Low T levels? Maybe I’m tweakin

[scottpippen]

So I’m 21yrs old. 6’5 260lbs 21%bf. Bench/squat 4plates+,etc you get it. Late last year and earlier this year I dropped from 315-260 and was fasting like a bitch(goal was to lose weight). I’m just now starting to eat again like normal, and actually eat nutritional food and have a balanced diet.

To put it into perspective I’m a college athlete so I workout a shit ton and get adequate rest.

Anyways I got my bloodwork done and I have total T levels of 494 ng/dL which seems low to me. Took the test low key hella late, probably at like 12(might be the reason why, my doc was stalling).

I’m just wondering if those are low levels? I’m just a guy trying to get his weightroom numbers higher on his lifts, and tryna get some decent muscle gains.
Side note: creatine, AST, and calcium levels are a bit high(might be completely unrelated)(and yes Ik no one here is a doc just curious what y’all think)

Updated to post: appreciate y’all’s feedback man. I’ll get another test in about a month after meeting with my physician.

 

[heartnsoul19]

@scottpippen Not an expert on this field at all but afaik around 500 ng/dl is not necessarily low or anything

 

[bronsontaur]

@scottpippen Lmao 494 is perfectly fine. The average man bounces between ranges through the day. Anything between 350 and 1000 is fine.

Plus anyway its not really to do with the exact number its how you feel. If you have no low t symptoms but number is low thats just your homeostasis point. If you have t in a normal range it has no significantly measurable difference to muscle growth.

 

[dawn16]

@scottpippen Unless you’re exhibiting symptoms of low T, I wouldn’t sweat it. There are so many factors that can impact your levels over time. Not to mention, 494 in and of itself is not shockingly low.

 

[brock]

@scottpippen Around 500 is good. If you got on TRT, like legit TRT and not something prescribed by a pill mill doctor who just wants to make money off of being a legal steroid dealer, your endocrinologist would be shooting to put you at around 500 anyway.

 

[tugg]

@scottpippen bro eat good sleep good and take test again early in morning three weeks from now

 

[scottpippen]

@tugg Alright bet.

 

[fgarvin]

@scottpippen These levels are normal, if not even higher then I would expect based on the information given. Your bf% is 21% and was previously even higher then that. The more body fat a male carries, the lower his testosterone is expected to be. Ideal bf% for testosterone is around 12-15% if I am remembering correctly. You also took the test very late. Test decreases throughout the day and rises again while sleeping. You essentially took this test at the time of day I would anticipate it to be the lowest throughout the day. Your real numbers at it's peak are probably closer to 600ng/dL. Continue on with your lifting and eating good food, the results will come in time. I would recommend scheduling an appointment with your physician though to discuss the elevated AST in your labs. Potentially liver damage is not something to mess around with and is worth a visit.

 

[scottpippen]

@fgarvin Ok glad we’re in the same page. My thoughts exactly. And yeah I’m def gonna follow up on the liver deal bc I have no idea what’s going on. Could be a shitty diet thing but I’ll have to see. Thanks G

 

[donnypt2003]

@scottpippen Test levels peak in the morning and wane towards the evening. You could be several hundred ng/dl higher in the morning. You absolutely do not need to think about getting on any kind of HRT. I decided to go down that route in my early 20s based off an isolated data point and it absolutely was not worth it.

 

[wecryout]

@scottpippen I had a real similar number, like 550, and felt the same way. It wasn’t low but I felt like it should be higher for my age and lifestyle. I started taking tongkat Ali and taking more recovery days. I went from lifting 5-6 times a week to 3-4. I tested again2-3 months later and it came back as 775. I don ’t necessarily feel different. Maybe one of those days was randomly high or low, who knows. Do with it what you will, But those are the numbers I got and I only changed those couple things.

 

[scottpippen]

@wecryout It’s so funny you say that. I was literally just researching Tongkat Ali. Lol I’m curious about Tongkat tho, where’d you buy from? As for the raise in test, did you notice anything different about your weight room performance?

 

[wecryout]

@scottpippen I just grabbed mine on Amazon. There’s a solaray brand that I had good luck with and it’s very affordable. At the time I also started switching up my program from a strength based 5x5 to a hypertrophy based 3x10-12 because my joints were hurting. So I didn’t notice I big jump in weight but I do feel like it didn’t take me long to get to using the same weight for 12 reps that I was using for 5.