Bloodwork

[creepiereye]

Hey guys. I am a 20 year old male and had bloodwork done to check my testosterone a few months ago and was wondering your thoughts on it. I've had some recovery issues since I began lifting around 2 years ago but have shrugged it off since. I always get 8-10 hours of sleep per night and am eating in a roughly 500 calorie surplus with adequate protein. Although my levels might look good, I thought it would be good to ask since I don't know how to accurately interpret the results. Bloodwork was taken at 8 AM and done through Quest Diagnostics with PrivateMDlabs. Thanks guys!

 

[HB_22]

Your levels look at little low to me. Sadly one bloodwork is not enough to get the bigger picture. There's a ton of things that come into play why your hormones could be lower this time.

Did you sleep enough lately?
Enough food? (caloric surplus? enough fats?)
Are you facing a lot of stress lately?
Any medication? Like antidepressants or whatever?
Shift worker?
Are you getting enough days off the gym, meaning are you taking some time here and there to recover?
What supplements are you taking?
Time can mix things up, hormones are usually high in the morning and low in the evening.

 

[creepiereye]

Hey HB_22, Thanks for the reply.

I actually recently got another blood test as that one was taken roughly a year ago. My testosterone on the second test was 610 ng/dl, estradiol was 18 pg/ml, FSH was 2.7 mIU/mL, and LH was 3.0 mIU/mL. I didn't get SHBG and free testosterone retested, but considering the total was the same I'm assuming nothing changed there. As far as lifestyle goes, I sleep roughly 8-10 hrs each night, I'm not facing any major stress, I am on an 'antidepressant' called Remeron, but that is mainly for sleeping and appetite, I'm doing occasional lifeguarding on the weekends, I am doing online college for the rest of the week, I'm not taking any supplements, and the second test was taken at 10am (so both tests were in the morning, where testosterone is the highest). Although my total levels are normal, I'm really wondering if something is up. I'm training properly, eating properly, sleeping properly, never drinking, and doing everything I can to get the most out of my training, but I just don't feel myself improving. It seems like I just run myself down till I'm forced to deload because I'm so exhausted, and with my lifestyle and habits my age, and where I am in progression I feel like this shouldn't be happening. As an extra bit of information, I did have very bad eating habits while I was younger. I had a choking episode when I was 10 and that led me to avoiding food for a few years, definitely stunting my growth due to 'eating PTSD.' I've since recovered and am now 150 lbs after training for a few years. I did get 'noobie gains' but its almost like my noobie gains were getting to a healthy body composition and they ended there. Maybe I just have unrealistic expectations or I am majorly messing up something I haven't taken into account, but from what I've read it seems I'm doing what is required for progression.

As far as the first blood test goes, I can see my free testosterone is on the lower end of the reference range and maybe that has something to do with it? I'm not really sure how I would go about increasing it naturally ontop of everything I already do. I was also a competitive swimmer for 10 years, so I come from an athlethic background.

Thanks for taking time to reply, have a good one man.

 

[buck]

Some what low for a young guy but there could be many reason for it. calorie surplus is one thing but are you actually getting in the nutrition you need and not just proteins. healthy fats veggies etc. Any stress in your life? Are you over training?

 

[HB_22]

Mirtazapin can be the culprit for your hormone levels. But even then your hormones are still okay, not great but okay. How much body fat do you have at 150lbs of body weight?

From what you are saying it seems to me you are still undereating. But I could be wrong. If you say you get enough protein in, how much protein are we talking about? 1g/lbs of body weight? I personally aim for 2 to 2.2g/lbs.

Are you feeding your body enough fats and also good and healthy fats like from nuts, avocado, fish and so on?

 

[Shivathedestroyer]

I don’t think 600 is a low number at all. Those are good natty levels

 

[AJDC]

Levels are decent for a natty.

I would think that if you're really eating 500 cal surplus and sleeping enough but not recovering then you might be training too hard or too long.

It's hard to be natty Lol

 

[creepiereye]

Thanks for the replies. I know my total is good for a natty, but is there anything to worry about regarding my free testosterone? Although not out of the reference range the free test is 65.2 pg/mL on a 46 pg/mL to 224 pg/mL reference range. I'm not really sure how to accurately assess the free testosterone results, or if they hold any merit at all, but 65.2 definitely seems on the lower end of the range.

@AJDC, you make a good point with my training. I've actually started dialing back volume to see if that makes any difference in results. Was originally going 6 days a week a few months ago (which now I know is absolutely absurd for the volume and intensity I was doing) and have since dropped it to 4. 4 days is much more manageable although I notice if I have a hard session recovery will suffer noticeably in the following days. Hopefully I'll be able to find a happy sweet spot after some trial and error between intensity and volume on my 4 day split, being currently natty.

Also, there is a chance I was overtrained when both testosterone tests were taken. How would that affect the results? Would overtraining reduce free testosterone levels but leave total testosterone relatively stable? I've come to find that hard training too frequently results in a huge cortisol spike with symptoms like loss of morning wood, depression, irritability, anxiety, loss of appetite, etc, which all seem to disappear after deloading. I know people respond to training differently, is it possible I just 'overreach' more quickly than some people? That's the only reason I ordered the tests in the first place because most of my friends can get away with much more frequent intense training and recover fine and some of them even do a lot of cardio on the side. Most of them also partake in recreational drugs and drink somewhat regularly (maybe once a week sometimes more) when I do not. I have been eating in a caloric surplus for roughly 2 years since when I started weight training I was roughly 110 lbs and have since bulked up to 150 although this long bulk continuous bulk that is still going has put me at similar muscle mass to someone who just kinda eats and doesn't really lift at my age. I guess it could be possible I'm just meant to be a smaller guy with a similar build to my mom who was an extreme ectomorph at like 90 lbs when she had me, but I'm not sure.

I'd like to thank you all again for taking time to respond, have a good one.