Hormone Effects On Strength

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Hey yall, I come here a lot to read the articles, and to see what yall are doing out there to build yourselves.

I am impressed by the knowledge of the authors around here, and have a question or 2 for yall. Hopefully there will be some great input like I usualyy see.

I have been hitting it hard for over 2 years now, and coming back from an eating disorder, so I realize that the situation Im in is rather a game of “catch-up”. I went from an FFB, to a regular feller, to a stick at 138 pounds at 5’11". Now I have pretty much beaten the E.D., thanks to a lot of study, and a love of lifting thanks to the good lord himself.

Anyway, now I am seeing this endocrinologist, who has found that I am hypopituitary, which means I have really low test, GH, and almost no adrenal function. The trouble is, I am going by all the rules here: Compounds, eating 4 or 5 times a day, lots of protien, etc. but my strength levels have completely stalled at a dismal place. Like a bodyweight bench, a 215 squat, a 120 O.H press, and a 275 dead lift.

I have put a lot of the weight back on, and am now at 165 or so, depending on water, and stuff. I just wonder if its my hormones, or lack thereof, that has me so stuck. I mean like no gains in 9 months or more!

I have switched up frequencies, and volume, and rep ranges. Ive tried 10x3, EDT, 3x8, and pyramid style workouts. Splits, at 6 days a week, all the way to 3 full body workouts a week.
Help me yall, I am stuck, and I dont know what else to do.

2

Low test results in low strength. Low GH results in low growth rates.

You should ask your doctor if they can prescribe you some Test, or you could buy TRIBEX gold or Alpha Male.

I would check to see if your doctor would help with the test.

3

I have nothing to add to what was already said, it’s correct and there was a recent article about test and strength - but I’m curious: did your doctor say that your hypopituitary condition was a permenant result of your eating disorder? I’m curious because I too was somewhat in your situation as far as an eating disorder, and my strength levels aren’t what they should be IMHO.

4

I don’t want to tag along in this thread thinking I have the same thing, but it does make me wonder why my bench press is still around 200 pounds for a max even though i’m the only one who uses a pwo shake in the gym i go to, eats tons and extremely healthy stuff, and gets at least 8 hours of sleep every night. I used to be a runner at 5’10" 135 lbs…could this be a case with me as well?

5

If you wake up with ‘morning wood’ and pop a boner or two during the day, then your Test levels are probably normal.

Try some variation in your routine? Resting a bit longer between bench sessions could also help.

6

Pwrhungry,

Mate . . . just some quick questions as to what your diet looks like right now.

  1. What’s your current diet look like? Caloric intake and macro breakdown? What does your nutrient timing look like?

  2. What does your fat intake look like? Ideally if you could breakdown your poly:mono:sat fat ratios that would be brilliant.

Again, as mentioned in another thread, I believe that through diet, we can aleviate problems associated with low test and ED.

Cheers,

Sasha

7

Hey yall, first off thanks for jumping on to help out.
As to the hormoneal levels: They have been tested, and confirmed as low end, in fact the doc has me taking .2mg of humatrope per day, and just last wed. retested the T. I was on 200mg of test cyp for about a month, then started seeing this new endo, and he stopped it, in order to get another baseline. When it was first tested it was a total of 235 na/dl. Depending on this run of testes, he may start it back up.

As to the diet, I still log everything, as its the primary tool I used to defeat the E.D., you cant starve yourself, and say you dont know, if you are logging everything, and trying to get strong.

Anyways, since I log it all, I have a pretty good track of the intake, and it falls at about 40/40/20, give or take. I dont measure gram per gram anymore, its a little too close to where I was, as far as being obsessive about it. Besides, measuring every little thing still is just an approximation. Water, fat, density, etc., is all pert of it, and cant really be tracked. How active was this particular chicken, you know?

Is there a link to that article on strength, and test correlation? I just wondered how pivotal the hormones are. Im following all the rules, and busting my butt, but just seem to be fighting an uphill battle here.
Thanks again guys.

8

Sorry, I forgot to mention, about 2000-2200 as far as total caloric intake. Of course there are lower days(1800) and higher ones(2500). On average though, I hit about 2-2200.

9

[quote]pwrhngry wrote:
Hey yall, first off thanks for jumping on to help out.
As to the hormoneal levels: They have been tested, and confirmed as low end, in fact the doc has me taking .2mg of humatrope per day, and just last wed. retested the T. I was on 200mg of test cyp for about a month, then started seeing this new endo, and he stopped it, in order to get another baseline. When it was first tested it was a total of 235 na/dl. Depending on this run of testes, he may start it back up.

As to the diet, I still log everything, as its the primary tool I used to defeat the E.D., you cant starve yourself, and say you dont know, if you are logging everything, and trying to get strong.

Anyways, since I log it all, I have a pretty good track of the intake, and it falls at about 40/40/20, give or take. I dont measure gram per gram anymore, its a little too close to where I was, as far as being obsessive about it. Besides, measuring every little thing still is just an approximation. Water, fat, density, etc., is all pert of it, and cant really be tracked. How active was this particular chicken, you know?

Is there a link to that article on strength, and test correlation? I just wondered how pivotal the hormones are. Im following all the rules, and busting my butt, but just seem to be fighting an uphill battle here.
Thanks again guys.[/quote]

Pwrhngry,

When you mention 40/40/20 do you mean 40% Protein, 40% Carbs and 20% fat? Also, how many calories are you taking in. I don’t mean to the k/cal but you have to know approximately what you’re looking at.

In my opinion, because you asked, I would say that your fat intake is a little low. I’m also willing to bet that most of your fats are coming from poly and mono sources with a deficiency in saturate fats. Saturates are directly linked with testosterone secretion and just as an FYI, from what I’ve read, testosterone levels and strength are correlated.

Again, shoot over your macros and we’ll see what we can do to help out.

Cheers,

Sasha

10

[quote]relativelyfunguy wrote:
I don’t want to tag along in this thread thinking I have the same thing, but it does make me wonder why my bench press is still around 200 pounds for a max even though i’m the only one who uses a pwo shake in the gym i go to, eats tons and extremely healthy stuff, and gets at least 8 hours of sleep every night. I used to be a runner at 5’10" 135 lbs…could this be a case with me as well?[/quote]

Bro, when I started lifting some ten years ago my bench max was probably around 185 to 200 pounds. It has taken me that time lifting sometimes intensly, sometimes just sticking to the basics to keep from leaving lifting completely, but never abandoning the iron.

Today I put up 315 for four reps. A PR for me. It’s taken a long time of gains and losses and gains again. Don’t expect immediate gratification keep learning and trying new things and stick with it consistency is the key. Think months and years not days and weeks.

D

11

[quote]pwrhngry wrote:
Sorry, I forgot to mention, about 2000-2200 as far as total caloric intake. Of course there are lower days(1800) and higher ones(2500). On average though, I hit about 2-2200.[/quote]

Mate,

Just what I thought . . . you’re only getting between 40 and 55 grams of fat per day . . . crazy low. Plus, if you’re looking to gain, I would up the calories as a whole. I know it can be challenging overcoming the fear of fats and total cals but believe me, you’ll see improvements.

If I’m you, I would up slowly up your total caloric intake by roughly 250 cals per day for one week. Once there, try upping them again by another 250.

Using this approach, your week one days would approx be 2000-2750 cals, week two would be roughly 2250-3000 cals. After you get there, we’ll re-assess and make some overall adjustments.

Furthermore, I would up your fat intake and drop your carbs. At the moment you’re getting between 180 and 250 grams of carbs per day. Realistically, not necessary. If you were to bring your carb levels down to between 25-30% and up your fat levels to between 30-35% I believe you would notice a difference. Just concentrate your carb intake around your workout and allow the other meals to deliver your fat and protein sources. Vegetables are mostly free and make sure that your fat breakdown is balanced between one part polyunsaturates, one part monounsaturates and one part saturates.

Now before you get all freaked about carbs and their role in gains, as you slowly reduce the amount you take in you’ll find your body becomes far more efficient at utilizing them. You’ll also have a far better insulin management system.

I hope this all makes sense but fire back with questions if need be.

Cheers,

Sasha

12

Sasha, I realized I had forgotten to put down a total kcal before, and tried to add it on right quick, but its about 2000-2200 or so a day. Of course there are those days where its a high or low day, and its up or down 4 or 500.
As far as the macros goe, yes its about 40%pro, 40%carb, 20%fat. And the saturated is definitely the lowest of the fats. Mostly monos (natural pb, other nuts, etc.) and 6 grams of fish oil a day.
Dedicated, thanks for the words of encouragement

13

Sasha, I see what your saying about the carbs, and now that you mention something about it, I am probably waaay overguessing the percentage of them I really take in. I dont eat ANY refined carbs (sugars, white stuff, etc.) and damn few starches period. I would bet I probably way overguess the caloric intake as a result, because the carbs I do eat are a BUNCH of broccoli, and cauliflower each day, and usually 2-3 medium sized pieces of fruit. Oh and all fruit cherry jam (no sugar added). So I guess that the bulk that I eat tends to make me overestimate the energy content. Eating 5 or 6 cups of cruciferous veggies each day leaves you pretty stuffed mostr of the time.

I guess Id have to go back and try to really honestly scrutinize the old log to figure out how much of my intake is really pretty much empty bulk. Thing to figure is how many grams of the carbs I eat (cruciferous veggies, fruit, green leafies) are really all that active.

I know that my pop says he thinks he’d starve to death on it. He says I eat “a whole lot, of nothing.”