I mean... exogenous T just feels like a really dumb risk, if you haven't at least tried and failed to get your levels up with various exercise, lifestyle and diet changes.
I actually agree, and I would certainly recommend cleaning up your diet and getting on top of your exercise and sleep regimes to my own loved ones before exogenous T.
In general though, lifestyle interventions can only move the needle 100-200 ng / dl. This particular fellow has moved his 300+, and 400 after 7 years of optimal diet and exercise, and that's great. But if you'll notice, he nerfed the starting point (a month of bad sleep and diet and skipping workouts before his "starting draw"), and given that he eats both clean and towards macros and has put on 40(!) lbs of muscle, it's a good bet he is executing "diet and exercise and sleep" to a much higher standard than most people are capable of.
Exogenous T can move the needle much more than the 100-200 ng / dl most people can attain with lifestyle interventions. So if your T is at a lower starting point than this fellow's 380+, or if you have a desire to have a top-of-the-range or higher T level, exogenous T is basically your best bet.
Also, the median TRT guy does NOT clean up their diet, sleep, and exercise, and just wants an easy-mode button to hammer and feel younger and hornier. That's fine too, I suppose - it's not what I would do, or what I would suggest for my loved ones, but it's a legitimate choice and it's their own bodies, so if they want to do that, more power to them.
Yeah, maybe. I can see that people might not be able to change their lifestyle. But if it takes takes a couple years to figure it all out and implement it, then it'd be worth it.
Some people might lack the energy or time and will never be able to build the momentum. But then it'd probably be better to use the exogenous T as a boost, and use all the extra energy you get, to set all those things up.
And your long-term goals should include not turning yourself into yet another sex hormone dependent freak with a shortened life expectancy. I know, the modern life tends to make wretches out of us to varying degrees, but we also have the agency to escape that.
Eh... I dunno. TRT and those modern buzzwords that also start with t do freak me out, maybe I'm being overdramatic.
Testosterone increases red cell mass, and cause erythrocytosis, which can lead to thromboembolic issues. This issue isn't a deal breaker, since it can be easily monitored with a cheap blood test (hemoglobin, CBC), and can be addressed by phlebotomy, stopping the T and resuming at a lower dose.
Injections are pretty much the gold standard, and are what everyone I've ever known on T uses.
With creams or patches, you have to be fairly careful about who you touch - you don't want your spouse or kids to touch that area, because they can absorb some T also, and that's not good. You also have to apply a patch or cream every day, but injections are only 1 or 2x a week.
Any advice on administering injections? Have you tried insulin syringes? Any particular source (apart from Claude!) that you recommend for information?
I’ve been doing it for years. Buy some Luer locking syringes, usually a mg is good enough for TRT dosages, some drawing needles, and some 23 gauge sharp needles on Amazon. Very cheap and easy. Give yourself a shot in the meat of the butt cheek during or right after a hot shower, goes in easier. Have some gauze or TP nearby for blood, it’s usually minimal but be prepared, you can hit a vein and that’s both painful and messy. It takes a little practice but it rarely hurts at all anymore. It will often leave a little lump on the skin that goes away after a few hours to a day. Oh, and order a sharps container so you’re not just tossing used needles the trash. That’s about it.
Very much appreciated. Thanks! I just received the first of my biweekly injections last week. Surprisingly painless, especially after having lingered over the length of the needles for a few days. My doctor said that while psychological effects could start immediately, actual physical effects require a few weeks. I'm already impatient to see what the blood work reveals after the first three months.
I will say, article aside, I do have some negative psychological effects for the day after my shot. Much more irritable and quick to snap at people. But it does help with sleep and mood otherwise. And your libido goes through the roof, which can actually be troublesome depending on your relationship situation. Physical benefits are very, very real. As always, YMMV.
Empirical evidence - it's the go-to for basically every sport. Some endurance sports like cycling go for EPO and other things too, but testosterone is used by everybody.
Sure, there's always longer tail stuff that's more dangerous and tempts some athletes into using it. PFC's are another "higher risk, potentially high reward" compound, along with GW501, stenabolic, AICAR, and others.
But if you did a factor analysis of "doping agents" or PED's, testosterone or other steroids are going to be the most commonly occuring one, and will be the one used across the most sports. That's what I meant by that line.
Competitive athletes under serious training loads"
I'd add athletes that aren't tested. That's most of us but it's still an issue.
I was just thinking maybe when I get past 70 and I want a boost, try some tesoterone, maybe HGH, steriods and EOP but then I read the side effects are worse as you age, uuug.
> I'd add athletes that aren't tested. That's most of us but it's still an issue.
Yup - I have a post about doping in elite sport coming out in about a week that touches on this.
> I was just thinking maybe when I get past 70 and I want a boost, try some tesoterone, maybe HGH, steriods and EOP but then I read the side effects are worse as you age, uuug.
Honestly if your sugar, cholesterol, and BP are okay, I'd still go for it. You may want to stay away from HGH - if you've ever had any cancerous or precancerous cells, it materially increases your risk, and cancer gets a lot of 70+ folk.
I think testosterone and EPO are both pretty prospectively safe, and you can monitor the side effects with labs. For EPO, you'd do CBC labs and make sure your hematocrit doesn't get much above 50.
I mean... exogenous T just feels like a really dumb risk, if you haven't at least tried and failed to get your levels up with various exercise, lifestyle and diet changes.
https://www.artofmanliness.com/health-fitness/health/an-update-on-my-testosterone-boosting-experiment-7-years-later/
And that seems reasonably straightforward to do?
I actually agree, and I would certainly recommend cleaning up your diet and getting on top of your exercise and sleep regimes to my own loved ones before exogenous T.
In general though, lifestyle interventions can only move the needle 100-200 ng / dl. This particular fellow has moved his 300+, and 400 after 7 years of optimal diet and exercise, and that's great. But if you'll notice, he nerfed the starting point (a month of bad sleep and diet and skipping workouts before his "starting draw"), and given that he eats both clean and towards macros and has put on 40(!) lbs of muscle, it's a good bet he is executing "diet and exercise and sleep" to a much higher standard than most people are capable of.
Exogenous T can move the needle much more than the 100-200 ng / dl most people can attain with lifestyle interventions. So if your T is at a lower starting point than this fellow's 380+, or if you have a desire to have a top-of-the-range or higher T level, exogenous T is basically your best bet.
Also, the median TRT guy does NOT clean up their diet, sleep, and exercise, and just wants an easy-mode button to hammer and feel younger and hornier. That's fine too, I suppose - it's not what I would do, or what I would suggest for my loved ones, but it's a legitimate choice and it's their own bodies, so if they want to do that, more power to them.
Yeah, maybe. I can see that people might not be able to change their lifestyle. But if it takes takes a couple years to figure it all out and implement it, then it'd be worth it.
Some people might lack the energy or time and will never be able to build the momentum. But then it'd probably be better to use the exogenous T as a boost, and use all the extra energy you get, to set all those things up.
And your long-term goals should include not turning yourself into yet another sex hormone dependent freak with a shortened life expectancy. I know, the modern life tends to make wretches out of us to varying degrees, but we also have the agency to escape that.
Eh... I dunno. TRT and those modern buzzwords that also start with t do freak me out, maybe I'm being overdramatic.
Testosterone increases red cell mass, and cause erythrocytosis, which can lead to thromboembolic issues. This issue isn't a deal breaker, since it can be easily monitored with a cheap blood test (hemoglobin, CBC), and can be addressed by phlebotomy, stopping the T and resuming at a lower dose.
You're right, thanks for the callout - I thought I'd included CBC in the "monitoring" measures, but see I left it out, I'll add it now.
Any information, apart from avoiding orals, on creams vs injections?
Injections are pretty much the gold standard, and are what everyone I've ever known on T uses.
With creams or patches, you have to be fairly careful about who you touch - you don't want your spouse or kids to touch that area, because they can absorb some T also, and that's not good. You also have to apply a patch or cream every day, but injections are only 1 or 2x a week.
Any advice on administering injections? Have you tried insulin syringes? Any particular source (apart from Claude!) that you recommend for information?
I’ve been doing it for years. Buy some Luer locking syringes, usually a mg is good enough for TRT dosages, some drawing needles, and some 23 gauge sharp needles on Amazon. Very cheap and easy. Give yourself a shot in the meat of the butt cheek during or right after a hot shower, goes in easier. Have some gauze or TP nearby for blood, it’s usually minimal but be prepared, you can hit a vein and that’s both painful and messy. It takes a little practice but it rarely hurts at all anymore. It will often leave a little lump on the skin that goes away after a few hours to a day. Oh, and order a sharps container so you’re not just tossing used needles the trash. That’s about it.
Very much appreciated. Thanks! I just received the first of my biweekly injections last week. Surprisingly painless, especially after having lingered over the length of the needles for a few days. My doctor said that while psychological effects could start immediately, actual physical effects require a few weeks. I'm already impatient to see what the blood work reveals after the first three months.
I checked out your Substack. Looks interesting!
I will say, article aside, I do have some negative psychological effects for the day after my shot. Much more irritable and quick to snap at people. But it does help with sleep and mood otherwise. And your libido goes through the roof, which can actually be troublesome depending on your relationship situation. Physical benefits are very, very real. As always, YMMV.
>Testosterone is THE single biggest performance enhancing drug in athletics for a reason.
Based on what evidence?
> Based on what evidence?
Empirical evidence - it's the go-to for basically every sport. Some endurance sports like cycling go for EPO and other things too, but testosterone is used by everybody.
https://performativebafflement.substack.com/p/elite-doping-in-athletics?r=17hw9h
what about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GW501516?
Isnt that better?
Sure, there's always longer tail stuff that's more dangerous and tempts some athletes into using it. PFC's are another "higher risk, potentially high reward" compound, along with GW501, stenabolic, AICAR, and others.
But if you did a factor analysis of "doping agents" or PED's, testosterone or other steroids are going to be the most commonly occuring one, and will be the one used across the most sports. That's what I meant by that line.
"Who should consider “athlete levels?”
Competitive athletes under serious training loads"
I'd add athletes that aren't tested. That's most of us but it's still an issue.
I was just thinking maybe when I get past 70 and I want a boost, try some tesoterone, maybe HGH, steriods and EOP but then I read the side effects are worse as you age, uuug.
> I'd add athletes that aren't tested. That's most of us but it's still an issue.
Yup - I have a post about doping in elite sport coming out in about a week that touches on this.
> I was just thinking maybe when I get past 70 and I want a boost, try some tesoterone, maybe HGH, steriods and EOP but then I read the side effects are worse as you age, uuug.
Honestly if your sugar, cholesterol, and BP are okay, I'd still go for it. You may want to stay away from HGH - if you've ever had any cancerous or precancerous cells, it materially increases your risk, and cancer gets a lot of 70+ folk.
I think testosterone and EPO are both pretty prospectively safe, and you can monitor the side effects with labs. For EPO, you'd do CBC labs and make sure your hematocrit doesn't get much above 50.