My Test Levels

I was still getting big and pretty strong when I was certified secondary hypogonadic due to pituitary failure. Growing faster than other guys in my gym who are in their adolescent years and should have very high natural testosterone levels, all of whom should apparently be making steroid-like gains due to their levels. I don't think your natural testosterone output has as much of an influence on this stuff as a lot of people like to make out.

Reply 2

Unistudent77

15

Original post by ExecuteOrder66

I recently had a testosterone test undertaken.
My results came back as 14.4nmol/L
20yo male
I like lifting weights

Could someone help me interpret this result. I got it done privately and by a doctors standards I'm considered normal. I was wondering what you guys thought. I want to get to a level of strength which the average man can achieve in the gym. Are my test levels going to hold me back?

I'll freely admit that the suggested correlation between test levels and gains is out of my field of expertise. Research some peer reviewed studies and formulate your own conclusions.

My main point would be, why are you at all bothered about all that at the grand old age of 20. The doctors have sad you're at a normal level so unless you are experiencing ED problems or the like then lift some weights consistently man and you'll see gains.

Reply 3

If thats normal, it's not your test levels that are holding you back

Reply 4

Original post by ExecuteOrder66

I recently had a testosterone test undertaken.
My results came back as 14.4nmol/L
20yo male
I like lifting weights

Could someone help me interpret this result. I got it done privately and by a doctors standards I'm considered normal. I was wondering what you guys thought. I want to get to a level of strength which the average man can achieve in the gym. Are my test levels going to hold me back?

(disclaimer i'm not an endocrinologist or a physician)

14.4nmol/L is about 400ng/dl which is wayy below average for a 20yo male. You should have double of that. How much sleep are you getting? How much alcohol do you drink? Whats your diet like? Stress levels?

Reply 5

Original post by Angry cucumber

If thats normal, it's not your test levels that are holding you back

Doctors keep lowering the average every 3 years. In the 1980s a 80 year old man had more testosterone than 14.4nmol/L...

Reply 6

Original post by rickyrossman

(disclaimer i'm not an endocrinologist or a physician)

14.4nmol/L is about 400ng/dl which is wayy below average for a 20yo male. You should have double of that. How much sleep are you getting? How much alcohol do you drink? Whats your diet like? Stress levels?

You're not an endocrinologist as you stated. You can not define what is ok for an average male or not. Leave that to the professionals

Reply 7

Realitysreflexx

22

are you going hard in the gym? are you sure you know what your doing? do you have the weight on your frame to build muscle....

test levels tell me none of these factors...

Reply 8

Original post by Angry cucumber

You're not an endocrinologist as you stated. You can not define what is ok for an average male or not. Leave that to the professionals

I don't have to be a lawyer to give an opinion about a legal matter, why do I have to be a doctor to have an opinion about medical issues? Aslong as there's a disclaimer that my opinions aren't equivalents to legal or medical advice then it is ok.

Reply 9

Original post by rickyrossman

I don't have to be a lawyer to give an opinion about a legal matter, why do I have to be a doctor to have an opinion about medical issues? Aslong as there's a disclaimer that my opinions aren't equivalents to legal or medical advice then it is ok.

It's not an matter of opinion, when you are stating a fact that OP is half the normal limit, when an endocrinologist has claimed normal. That's not opinion, that's falsifying truth and is damaging and leading OP down the wrong path

Reply 10

Original post by Angry cucumber

It's not an matter of opinion, when you are stating a fact that OP is half the normal limit, when an endocrinologist has claimed normal. That's not opinion, that's falsifying truth and is damaging and leading OP down the wrong path

Nope. It is my opinion that a young man should have atleast 700ng/dl of testosterone. My opinions do not represent those of a qualified endocrinologist or any form of doctor that specialises in hormones and diabetes. I never claimed that it is a fact, hence 'should' not 'must'

Anways, for me its back to studying for exams so that one day I will be a qualified doctor. :smile:

No more procrastinating

Reply 11

Original post by rickyrossman

Nope. It is my opinion that a young man should have atleast 700ng/dl of testosterone. My opinions do not represent those of a qualified endocrinologist or any form of doctor that specialises in hormones and diabetes. I never claimed that it is a fact, hence 'should' not 'must'

Anways, for me its back to studying for exams so that one day I will be a qualified doctor. :smile:

No more procrastinating

Become a dentist instead buddy,

yours

A vet

Reply 12

Original post by Angry cucumber

Become a dentist instead buddy,

yours

A vet

I thought about it but tbh, surgery doesn't interest me that much. I don't see myself taking out teeth and doing fillings. My 8 year old cousin is obsessed with animals, she'll probably be a vet when she's older.

Reply 13

ExecuteOrder66

OP

7

Sorry, been inactive for quite a bit.

Thing is, Im inclined to agree with you @rickyrossman. The average range is 280-1080ng/dl or something like that, and I'm 20. This is the average based on individuals from 20-80 years old. I'm not going to lie, I want my test levels to be higher. I go to the gym 3 days a week, do SS but am stuck at weights which I should have surpassed long ago by now. I've gained weight too and eat 4 meals a day, supplemented with protein shakes and milk. Ill argue my sleep could be a contributing factor though.

The only reason I want higher test is for the benefit it supplies for strength. When it comes to libido etc, I feel fine in that department.

I drink once a week. I go out every Monday and hence do have quite a lot of alcohol. I accept this may halt my workouts which is why I go out Monday (2 days rest before workout Weds). Could this have a significant effect

Im tempted to have the test done once more to see whether it was just an anomaly or whether I need to find a way of raising T.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 14

Original post by ExecuteOrder66

Sorry, been inactive for quite a bit.

Thing is, Im inclined to agree with you @rickyrossman. The average range is 280-1080ng/dl or something like that, and I'm 20. This is the average based on individuals from 20-80 years old. I'm not going to lie, I want my test levels to be higher. I go to the gym 3 days a week, do SS but am stuck at weights which I should have surpassed long ago by now. I've gained weight too and eat 4 meals a day, supplemented with protein shakes and milk. Ill argue my sleep could be a contributing factor though.

The only reason I want higher test is for the benefit it supplies for strength. When it comes to libido etc, I feel fine in that department.

I drink once a week. I go out every Monday and hence do have quite a lot of alcohol. I accept this may halt my workouts which is why I go out Monday (2 days rest before workout Weds). Could this have a significant effect

Im tempted to have the test done once more to see whether it was just an anomaly or whether I need to find a way of raising T.

First things first I'd exhaust all natural ways of boosting your T. If that fails then go to the medical solutions.

Consider going to a men's health clinic. Don't bother asking your GP, they'd tell you you're perfectly normal if you had 280 ng/DL. Unfortunately lots of gps don't take mens health problems seriously so you'd be best off seeing a private specialist.

Reply 15

ExecuteOrder66

OP

7

Original post by rickyrossman

First things first I'd exhaust all natural ways of boosting your T. If that fails then go to the medical solutions.

Consider going to a men's health clinic. Don't bother asking your GP, they'd tell you you're perfectly normal if you had 280 ng/DL. Unfortunately lots of gps don't take mens health problems seriously so you'd be best off seeing a private specialist.

If I can't boost it naturally there's no way I can afford TRT privately. I don't necessarily express any symptoms, hell even when I'm really drunk he'll still go up. It's more to do with the fact I love the gym so much and want to get as strong as possible for the average man. Worst comes to worst I'm going to have to work on gains with what I got.

I can have a blood test done by medichecks for £29, I feel getting the test once more would be helpful.

Reply 16

Original post by ExecuteOrder66

If I can't boost it naturally there's no way I can afford TRT privately. I don't necessarily express any symptoms, hell even when I'm really drunk he'll still go up. It's more to do with the fact I love the gym so much and want to get as strong as possible for the average man. Worst comes to worst I'm going to have to work on gains with what I got.

I can have a blood test done by medichecks for £29, I feel getting the test once more would be helpful.

I can recommend medichecks. You get the results quickly.

You mentioned you're doing starting strength. I think that might be the problem. They say you can get 100kg/140kg/180kg bench/squat/deadlift doing that program in 1 year doing that program but every strong person I've seen at the gym said it took them more than 3 years to reach those lifts. Also look at the ridiculous diet advice rippetoe tells people. GOMAD. seriously? No...

My personal trainer recommended me to do 5/3/1 even when I couldn't squat 60kg. I've been doing that program since last January and I'm squatting 120kg now. Its slow but the progress is consistent. I was always stalling on SS.

I'd say strength is more related to how long you've been training than your hormones. There's a few women at my uni's weightlifting gym who can squat 140kg but they told me they've been weightlifting since they were 10 years old...

If changing programs doesn't work and you can't naturally boost your T. Well there's always bulgaria. :wink:

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 17

ExecuteOrder66

OP

7

Original post by rickyrossman

I can recommend medichecks. You get the results quickly.

You mentioned you're doing starting strength. I think that might be the problem. They say you can get 100kg/140kg/180kg bench/squat/deadlift doing that program in 1 year doing that program but every strong person I've seen at the gym said it took them more than 3 years to reach those lifts. Also look at the ridiculous diet advice rippetoe tells people. GOMAD. seriously? No...

My personal trainer recommended me to do 5/3/1 even when I couldn't squat 60kg. I've been doing that program since last January and I'm squatting 120kg now. Its slow but the progress is consistent. I was always stalling on SS. I had to deload by 10% today, felt incredibly easy but adding 5kg more and I can only push out 3 reps

If changing programs doesn't work and you can't naturally boost your T. Well there's always bulgaria. :wink:

Haha thanks for the feedback.

I'm mixed about Starting Strength. Tbh I was a weakling when I started, but I've done it for a year and my squat now sits at 130kg 3x5 and 140kg 3x5 deadliftt. Granted I've been inconsistent at times near exams, but overall I think I've done decently well to keep on track. It's my upper body which is weak as hell, my OHP usually gets stuck at around 45kg and bench at about 65kg. Couldn't even OHP the bar when I first started. Barely could bench the bar.

Yeah I started doing GOMAD at 179lbs. I stopped after about a 20lb increase. I simply eat 4 meals a day and supplement each one with a protein shake. Honestly, I don't think diet is an issue. Sleep might be holding me back, or maybe the program design in general, but it's about damn near impossible for me to make 2.5kg leaps on the OHP.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 18

Original post by ExecuteOrder66

Haha thanks for the feedback.

I'm mixed about Starting Strength. Tbh I was a weakling when I started, but I've done it for a year and my squat now sits at 130kg 3x5 and 140kg 3x5 deadliftt. Granted I've been inconsistent at times near exams, but overall I think I've done decently well to keep on track. It's my upper body which is weak as hell, my OHP usually gets stuck at around 45kg and bench at about 65kg. Couldn't even OHP the bar when I first started. Barely could bench the bar.

Yeah I started doing GOMAD at 179lbs. I stopped after about a 20lb increase. I simply eat 4 meals a day and supplement each one with a protein shake. Honestly, I don't think diet is an issue. Sleep might be holding me back, or maybe the program design in general, but it's about damn near impossible for me to make 2.5kg leaps on the OHP.

Programming and time is most important for OHP and bench press. You say you couldn't ohp the bar. Well guess what? I couldn't even bench press two 8kg dumbbells when I started... Now I'm benching 70kg for reps and working towards two plates with Wendler's 5/3/1 programming. :smile:

When I'm 30 I wanna be able to bench 3 plates. Right now I'm 20. I'm gonna move to Smolov Jr when 5/3/1 stops working.

I recommend you get a personal trainer who is knowledgeable about this sort of stuff. Not some random at pure gym who looks like he doesn't even lift. (Oh and stay away from xercise4less unless you wanted to be hounded by lawyers for cancelling your membership :wink:

) Go to a hardcore gym (steel plates, underground feeling, lots of bald powerlifting guys) and ask for a personal trainer, you'll get some very good advice about programming and your form.

Reply 19