[quote]Mike84 wrote:
I made some of the best progress while stressed out in school. Food intake and smart training are ways around most issues.
Hmm, so we might be different species or something. Too much stress does horrible things to me, lowering libido and, I guess, testosterone, making digestion more difficult, worsening gym performance, and generally having a negative impact on my mood.
I always make better gains when I’m on holidays. You’re right though about the importance of food and smart training, they should be no 1 on the priority list.[/quote]
If everyone performed like you, there would be no soldiers, emergency room physicians, or professionals in most career fields that require high stress environments for credentials (firefighters, cops, EMTs). How you perceive the world around you is the largest factor. You can either break down when faced with stress or learn to deal with it.
[quote]TC wrote:
tpa wrote:
Heavy compound lifts will also increase test.
Hmm, maybe a little, but the effect is transient.
Very soon after, the Test levels drop below baseline and remain there for a couple of days.
It’s very bizarre, but I’ve found that most lifters have chronically low T levels, at least when compared to laboratory norms. Still, they seem to function just fine for the most part.
Yet another mystery.
[/quote]I’ve definitely found the same - eating alot helps, but if you’re really pushing your training I think you just have to accept you won’t be tested-up as much.
I think that’s why alot of guys find physical sports a great way to ‘vent something out’, or basically keep their hormones in check for a while?
By the way TC, when I’m doing my inclined walking, I watch porn on the telly (MTV R’n’B) to keep my test levels up to preserve muscle mass. Any idea if this actually works (I’m gonna keep doing it anyway but may as well ask…)?
No, no, it’s just the opposite! I’m talking about feeling COMPLETELY wiped out tired! And I often feel like this for a day or two, with my sex drive also almost completely wiped out, after a day of really heavy deads, squats or cardio. It feels like my T has dropped to zero.
[quote]Phill wrote:
This is more an endorphin release thing than you feeling T. Your releasing those feel good hormones from lifting.
Damici wrote:
I personally seem to notice the same thing, though I’m basing it off of feel. (I haven’t had bloodwork done before and after or anything). Deadlifts, squats, and sometimes even cardio seem to put the kibosh on my T/energy levels for some time.
TC wrote:
tpa wrote:
Heavy compound lifts will also increase test.
Hmm, maybe a little, but the effect is transient.
Very soon after, the Test levels drop below baseline and remain there for a couple of days.
It’s very bizarre, but I’ve found that most lifters have chronically low T levels, at least when compared to laboratory norms. Still, they seem to function just fine for the most part.
Food - in particular, for me at least, a dramatic increase in fats, saturated in particular. Long story short. I felt I was having “issues” quite a few months back. Went to the doc, had blood work done, etc. Test came back at 350 or so. I was NOT interested in HRT, and he didn’t seem to be interested in giving it to me at that point either. (Although low, the number is considered very normal for someone my age…38). Anyway, I went BACK to a high fat\low carb diet, with an emphasis on saturated fats. 6-8 whole eggs per day, mayo, fattier cuts of beef etc. After 8 weeks, my test measured around 650. Couldn’t believe it myself, so had another 30 days later. Same results. This is the only change I made during this period.
Since then, I’ve kept my fat intake high, training heavy and hard, and frankly, I’ve been getting better results than ever. Oh, and just for reference, if things like raising cholesterol, BP etc. concern you, mine have only gotten better.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
If everyone performed like you, there would be no soldiers, emergency room physicians, or professionals in most career fields that require high stress environments for credentials (firefighters, cops, EMTs). How you perceive the world around you is the largest factor. You can either break down when faced with stress or learn to deal with it.[/quote]
This is bigger than most people realize. Modern western civilization is becoming an overpsychologized, pussyfied caricature of itself. The human race has been faced with horrific tragedy, wars, genocides, famines etc. throughout history.
Before there were shrinks around to tell them how mentally mangled they were, they felt the pain, picked themselves up and figured out how to live the rest of their lives without any of the advantages of the modern world. Stress sucks, but doing too much to try to avoid it may be more stressful than just facing life.
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
Professor X wrote:
If everyone performed like you, there would be no soldiers, emergency room physicians, or professionals in most career fields that require high stress environments for credentials (firefighters, cops, EMTs). How you perceive the world around you is the largest factor. You can either break down when faced with stress or learn to deal with it.
This is bigger than most people realize. Modern western civilization is becoming an overpsychologized, pussyfied caricature of itself. The human race has been faced with horrific tragedy, wars, genocides, famines etc. throughout history.
Before there were shrinks around to tell them how mentally mangled they were, they felt the pain, picked themselves up and figured out how to live the rest of their lives without any of the advantages of the modern world. Stress sucks, but doing too much to try to avoid it may be more stressful than just facing life.
–Tiribulus->
[/quote]
I think the modern world presents a different kind of stress for us humans. In the past stress was probably more acute but also more episodic. Like wars and what not. There were moments of intense, life threatening danger, and then long lulls.
Nowadays stress isn’t as acute, in fact most of the time you can barely feel it, but it’s there pretty much every day if you have a regular 9-5 office job. “The daily grind”. I’m not sure most people can handle this stuff optimally, like domesticated mice running in those little wheel things: it’s not natural. That’s what I meant originally when I mentioned stress.