I know T replacement seems to be all the rage these days but from what I have heard a huge percent of people who start taking it are no longer using it a year later. Take that for what it is worth.
Last time I had mine checked I was really low, but I had been dieting for long time prior to taking the test also. There are just so many variables as to what can affect your T levels from one day to the next.
I can picture your Christmas stocking filled with Vitamin D
You are right, there are a lot of variables. I’m going to keep working at it.
Appreciate your information. Keep it coming. Your workouts are good too.
A few years back I posted a rant on here because they drug tested us at the Senior Olympics. I know they tested all the throwers so I assume they tested other sports, too. Might have been in the 55 -59 year group then. They actually got a lot of positives and not just for test. They didn’t test (for test, joke) any years after that. Might of been afraid they’d lose to many competitors.
12/12/2022
Bench
225 x 8 x 3
MP
135 x 5
160 x 3
135 x 5 x 4
HS incline press
180 x 3
140 x 5 x 5
Pec dec gym
100 x 10 x 3
Tri press down on lat location
90 x 10 x 3
Cable lateral raise
35 x 12 x 3
Floor presses with some funky bar
Glad to see you back! Great looking session!
I assume you choose supplements with a view to not provoking cancer reappearance. What do you look for?
I don’t take much for supplements. I will tell you what I have done in the pursuit of higher T since that 2013 lab.
ZMA before bed
Vitamin D. I started off with 2,000 IU and worked my way up 7,000 IU a day for about a year before I got that score of 46. My experiment of getting Vit D naturally failed. I was laying out on the back of the boat most weekends and the 3 hrs. it takes to mow my yard I was wearing nothing but shorts, a tank top and a pistol (for the gofers). And Vit D still dropped 10 points. I need high doses of Vit D. My fiancé supplemented with 1,000 IU a day and her levels went toxic. A person should have it checked. When D went down for me so did T.
DIM contained in broccoli and cauliflower is a natural aromatase inhibitor. That is, they help to prevent T from breaking down to E. I try to do at least 3 servings a week. Every day would be much better.
pomegranate juice. I am 100% positive this helps. I do a 3 to 4 oz shot every day.
Boron is shown to help with free T. I don’t know of anything else that has a higher concentration of boron than raisins. I try to take at hand full 3 times a week.
The T molecule is constructed from the cholesterol molecule. Luckily my cholesterol runs just a little high. Most of your cholesterol is produced in the liver. Total cholesterol is affected by diet, Saturated fat can be a good thing.
T levels have a direct correlation to growth hormone levels. The vast majority of growth hormone is released by the pituitary gland in the first couple of hours of sleep. This is shut down if there is an insulin reaction. I was really good about not consuming anything a couple hours before going to bed. That is before the cancer deal, when I started putting away calories whenever I could. Interment fasting can cause big spikes in GH. I really got into this. Not for weight loss, but for GH and insulin sensitivity. I have not been able to go back to it because eating takes a lot of time for me. Otherwise, I would have by now.
Estrogen has an inverse correlation to T. Some estrogen is necessary. Too much has to be avoided. I avoid these things to help.
a. Soy (it’s in allot of foods)
b. drinking out of plastic bottles
c. microwaving anything in plastic
d. watching real housewives
e. beer (this doesn’t bother me because I’m a bourbon guy)
f. replaced margarine with butter.
g. higher body fat is estrogenic and lowers T. My BW was 339 before my wife died. I do not know what my T was at that time but 9 months later and 72 lbs. lighter and 5 months after chemotherapy (that lowers T) my T was 755. 9yrs earlier T was 329.
Sleep quality has an immediate impact on T levels. I did not address this until more recently. What I did is.
a. installed blackout curtains
b. sprung for a new mattress (actually a hybrid).
c. got rid of the LED alarm clock and everything else that gives off light.
d. I take a time released melatonin
e. keep the room cool
f. I put my phone face down on the nightstand
g. set my fit bit so it will not illuminate while sleeping.
h. sleep all natural
i. going to bed at the same time every night is very important, and I have lacked the discipline to do this.
Mindset. Things like (sitting up straight, having a win, laughing) can bump T. When I got the surprisingly high T result, I told my fiancé it was because of her. I believe that there is some truth in that. Keep on being an Alpha.
I wish I would have checked my T before the cancer treatments. My squat and deadlift were the highest they have ever been. at age 54, before the treatments. This is my longest post; I hope that there is something in here that you might find beneficial.
Thanks. I am doing most of what you wrote. I’ll resume pomegranate juicing, maybe up the daily D3 pills a bit since I sunburn while looking out a window, and probably get a bit more broccoli into the diet. Wife doesn’t like broccoli or brussel sprouts. I regularly fall asleep on couch by 8 pm nightly, wake up and take ZMA before going to bed with good sleep until about midnight’s first bathroom break.
My best deadlift and squat poundages were also at 54. I stupidly did not push myself then and my then workout partner was strong enough to have gotten my lifts higher. Workout partners 20 years younger make older guys much, much stronger.
I never tested t until last month and learned I’m low for 74, but clearly deficient for any younger aged man. I don’t have the cancer problem, just an arthritic condition in remission for 20 years which was similar to lupus and my dr then said it tends to kill guys. He told my new wife I was very lucky to be in remission. FIrst wife who died from cancer saw what that condition did to me in the 90s. Took me 2 years to get my previous good bod back. I’ve also racked up 2 prostate reduction surgeries in last 5 years, and I’ve yearly visits to the urologist to !@#$% enjoy.
Just trying now to get “down below” in top shape.
These are great tips. Thanks for sharing.
Living with leukemia myself, I have to say you ROCK. I did record my numbers diligently and was always comparing and tweaking, then without warning, they dropped quickly and my frustration escalated and that was my first sign.
Chemo was immediately suggested but for personal reasons not appropriate for this thread, I opted out. I used diet and have been highly criticized and was given 5 years, 7 years ago.
To answer your question, my numbers have never recovered and I simply record movements and I feel the need to change movements far more frequently. I am also approaching 63 and have been lifting since I was a teenager, so that is not surprising.
I lift because I love it and to steal a phrase from T-Nation, I want to “Look better naked”…still.
Recently, my leukemia has decided to make things interesting, so I decided on a liposomal vitamin C. I did respond to IV vitamin C but that can get expensive. Possibly something you can use? Good luck to you and I wish you well with your journey.
Love it. I hope you make them look very foolish.
12/16/2022
Squat
225 x 3
245 x 1
285 x 5
325 x 3
360 x 2
Banded squats
225 x 3
245 x 3
255 x 3
265 x 3
274 x 3
100lb Dmbl farmers walk
Fail stopped 1/2 way thru
Since everyone on here is too old to play sports professionally but for powerlifting contests, “looking good naked” is about the only other thing we can do besides bedroom stuff. My new year’s resolution is to stay out of the gutter.
Wow, talk inspirational. You just got me fired up.
I just entered my first post chemo meet. It’s a USPA drug tested meet in September. I went 275 Classic Raw. The current national records in masters 2B are a 523 squat and a 562 deadlift, which is also the world record in that age group. World records must be performed at nationals or worlds. I would only need to total 1,119 lbs. to qualify for nationals. I’m going to have to get serious about protein intake.
Go for it. You’ll do well.
12/18/2022
DL
315 x 1
365 x 1
405 x 1
455 x 1
495 x 1
525 x 1 (not fast, not slow}
Good Mornings
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 8
Dmbl Row
150 x 10
Kneeling leg curl
90 x 8 x 3
Lat pull down
250 x 8 x 3
Face pull
90 x 10 x 3
cable curls
150 x 10 x 2
Found my old DL program and am going to start using that. Tomorrow is another surgery and another week with a 20 lbs. lifting restriction.
Best of luck.