCG , etc? Also curious how much you think your total out of pocket expense will be...

Thanks so much for your time!

[SEOINAGE]

100 mg of test cyp once a week. Doc won't prescribe anything else nor will he check estrogen levels. Either self medicating an ai soon or going to a new doctor which I will have to pay out of pocket for, 200 initial visit, 100 any other visit. Test cyp I spent 60 bucks on a 4 week supply, but that is 3 times what I should pay if i got larger vials which my doctor agreed to prescribing. I've also spent a lot on blood tests, some the insurance has covered, others they have not.

[bullshark99]

- GAL -->

[eiff]

100 mg of test cyp once a week. Doc won't prescribe anything else nor will he check estrogen levels. Either self medicating an ai soon or going to a new doctor which I will have to pay out of pocket for, 200 initial visit, 100 any other visit. Test cyp I spent 60 bucks on a 4 week supply, but that is 3 times what I should pay if i got larger vials which my doctor agreed to prescribing. I've also spent a lot on blood tests, some the insurance has covered, others they have not.

Too bad on your doc and not checking estrogen levels. But seems like 100mg/ew is an intelligent starting dose, so that's good. With the larger vials, $20/mo isn't bad at all. I'm very interested in HCG at the same time and I'm pretty sure that moves the cost up significantly. Thanks again for all your advice.

[eiff]