Testosterone is criminally misunderstood.
On one side are morons and the media, who vilify the hormone and blame it for every random act of aggression, from road rage to Black Friday brawls.
On the other side are bodybuilders and biohackers, who almost worship the mighty T.
As usual the correct answer is somewhere in the middle, though to be clear: healthy T levels are a VERY good thing.
There are countless stories of men who had their low testosterone levels corrected and went from moody, low energy, and indecisive to happy, driven, and full of life.
I’ve also seen it “cure” depression in middle aged adults almost overnight.
Full disclosure, you can add ME to that list — it was life-changing!
Of course every medication has a risk, even one as safe as testosterone, not to mention real implications on matters like fertility.
For that reason many men choose to go the natural route or try coaxing their bodies into producing more T on its own, either through lifestyle changes or dietary supplements (I won’t list them all).
Of these two options, lifestyle is the CLEAR winner. It’s not even close. The pills and herbs all suck in comparison.
Not just in terms of change in serum testosterone levels (take those with a grain of salt, T levels are CONSTANTLY fluctuating) but also in a purely practical sense:
If you sleep more, train hard but brief, eat better, reduce work & family stress, get more sun, and cut out alcohol, I guarantee you WILL feel better and perform better — regardless of any change to T levels. .
This is exactly what happened to my friend @johnberardi.
A recent check-up revealed his usually lower T levels are now very high, naturally.
And the “thing” he did to achieve this was EVERYTHING — doing everything right on the lifestyle end, and doing it consistently for a long time.
Could he have achieved much higher T levels overnight with just a shot in the glutes? Absolutely.
Would he have felt even half as good or be half as healthy?
NO WAY.
So what’s the take-away here?
If your labs show low Testosterone (or you are experiencing the classic symptoms of Low T) do a lifestyle overhaul first, the biggest levers being sleep, stress, alcohol, and diet.
If there is a LOT of improvement to be made there then doing that work will likely improve your testosterone levels. It will definitely make you feel better.
But if it doesn’t help or improve your numbers, then you’re likely a candidate for testosterone replacement therapy.
But you still have to continue the same healthy T-raising lifestyle practices as before — those don’t become less important when you start receiving treatment.
For more information on treating low Testosterone and a whole lot more consider joining me at the Silverback Summit in Phoenix, AZ November 15-16.
https://www.silverbacksummit.com/
– Coach Bryan