I have zero libido and severe ED worsening through the years. I’m 40. My latest labs are
Total T 813.99 ng/dL and Free T 27.4 pg/mL
I do intense 1 hour cardio with the heart rate at 175 - 180 most days of the week. I started this exercise regimen 2.5 years ago. Prior to that I was still exercising but only moderately intense. However back then despite the regular exercising I was having a high resting heart rate (90 bpm), anxiety and insomnia. When I upped the exercise intensity and duration, all these 3 problems were cured, so I kept on with it. Even now they would return if I skip exercise for a week due to busy schedule or injury.
Now, the low libido and ED had existed since age 30, but recently it is far worse apparently after my more recent intense exercise regimen. At least viagra was working before, but not anymore. The other thing is with the pubic hair. Pubic hair growth had become stunted even before I started with my recent intense exercise regimen, it just would not grow back for months after trimming it, but now it seems even slower. So while I suspect my endurance training as a probable culprit, evidence also points to it not necessarily being so.
Any advice on what I should do? I’m already planning to substitute HIIT cardio + some weight training instead of my endurance cardio on some days.
It seems my case is somewhat similar to the other endurance athlete here with low libido Low Free Testosterone.
Max heart rate formula is 220-age=MHR. Are you telling me that you’re doing 1 hour of 100% Max Heart Rate cardio most days of the week…? I’m not calling you a liar, but this is either super unlikely OR incredibly unintelligent of you to do (while also being massively impressive).
Why? I’d imagine you must have seen a doctor for this, no? Most endurance athletes have very low RHR, making you very much an anomaly.
Yes. It surprised even me a little that the total T came in high because I had started strongly suspecting overtraining and even the night before I had done my 1 hour battle on the exercise cycle. And this is what kept fooling me every time I pulled total T, making me think my E.D. was not hormone related like I thought. Only this time I also pulled the Free T a few days later and it seems very low.
I know the formula but I thought that value should be used as the North star, not that it should not be exceeded. Yes, I’ve been doing 175 - 180 bpm for a full hour, for the last 2.5 years. I also feel sorry for myself for likely overtraining and worsening my already plummeted libido. It’s been feeling like going to battle every time but apart from the ANS benefits that I mentioned, I have also been through extreme depression, and I kept at the exercise with all my will power because the post exercise high was good.
This was 2.5 years ago. I started my endurance regimen only then. Before that I was not technically an endurance trainer because I was clocking 45 minutes per session and you need 1 hour to call it endurance training, and I was not exercising that intense either. I was not using the heart rate monitor back then but it must be less than 165 bpm, because when I experimented with 165 bpm for a few days my resting heart rate dropped and that’s when I started my endurance regimen religiously, and as fitness increased, I was able to reach 180 bpm. Now my resting HR is generally in the low 50s or late 40s.
Your Free Test is definitely NOT low, neither is your Total T. Labcorp fT ranges are from 9.3-26.5 pg/mL and your fT are over the top naturally. Are you taking anything that could be increasing your testosterone? If not, I’d be getting your pituitary checked out.
I’d encourage you to do a google search on “what happens if I exceed my max heart rate during exercise”. You’ll see dozens of pages saying “it’s okay to do this every once in a while, but…”.
I’m hardly the right person to speak on this, but you can’t both feel sorry for yourself for doing something, then justify why you’re doing it lol. Exercise is a good escape for most, but it doesn’t change that you can’t outrun your problems; in your case - literally.
It sounds like you’re in incredible shape with this kind of training regimen, but I’m sure you’ve beaten down your CNS so significantly that it doesn’t feel that way. I’d suggest dialing back on the exercise to a more manageable level and probably include some weight training to take aesthetic advantage of your off the chart (literally) Testosterone levels.
I’d be speaking to an endo about your blood test results, because most people are considered lucky if they break the midline on fT levels, and you are over the top end of the reference range… this sounds like it’s indicating a greater health concern, in my totally unprofessional opinion.
220 - age is a medical guide for basics. Its not that accurate for people who train properly and it can be wildly out. I know some massive lads who max at about 160 and also some smaller guys who max around 200 all in their 40s.
Any books on training with HR make you do a lactate threshold test and set your zones on this test as 220 - age can be so far out it is laughable. I’d recommend Joe Friels methods and books like “total heart rate training”
I’m in my 40s and did a half marathon average 180bpm a couple of years ago. My max is also closer to 200.
That said. If I were to do an hour at 180bpm EVERY day I’d be absolutely fcuked! That half was a PB and I was broken for over a week afterwards. Really messed me up.
Another thing worth noting- if you’re running and using wrist based heart rate they often pick up on cadence (foot strikes), making most people think they’re running about 180bpm. Are you using a chest strap or wrist HR?
Out of interest if you back off can you get it to anout 155bpm going steady?
Just whilst on the subject peoples cycling and running heart rate zones can differ tremendously as well for the same person doing the different activity.
Also- what do you hope to achieve doing zone 5 for an hour day after day?
Wont make you fitter, just make you fcuked and very good at just flattening yourself doing ‘cardio’… I call it that as its so far at the top end you aren’t actually training your aerobic system that much, more just pushing your lactate tolerance higher and higher. Hence me saying it wont make you fitter- you’re not developing any base with training at top end all the time.
Take a week off completely and then go and do a 2 month block where you do 80% of your time in zone 2 and 20% in z5. I garauntee all your race times will come down!
2 or 3 longer easy sessions for every balls out interval session.
Youll get MUCH fitter and faster for it. Please go and read up on “polarized training”.
I’m not surprised your resting heart rate is 90. You’re thrashing yourself constantly. It stays high for 24 hours after a session like that. Theres a lot of CNS stress after hard sessions and also you get vascular constriction that can stay for a day or so and shit loads of lactic acid that your heart goes bonkers even at rest to clear.
Have a week off and do some very light gentle cardio and then monitor your resting bpm. Half a day later.
From the post you’ve made I’m guessing you aren’t monitoring HRV status?
If it’s still resting at 90 after that then definitely go see a cardiologist.
You could have a heart condition like an atrial flutter thats reading as additional beats.