Natty vs TRT

Prior to 2023, I was a lifelong natty. See exhibit A:

This was my last natural bodybuilding competition. I was 35, looking close to my best but feeling like absolute sh*t. Low energy, sex drive, and mood. No bueno.

My T levels were 193 ng/dL, or about the same as a guy in a nursing home.

Low T can be caused by overtraining and over dieting, so I took some time off from the gym, ate like a king and loaded up on sleep.

The result? T levels went back up to 359 ng/dL.

Good but not great. I could’ve waited a couple more months and tried other ways to boost T, but that required patience.

So I finally got over my fear of needles, psyched myself up and kicked off my TRT journey.

TRT - Testosterone Replacement Therapy

I started with 175 mg of testosterone cypionate per week.

My testosterone levels went from 359 ng/dL to 1009 ng/dL. 

I was flying high - tons of energy, great workouts, gained muscle, stayed lean, sex drive was over 9000… life was good.

The downsides?

Sticking a needle in my a** multiple times a week was less than ideal.

Also, my natural testosterone production was shut down, becoming dependent on it. Not great.

So after 9 months on the sauce, I decided to go off and try boosting my T naturally.

Step 1: Restarting natural testosterone production

To do this, I needed to boost the signals in my brain telling my balls to start making testosterone again.

The best way to do this is by injecting HCG, which mimics your Luteinizing Hormone (LH) to stimulate T production in testes. It works within a few hours and increases T levels within 1-2 days.

Couple that with Arimidex to prevent any T from being converted to estrogen and Nolvadex to prevent getting b*tch tits, and I’m on my way.

Step 2: Maintenance plan

The following month, I tapered off HCG and switched to Clomid. It’s slightly less effective and took longer to work, but it’s easy to take in pill form. No more injections.

Step 3: Boosting T naturally

After 2 months, I was off of everything and my T levels were back to baseline.

From here, I tried everything imaginable:

Food: Raw milk, eggs, red meat, olive oil, rice

Vitamins: Magnesium, Zinc, D3, K2, A, B, Omega 3, Selenium

Supplements: Ashwagandha, Fenugreek, Tongkat Ali, DHEA, Boron, creatine, amino acids

Exercise: 20 mins cardio daily, 3 days weights

Sleep: 7-8 hours

Other: Ice bath, sauna, sun exposure daily

I didn't have time to sun my balls, so TBD on that.

So what worked?

Sleep and low stress (cortisol levels) were by far the biggest contributor to Total and Free T levels, libido and my overall energy levels.

If there’s one thing you should focus on, it’s getting good quality sleep. Cool, quiet, dark room. Consistent bed time. Avoid food before bed.

Your body primarily produces testosterone while you sleep, especially during REM. High cortisol levels can reduce REM sleep by up to 50%.

A study found that men who slept less than 5 hours per night for one week experienced 10-15% decrease in T levels.

Another study found high cortisol levels can lower T production by 20-30%.

For me, high cortisol levels were caused by overtraining. For you, it may be from work, family, or life.

As for supplements, Tongkat Ali increased sex drive, and also increased my LH (Luteinizing Hormone) by 17%, but still wasn’t life changing. And with the lack research on long-term side effects, it wasn’t worth the risk to keep taking.

Raw milk and steak seemed to help with horniness due to the increase in cholesterol, one of the main building blocks of testosterone production. But was’t significant enough to outweigh the negative health benefits of excess calories and cholesterol, so I cut that out too.

Being in an overall calorie surplus helped with energy levels but that has long term health problems and fat accumulation, so not a sustainable solution.

Everything else improved other health biomarkers for longevity, which I care about, but not helping me out in the T department.

Lab Results

I tested my blood every 30-45 days to monitor progress.

It only took a month to get my Total Testosterone back to pre-TRT levels, measuring at 364 ng/dL.

After 3 months I reached my peak at 488 ng/mL.

It was a 36% increase from my previous baseline of 359 ng/dL, pre-TRT, in May 2023. A pretty damn good jump. 

But there was still a problem.

My Free T was at only at 10.7 ng/dL.

As you can see, it follows the same trend line as my Total Testosterone.

To really FEEL a noticeable change, you need double the numbers you’re currently at. 

To be optimal, you want your Free T around 20 ng/dL.

Total T is like your salary - how much money you make or testosterone you produce.

Free T is your income after “taxes” - the available testosterone for your body to use.

Free T is the marker you really want to optimize.

So what now?

After optimizing everything I possibly could - diet, exercise, sleep, vitamins and supplements, rest and recovery - the only option left is modern pharmaceuticals once again.

But I’m staying away from TRT… for now.

There are other methods out there than can increase T without injections or shutting down natural production.

I’ll dive more into that some other time once I get some blood results back.

Until next time,

Darryl