Coach,
I had a complete blood work done the other day. I checked the Total Testosterone box cause I have been curious. The level came back 423 with a range of 241-827 ng/dl. Now I am 32 years old and am curious if this seems a little low for my age?
I have been lifting for about five years now. I keep the reps in the 3-5 rep range. I continue to gain strength. Am I just being rediculus thinking the number is too low? Is there a natural way to boost that number?
Thanks.
[quote]Kal-El wrote:
Coach,
I had a complete blood work done the other day. I checked the Total Testosterone box cause I have been curious. The level came back 423 with a range of 241-827 ng/dl. Now I am 32 years old and am curious if this seems a little low for my age?
I have been lifting for about five years now. I keep the reps in the 3-5 rep range. I continue to gain strength. Am I just being rediculus thinking the number is too low? Is there a natural way to boost that number?
Thanks.[/quote]
It is low for optimal muscle building.
It is considered normal by medical standards, which are very low themselves. For example, 800ng per dl is not that high. To progress optimally you need at least 700-800.
What do you recommend for boosting? Or do I need to see Dr?
Forgot to mention, I read somewhere that Melatonin supplements can lowere T? I admit I had been abusing it for sometime. Sometimes taking 10-15mg a night. Could that be a reason? If so, I ditched the rest of the bottle.
Testosterone is a funny thing. Having struggled with low levels, I know a lot about the subject. Testosterone exists in the blood as free T, T bound to albumin, and T tightly bound to SHBG (Sex hormone binding globulin).
It is your bioavailable testosterone that really matters. Bioavailabe is the free and albumin fraction in the blood. Bioavailable testosterone is the testosterone that is available to bind to androgen receptors and cause downstream effects. Total testosterone is mainly a function of how much SHBG you have. Basically, that total testosterone level you have doesn’t tell you much of anything.
Also, there are so many factors beyond testosterone that affect the physiology of your body.
A lot of it comes down to how well your body utilizes testosterone as well. If you are an efficient metabolizer of testosterone, then you will not show a high level of testsoterone.
Do you have any symptoms of low testosterone?
To answer the original question of optimizing testosterone, this is what I suggest:
Sufficient intake of cholesterol (don’t go overboard, but it is the building block of T)
Transdermal magnesium (Many positives, but purportedly can elevate DHEA-S level, which can spill into testosterone levels)
At least 8 hours of sleep/night
Zinc (has been proven to increase testosterone levels)
Coconut oil (Not sure of the science behind this one)
Vitamin D/sunshine (can increase output of LH and FSH, which stimulates the testicles to make testosterone)
Essential fatty acids
Optimal thyroid levels (thyroid controls metabolic rate of entire body, which includes testicles, and hence rate of testosterone production)
Compound lifts (stimulates testosterone production, but avoid overtraining)
That’s all I can think of right now off the top of my head. Employing the above strategies. I have regained my body hair into its former glory. I will verify with lab results soon.
Just talk to your physician about your concerns and ask him that you would like to raise them. I do know of a study from Harvard that suggested that men with higher T levels were less likely to have medical issues then men with lower levels over time. Just google it, print it and show him.
If he/she does not listen, go to another physician. It seems like the younger physicians are more open to this. Just be truthful.
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