Test level 469 at age 22

Ianj66

New member
Alright so I got my blood tests back from my doc and he says my testosterone is normal. Total testosterone - 469. Free testosterone 8.6. Normal is range 300-1100 so technically I'm in the normal range but not for my age. Normal for age 22 is like 700. So my question is what the hell can I do about this? It's normal for like a 60 year old man and this sucks. Any help or recommendations are greatly appreciated.
 
Not every 22 year old has 700 range test. You actually are in normal levels.

Where you are isn't inhibiting muscle growth. And you should still have great quality of life.
 
but no on the serious. What have you cycled in the past? Hows the sex drive? How are the gains in the gym?
 
Alright so I got my blood tests back from my doc and he says my testosterone is normal. Total testosterone - 469. Free testosterone 8.6. Normal is range 300-1100 so technically I'm in the normal range but not for my age. Normal for age 22 is like 700. So my question is what the hell can I do about this? It's normal for like a 60 year old man and this sucks. Any help or recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Does it cause you any issues?
 
Sex drive is fine. Not like off the charts or anything. And I've never run anything. I actually got it tested because I'm about to run a cycle of epi. Muscle growth is good but I feel like it could definetly be better. And no unless I'm 100% clean on my diet with absolutely zero cheats I gain fat instantly
 
Sex drive is fine. Not like off the charts or anything. And I've never run anything. I actually got it tested because I'm about to run a cycle of epi. Muscle growth is good but I feel like it could definetly be better. And no unless I'm 100% clean on my diet with absolutely zero cheats I gain fat instantly

Sounds like you have a misunderstanding of how the body, and nutrition, work.
 
I never understood those who say having a test level on the low end is perfectly fine and you "may" have a decent quality of life. Go for what you want dude. This is your life and you only get it once.

Do you want to bumble along with a semi-functional dick and a passive, meek personality?
Or do you want to spread your seed like a savage and have the drive and gorilla like confidence to chase after your dreams?

That said, don't believe you have low test from one lab result. Take a few weeks break from training, relax and get better sleep to help lower cortisol (edible cannabis helps greatly with this), and retake the test.

If you are still low, then begin the long search for that magical doctor who will prescribe test to a 20 year old in a world where masculinity is increasingly becoming tantamount to evil.
 
First, I'd ask if you used to be obese or have had a prior eating disorder.

Actually I was once pretty heavy at 270. Height is 6'4" but that was like 3 years ago. And I completely changed my body comp since. I've been down to 190lbs @ 5%bf on stage and currently at about 227lbs @ ~10% bf. So I didn't think body fat would have an affect on my hormone production at this point.
 
I never understood those who say having a test level on the low end is perfectly fine and you "may" have a decent quality of life. Go for what you want dude. This is your life and you only get it once.

Do you want to bumble along with a semi-functional dick and a passive, meek personality?
Or do you want to spread your seed like a savage and have the drive and gorilla like confidence to chase after your dreams?

That said, don't believe you have low test from one lab result. Take a few weeks break from training, relax and get better sleep to help lower cortisol (edible cannabis helps greatly with this), and retake the test.

If you are still low, then begin the long search for that magical doctor who will prescribe test to a 20 year old in a world where masculinity is increasingly becoming tantamount to evil.

Science and facts aren't your strong suit are they?
 
I've had if tested before years ago, probably age 18 or 19 and it was about 390 so it's gone up some but not much. I still plan on the epi cycle so hopefully I see some nice gains on it. Been natural thus far
 
How did you manage to have 5% bf on stage with mediocre test levels? Asking cause my test levels are somewhere in the same range and I can't get under 10% for the life of me, even on Albuterol
 
How did you manage to have 5% bf on stage with mediocre test levels? Asking cause my test levels are somewhere in the same range and I can't get under 10% for the life of me, even on Albuterol

Try adding in a cortisol blocker like Reduce-XT and run some green tea/synephrine/chromium
 
Carb cycling HARD, 4 low days 1 high day Unseasoned tilapia and asparagus meals 2-4 and mean 1 and 6 were egg whites. I still did 2.5 oz of almonds every day. If you can't break 10 go get some bronkaid from Walgreens and do 1 tab of that and 200mg of caffine together
 
I never understood those who say having a test level on the low end is perfectly fine and you "may" have a decent quality of life. Go for what you want dude. This is your life and you only get it once.

yolo isn't a great philosophy when it comes to your hormone levels... He said he didn't have any issues and by the sounds of it he's done well with bodybuilding as he is. To me this is an indication to not screw with hormonal products at all as it risks his quality of life for the rest of his life.

I wouldn't do the epi cycle if I were you. Although the one guy mentioned you could after PCT have a higher level, you could also not recover well and end up lower. At 22, that's not a worthwhile risk for the miniscule gains you'll see, unless you're happy with the idea of being on testosterone replacement for the next 60 years.
 
That would be great, I'm running 4 week cycle 20/30/30/30 and 4 weeks of nolva at 20/20/10/10

Youre not going to see any results from that cycle aside from maybe a light drying out in pct. Run it for at least 5 weeks and run it it 30/40/40/50/50. If not then really dont waste your time
 
Youre not going to see any results from that cycle aside from maybe a light drying out in pct. Run it for at least 5 weeks and run it it 30/40/40/50/50. If not then really dont waste your time

I really don't wanna go to 50mg, may do

(20 first 2 days) then 30/30/30/40/40

And my growth is fine but who wants to be average? What's the point of doing something to half ass it. Epi is a mild ph I don't think it will screw me up for the rest of my life especially with a serm as a pct. I'm not smashing dbol or some ****, just trying to boost growth, will run this cycle then won't run again until possibly October before the show.
 

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And my growth is fine but who wants to be average? What's the point of doing something to half ass it. Epi is a mild ph I don't think it will screw me up for the rest of my life especially with a serm as a pct. I'm not smashing dbol or some ****, just trying to boost growth, will run this cycle then won't run again until possibly October before the show.

thing is, you won't get that much from that cycle of epi, and the risk is still there. you drop LH low enough in a cycle and it doesn't matter whether it was just epi or whether you were running dbol + test for the cycle, the permanent recovery is potentially iffy. Particularly starting at the low end, if you come back to 80% of where you were, its a noticeable difference, where for someone who is at 750 to start with, their level at 80% recovery is still at a decent point.

Not trying to talk you out of it, just making sure you understand what might happen and that the risk is worth it to you.
 
thing is, you won't get that much from that cycle of epi, and the risk is still there. you drop LH low enough in a cycle and it doesn't matter whether it was just epi or whether you were running dbol + test for the cycle, the permanent recovery is potentially iffy. Particularly starting at the low end, if you come back to 80% of where you were, its a noticeable difference, where for someone who is at 750 to start with, their level at 80% recovery is still at a decent point. Not trying to talk you out of it, just making sure you understand what might happen and that the risk is worth it to you.


Yea it's a tough decision. I've gone back and forth so many times. And I wasn't going to do a serm before I was just going to do an OTC. But I figured I'd go ahead with the serm just to be safe. The risk sucks for sure because if I end up shutting down and it screws up my future fertility my wife will flip **** lol. Trying to be as cautious as I can. You think cycling for 4 or 5 weeks will make a difference between the two? As far as risk goes?
 
its so hard to say what will be the difference, everyone's endocrine is unique. But for that kind of epi cycle, you're looking at best of maybe 4 lean pounds, not a whole lot.
 
its so hard to say what will be the difference, everyone's endocrine is unique. But for that kind of epi cycle, you're looking at best of maybe 4 lean pounds, not a whole lot.

I put in weight fairly easily when eating a 500-600 surplus so I could gain 4lbs in 8 weeks naturally. Hoping the epi will help grow weak points
 
Actually I was once pretty heavy at 270. Height is 6'4" but that was like 3 years ago. And I completely changed my body comp since. I've been down to 190lbs @ 5%bf on stage and currently at about 227lbs @ ~10% bf. So I didn't think body fat would have an affect on my hormone production at this point.

Late response, but my question was directed to ascertain whether you could have lingering leptin/insulin issues from being overweight, or body dysmorphic issues from an eating disorder. At sub 10% you don't have a lot of room for error when it comes to weight gain, and a lot of athletes think that the second they go over maintenance they're gaining fat, which isn't exactly true. My biggest issue is with the line of thinking that foods are clean or dirty, and the second you ingest "dirty" foods you're gaining fat. That's simply not true. I'm currently dieting for a show and i ate a whole Digiorno pizza for dinner, and i'm just as lean this morning as i was yesterday. And i'll continue to drop weight while eating donuts, some candy, fast food, and the other usual things i like to eat that's not chicken/rice/veggies. My body isn't abnormal, it's normal.
 
Late response, but my question was directed to ascertain whether you could have lingering leptin/insulin issues from being overweight, or body dysmorphic issues from an eating disorder. At sub 10% you don't have a lot of room for error when it comes to weight gain, and a lot of athletes think that the second they go over maintenance they're gaining fat, which isn't exactly true. My biggest issue is with the line of thinking that foods are clean or dirty, and the second you ingest "dirty" foods you're gaining fat. That's simply not true. I'm currently dieting for a show and i ate a whole Digiorno pizza for dinner, and i'm just as lean this morning as i was yesterday. And i'll continue to drop weight while eating donuts, some candy, fast food, and the other usual things i like to eat that's not chicken/rice/veggies. My body isn't abnormal, it's normal.


Teach me how to eat doughnuts and pizza on a show cut I'm begging you lol. My show cut I didn't cheat what so ever for the last 8-9 weeks.
 
I've spent a long time in bio/chem and dietetics lol. All it is is an understanding of exactly how many calories i have to work with daily. However, like i previously mentioned, you may have certain hormonal issues from being overweight.

For example, here's basically my diet yesterday. My TDEE was roughly 3200 calories. I work a semi-active job, and i'm a basketball referee. My current deficit is 400 calories, giving me 2800 calories to work with. My breakfast was around 500 calories, lunch was small and 500 calories, that pizza and dinner was around 1500 calories, that's still around 2500 calories. I hit 200g protein easily for the day and was under 2800 calories total.

The body doesn't see simple sugars and turn them in to adipose tissue. The body doesn't see saturated fat and turn it in to adipose tissue. The body sees excess calories and turns it in to muscle, and stored energy. That's as simple as i can make it haha. I care about total calories (being in a deficit every day), and my protein intake (200g + daily), other than that i do not care about the composition of my fat/carb intake.
 
I've spent a long time in bio/chem and dietetics lol. All it is is an understanding of exactly how many calories i have to work with daily. However, like i previously mentioned, you may have certain hormonal issues from being overweight. For example, here's basically my diet yesterday. My TDEE was roughly 3200 calories. I work a semi-active job, and i'm a basketball referee. My current deficit is 400 calories, giving me 2800 calories to work with. My breakfast was around 500 calories, lunch was small and 500 calories, that pizza and dinner was around 1500 calories, that's still around 2500 calories. I hit 200g protein easily for the day and was under 2800 calories total. The body doesn't see simple sugars and turn them in to adipose tissue. The body doesn't see saturated fat and turn it in to adipose tissue. The body sees excess calories and turns it in to muscle, and stored energy. That's as simple as i can make it haha. I care about total calories (being in a deficit every day), and my protein intake (200g + daily), other than that i do not care about the composition of my fat/carb intake.


So more or less you follow IIFYM
 
So more or less you follow IIFYM

I like to call it flexible dieting, with a strong focus on total calories and protein intake. Micro nutrients are important, so i can't just hit protein macro and fill it with junk food. The composition of foods does matter, but that doesn't mean that certain foods need to be off-limits. The only thing i avoid are industrial trans fats. But fuk me if i do love McDonald's. Lyle McDonald is a huge focus of my readings, as well as Alan Aragon.

I've had it out with certain professors in my dietetics classes, and unfortunately it probably has effected a few grades. But the demonizing of certain foods or carbs (in general) is ridiculous and unfounded. Especially for those of us who stay active.

Rhadam is sort of a unique case :D

haha that's a nice way of putting it :p
 
I've spent a long time in bio/chem and dietetics lol. All it is is an understanding of exactly how many calories i have to work with daily. However, like i previously mentioned, you may have certain hormonal issues from being overweight. For example, here's basically my diet yesterday. My TDEE was roughly 3200 calories. I work a semi-active job, and i'm a basketball referee. My current deficit is 400 calories, giving me 2800 calories to work with. My breakfast was around 500 calories, lunch was small and 500 calories, that pizza and dinner was around 1500 calories, that's still around 2500 calories. I hit 200g protein easily for the day and was under 2800 calories total. The body doesn't see simple sugars and turn them in to adipose tissue. The body doesn't see saturated fat and turn it in to adipose tissue. The body sees excess calories and turns it in to muscle, and stored energy. That's as simple as i can make it haha. I care about total calories (being in a deficit every day), and my protein intake (200g + daily), other than that i do not care about the composition of my fat/carb intake.
B-but muh insulin spike!
 
Science and facts aren't your strong suit are they?

Haha why do you assume that? I really don't see what is wrong with what I posted. It seems like every time a young guy comes on here saying they feel like **** have trouble getting up etc, everyone encourages them to stay with a test level in the bottom 20% of men their age. (Yes this is a figure off the top of my head don't lose your sh1t.)

Yes I'm sure they will manage to live without it, I'm sure with enough Viagra they can work up a hard on long enough to throw it at some cankerous wh0re.

But my question is why settle? If you're willing to accept the modest risks associated with trt and have the money to undergo treatment, you can find a doc to prescribe a liberal amount of test and will likely see vast improvements in countless areas of your life.

This is f****** anabolicminds dude. Here, of all places, are we going to sit and act like testosterone doesn't have amazing mental and physical benefits for men? I never said people can't live without a high level of test, I'm just being realistic and honest when I say using supraphysiological amounts of test can make you feel and perform better than you ever have.

And if you read my post all the way through I noted that the op shouldn't go by the results of one blood test. I advised a few lifestyle changes which are conducive to relieving stress and allowing the body to recover natty test levels and then suggested he should get retested. Are you gonna argue that cannabis does not promote more restful sleep and EDIT:reduce stress in the body?

So what was the problem? I'm not trying to be a ****, I'm genuinely curious. Throw me some of that science you're withholding from us
 
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Well, because you are wrong and obviously don't understand how hormones work. Regardless of the name of this site, it doesn't give an open invitation to poor advice.
 
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