So I'm 38 years old I've been lifting weights recreationally for around 13 years. I started to try and get more serious about it 5 years ago. I was tracking macros and experimenting with different programs. And I don't mean I was program jumping, I was giving different styles an honest try for at least 12 months at a time.
It seemed no matter what I tried I stayed relatively weak and didnt see much change in my body.
I topped out at a 225 5x5 on bench and my squat and deadlift numbers were too embarrassing to even mention.
I've never been a big eater, but I decided I'd better add fuel to my body and went on an 8 month bulk. I cant remember exactly, but I was eating something like 210p 400c and 80f for a total of 3200 calories. I did get slightly stronger, but one day 17 months ago I looked in the mirror and saw a fat, weak 6'1" 225 lb slob. Balloon face and all.
I gave up on everything. The diet, quit the gym for a few months and just took a break. I lost 15 lbs just by eating what and when I wanted.
I learned through a Joe Rogan podcast about traumatic brain injuries and the effect they can have on hormones and Test levels and what that can do for your well being. It struck a chord, since I've rode a lot of dirtbike and took several hits to the head. Ive woke up laying in the dirt on a race track several times. I've also battled with depression and alcoholism my whole life. I have, however been sober since a life changing experience in November 2011.
So I started on my journey looking into trt. I had my test levels checked and over 4 separate blood samples in the course of 2 or 3 weeks, they came back averaging somewhere around 250. I found an endo who prescribed me 100 mg test e every 10 days. It changed my life. Very quickly I noticed changes in my mental state, along with changes in my body. I did an short run of 350 test e/ week and saw amazing results. I've since had my test prescription bumped to 120mg/ week. I also ran into some e2 problems and side effects, but have since been working on my AI protocol and have eliminated those.
The point of this is that while I was training with my natural test levels I was desperately trying to sift through advice and choose what made sense and saw little effect. I always heard experienced people say to take your natural training and nutrition as far as possible then when you are ready think about gear. The advice was that if you aren't making progress there is obviously a problem with your training, your nutrition or both. Nobody ever mentions having your hormones checked.
My experience has been that no matter what I did, it didn't matter. I now believe that i never would have made any progress without trt. I've been dieting and I'm down to a reasonably lean 194, I'm as strong as I've ever been and though it is a lot of work (the doctors I've been seeing have been of no real help at all) it's totally worth it.
Has anybody else been through this? Do you believe that with test levels in the range that mine were somebody could actually make real gains? What's your experience with low T been?
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