Interesting review of a CBS report from 2009 about kids getting ‘tren’ / trenbalone or tren prohormones over the counter. This might be what you are talking about or similar. Tren has been used on cows to increase muscle mass and I don’t think has been approve for human use.
Much of it is up to heredity and luck.
However, recently I had a testosterone test, and it was higher than ever since they started testing. (I haven’t been tested every year, the last one was pre-pandemic)
My PSA was lower as well. My operating theory on why both are so good is that I’m not riding outside. My outdoor rides have plummeted to rarely. My last outdoor ride was in early May. The PSA, according to many physician friends measures how happy your prostate is, and it takes a beating riding outdoors, so it would seem connected that my ‘junk’ is happier, and it’s working better. (Plus I’m not exposing myself to car exhaust, etc riding in the pristine outdoors COUGH COUGH)
It also seems like you are trying to sell yourself into taking supplements for ‘your ‘t’’. Don’t do it… The vast majority is complete junk, and many times the crap has been recalled for having actual hormones in it, which is illegal.
I’m 61, and not dwelling on my ‘t’. Relax, be happy, be safe, ride on!!!
Lots of long endurance rides certainly lower testosterone. What types of exercise are good for building testosterone: maximal sprints, lifting heavy things, explosive moves. Also, make sure you don’t drink or eat out of plastic bottles/bowls. Never nuke something in the microwave in a plastic container. Make sure you get plenty of good cholesterol to build natural T and make sure you get plenty of vitamin D and Zinc in your diet. I also stay away from Soy and Flax seeds because of high phytoestrogen content.
This is what I do and I’m 54 years old and not taking TRT like many older guys.
I’m definitely not looking to take supplements to boost T, just natural ways in which I can try raise my T over time and keep it high before age kicks in. I’ve just gotten rid of a load of plastic drinking vessels and food containers, as an example, along with my plastic kettle.
I haven’t ridden outside in two years now and just stick to the trainer and do indoors.
I’m not riding at the moment as I’m waiting for my new pedals to come in the post so I can switch from clipless to flats, but when they come, I’ll look to do shorter but more frequent indoor rides as I found I would get ‘junk’ issues on the longer rides.
I’m moving away from long endurance rides to just shorter and harder sessions, mainly for time and my ‘junk’ but sounds like it should help in this regard as well. Just binned most of the plastic in my house and replacing with pyrex, glass and metal. I’m a low fat vegan so I don’t consume any cholesterol but I eat one to two avocados a week which seems to do the trick. I generally don’t like soy because it comes in overly processed foods but I like flax for the other health benefits. As I understand it, phytoestrogens don’t mimic oestrogen’s and don’t attach to androgens receptors in the same way, meaning they’re not feminising.
Higher isn’t better. Normal is normal. Also, the test is useless without knowing what time your sample was taken. Testosterone has a diurnal release pattern and must be measured in the morning (~8am) for standardization across norms.
Furthermore, the exercise hypogonadal male condition describes a phenomenon where chronically trained male endurance athletes experience persistent low testosterone without any of the negative sequelae typically associated with low T. Basically, it’s an adaptive response to exercise (this is not to be confused with low energy states causing improper reductions in T). For example, one study showed that over half of men at Kona had lower T than expected. Anthony Hackney at UNC has built a 30+ year career studying this.
This recent NEJM editorial is germane to OP’s viewpoints (as is this w/r/t supplements).
I tested at about 3:15pm. My understanding is that it tends to be on the lower side in the afternoon, which I didn’t realise when testing. Next time, I’ll book in for when they first open.
I suppose where I was coming from was that in the West, we tend to reduce standards to accommodate the ever worsening population, so what was once unhealthy is now deemed healthy in many cases. I was curious if T levels were a similar thing and that I should ignore the common reference ranges and go for something better and aim higher.
Thanks for sharing those links, I’ll read it over.
I was reacting to your statements of raising your ‘t’. Maybe you should be saying trying to maintain it.
There are so many things that supposedly effect testosterone levels. Smoking supposedly does, some foods do too. I just never concentrate on it or my PSA. Well, the later, I try not to ride as much in the few days before the test. My doc snuck the latest test in as we have an agreement to only test every other year.
But all that said, I have definitely stopped doing some things. Microwaving food in plastic, for one. I get it out of the plastic as soon as I can, and often cook in the plastic less, and check and if needed nuke it a little more out of the plastic. I’ve given up microwave popcorn, which was never a huge part of my diet, but not worth the potential risk. More veggies, more fish, less canned and frozen foods. Who knows if the risk was there, but I feel better and like to think it IS better (confirmation bias much?)
Alcohol supposedly also effects testosterone levels. shrug An IPA or two isn’t going to kill you.
Honestly I was surprised that both levels came out like they did. Interesting…
Man, ain’t this the truth? I see it in the military and everywhere else. I get that body shaming and bullying sucks, for sure. But acting like being so big and out of shape is healthy? Just another huge lie we tell ourselves to feel good.
Reference ranges are made from ‘healthy’ adults of a variety of ages. The lower ends of the reference range might be due to healthy 90yr old males. The upper end due to healthy 20yr old males. You tested outside of the range that includes males 15+ years younger than you. I think you are already ‘optimized’ from a total T perspective. And there can be issues associated with abnormally high T. Just check out bodybuilding sources where people are ‘supplementing’: high blood pressure, negative lipid profile changes, cardiac remodeling (thought that might be due to the weight lifting), etc.
Something potentially worth looking at is SHBG (sex hormone binding gobulin), LH and FSH. SHBG will bind with free T and basically make it unusable. So knowing SHBG levels and free T levels is useful to see what of that total T is actually capable of being used. It is totally reasonable that someone with lower total T levels and lower SHBG would have more free T to actually do stuff in their body than someone with higher total T but high SHBG, resulting in lower free T.
I guess I also kind of wonder if you are skeptical of Western medical practices, why are you getting your T levels tested and evaluating the results using Western medical practices?
Crazy isn’t it that having a ‘heathly’ and balanced diet and exercising on a semi-regular basis results in good health markers? 
Actually, though, frozen veggies are great. All the nutrient content is locked in when they are flash frozen on site and might even have better nutrient content than fresh veggies. But not so much for other frozen foods like pizza, etc.
Which makes the ‘food deserts’ that too many people find themselves in so tragic. My mom always complained about the produce and veggies at Walmart, but it was one of the only stores in her area.
I’m glad to have choices and several places that have great produce.
Sure, most frozen veggies are good, but I’ve found some that are just awful. Nasty ‘sauces’, treatments, coatings, additives. But there are also some great brands too. Read those ingredients!
Too many people also just can’t afford to eat healthier. They may have access to a better diet, but can’t afford it. I don’t know why some ‘healthy foods’ are so expensive. We pour billions (trillions?) of tons of veggies into cows, pigs, other livestock; but can’t see a way to provide them to the living human beings here? Wow. So disgusting. And the sugars in so much of what we eat, AND DRINK! Even medications have High Fructose Corn Syrup in them. YUCK!!
Eating healthier should not be that hard. We are what we eat after all…
I would also add (as a vegan cyclist) that the bioavailability of both Iron and b12 is not high…at least in tablet form. This means that the RDA is a bit misleading. According to the science data, only 13 micrograms of a 1000 mcg dose of b12 would actually be absorbed. 500 mcgs is around 10. Only about 1/2 of a 1 microgram dose would be absorbed. That’s how hard b12 is to take in, and the more you take in a single dose, the more resistance you get to absorption. I think the RDA is 2.4 mcgs per day and most of the recommendations I see for vegans is 250 mcgs per day, which would mean about 5 - 7 mcgs would be absorbed. For a serious cyclist that would probably be appropriate to keep b12 levels in the green. Iron (in tablet form) is also only absorbed at a rate of 15 - 28% and it’s better to supplement every other day than to do it daily.
I recently began studying the absorption rates and was taken aback at just how poorly b12 is taken in. Being a vegan, I fell for the RDA and assumed that what I was getting from a split multivitamin (3 mcgs b12) every other day was enough to address the issue. I just didn’t appreciate until two years down the road that my plan was NOT really a good plan at all (due to the absorption rate of b12). All this time, not taking in adequate amounts of b12. I wasn’t happy.
I currently use a multivitamin (with iron), calcium citrate with vitamin d, magnesium glycinate and b12 (500 mcgs). Iron and b12 are both not worth trifling with as a vegan cyclist, especially when you are riding 700 hrs per year (2020 and 2021). It can be quite dangerous at some point. In any event, I plan to get some blood work done before the fall comes in.
Calcium inhibits uptake of iron, so these should not be taken at the same time.