Hey guys ...
Do NOT believe all the hype about "Low T". It's just another money-making scheme by dubious parties attempting to "cash in".
No - just because you are getting old - it doesn't mean you're going to produce less test. For some guys - yes ... most guys ... no.
And if you're 22 years old and you show up in a doctor's office with T-levels of 200 ng/dl - then he's going to say ... "Oh shit - this kid has low T - I wonder what the UNDERLYING cause of it is?" And that doc will rarely prescribe testosterone - because TRT is for life once you go down that road. He'll look for other ways to get the kid's t-level up.
But if you're 50 and go in with that same low-T value - most docs won't blink an eye - they'll put you right on TRT. They won't look for an underlying cause.
And ... looking for the underlying cause is important - and "age" should not be considered the primary underlying cause.
Many docs believe that guys PRODUCE the same amount of test throughout their lives - it's just that your test gets converted into other, less useful compounds.
ESTROGEN is created by the conversion of testosterone. You can have balls the size of a bull but if all that test is being converted into Estrogen - then you will have boobs - and feel like shit most of the time. Look at old men - many have boobs - that's estrogen.
DHT is also created by the conversion of testosterone. I don't care too much about DHT - it makes you an animal - but may cause you to lose your hair. It's not much for building muscle but it will make you stand your ground in a bar brawl and make you chase younger women like there is no tomorrow. Look at a UFC fighter - those guys are walking drums of DHT.
And then there is Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) which for some fucking reason "tackles" free floating test in your system and locks it down so that it's useless.
ALL OF THESE increase in older men. So whatever test your system is making - more of it is being converted to other things.
Things you can do ...
LOSE BODYFAT - more bodyfat ... more estrogen. You need to do this sensibly though. A crash diet catabolizes muscle - and less muscle will reduce t-levels. Best bet, do a couple of hours of cardio a day - in the morning and the evening. "Fasted" cardio after you get up is better. Have a cup of coffee and go to the gym. Don't kill yourself - the contest guys I work out with pretty much stay in the "fat burning" zone. They don't even really break a sweat doing cardio.
LIFT WEIGHTS - I would recommend the heavier - the better. Your body has to respond to this by producing test.
GET OFF CARBS - Yeah, they are good for you - but you need a college degree to figure them out. Just look at all the books on "good" and "bad" carbs. Carrots are lousy carbs - but maybe not if they aren't cooked. So carbs are so fucking complicated that it even matters if they're cooked - and how much they are cooked ... and God - I don't even want to think about "juicing". FATS and PROTEINS do not stimulate a sugar-response - so they are A LOT less confusing.
GET ON RED MEAT - it's got a bad rap but your t-levels will go up if you eat red meat. My cholesterol is 150 and I eat a lot of red meat - your mileage may vary but just keep an eye on your cholesterol levels. If you do everything I'm recommending - your cholesterol should come down but, apparently some guys swear theirs skyrockets no matter what they do.
Test / Estrogen / DHT / SHBT ratios are set by your HPTA (Hypothalamus, Pituitary, Testicular Axis). If you change your lifestyle - you can often "reset" your HPTA to produce the optimum levels of each.
As far as supplements to increase test - they are mostly garbage with the exception of DAA (D-Aspartic Acid). You can buy that on E-bay, it's legal but may give you the runs - good luck with it. Grape seed extract - about 1 gram per day spread out in multiple doses - is supposed to lower estrogen. Incidentally - so is nicotine.
TRT is for life. It's almost impossible to get a girl pregnant when you're on TRT. Your balls atrophy (unless you take another shot for that - and - if you're on TRT I would say you should take it ... that shot does keep your testicles producing test - however, it doesn't do anything about the Hypothalamus / Pituitary shutdown and if you ever try to come off TRT - that's going to be your main challenge.)
About 3 years ago I was listening to all these "low-t" commercials and - they got to me. I went to my nurse practitioner and said ... "Yo, I think I have low-t ... I'm falling asleep in the afternoons and can barely keep my eyes open driving home!" She did a bloodtest - and then she THREW them at me when she got them back ... "It's not low-T!" she said. It wasn't - my levels were 950 ng/dl (high end of scale). I just wasn't sleeping enough.
So don't believe all the hype about "low-t". The supplements on the radio are pretty much a waste of money - and if you show up in your Dr's office with Low-T, he'll likely put you right on TRT if you're over 40 - do not pass "go" - do not collect $200. If you have to go on TRT - put it off as long as you can - try everything else first.