As an exercise physiologist who is very often concerned about the amount of pseudoscience related to health and exercise, here is another well balanced and thoughtful video from Dylan on an important topic. Thank you for your evidence based approach.
I am a 40yo male and did a year of pretty serious training which also lead to quite some weight loss and I noticed my previously normal libido to be completely gone. Went to the doc to get my testosterone levels checked and it was closer to the max value for females than the minimum of males (i think females max was 3, men range was 8-21 and mine was 4). I probably always had low testosterone to begin with (no hair loss at 40, little hair in other places, pretty lanky dude) but that still shocked me a bit. Overtraining and calorie restriction could definitely a factor here so I am trying to get that in order now.
I am 61 and am quite lean at 75 kg. I do a mixture of cycling and core work; and earlier this year my testosterone was 23.66 nmol/L (normal range 8.64-29 according to my blood tester). I have since started to cycle boron (one week on, one off), which is said to increase testosterone.
@ebiomat mostly trying to recover more, no more fasted rides (only very short and low intensity), fuel better during rides and generally avoid the combination of over training and calorie deficit. Not sure if its gonna work though
@@kevinmarshall730 if I can't get the values recover to at least the minimum of normal ranges and my libido coming back, there is the possibility of testosterone injections to get it back to normal ranges yes. All under supervision and regular bloodwork etc of course. But since can impact a lot of things, like if you plan to have kids in the future etc.
I am suffering from clinically low Testosterone probably brought on by overtraining and underfueling. That being said, your comment made me literally laugh out loud :)
Grest vid. As an endocrinologist that works on optimizing hormone levels, your facts are on par with what I see clinically. Though you mention a study that checked cortisol, the key to understanding the T decline in endurance and over training is the HPA axis and its connection to endogenous androgen synthesis. In short, excess stress (in all its forms) lowers sex hormones.
Pretty great video! Personally, I found a solution by swapping two bike rides a week with two weight lifting sessions. The other 5 bike rides can stay. But I have to be honest: all my best PR’s, especially uphill, were achieved by riding more and more, being on the edge of too-skinny, being on the edge of low-libido, and on the edge of overtrained. It’s a very fragile balance unfortunately, at least for those that aren’t genetically super lucky
Great video. Wished I had this a few months ago. Happened to have my testosterone tested in peak cycling season when riding hundreds of miles per week and also dieting. It was quite low. I suggested to the doctor that it might be related to RED-S. He hadn't heard of that and said exercise and weight loss tend to increase testosterone so it's probably not that. As you noted, that wisdom doesn't apply to trained endurance athletes. He referred me to an endocrinologist. Took months to get that appointment, but in the mean time the season was ending and I replaced some of my cycling volume with weight lifting and added more calories to my diet, and my levels went back to normal.
A huge problem with cyclists is that their balls are too hot. Ball temp is underrated and intentionally cooling them can noticeably increase test levels.
After studying for years and testing I realized that the best option is to leave two of the three factors high(you choose) and one low: -frequency -intensity -duration For example : frequent and intense but short
I ran a very serious training block during COVID quaratine 2 years ago, getting down to single-digit body fat for the first time in my life and the lightest I had been since middle school while doing crazy volume and putting out great (for me) power. However my libido absolutely disappeared and I gradually began recovering much more poorly. At the beginning of the ~6 month block my resting hr was around 55, getting down to 46-48 by the end of the 4th month, then going back up to the low 50s with much more variability. I then went on this week-long backpacking trip that wasn't very strenuous, so essentially had a week of active recovery. Wouldn't you know, during the trip I saw the lowest resting hr values I've ever seen (one day it was 38!), felt amazing, and in the month of training afterwards my numbers jumped up more than they had in the prior 3.
Similar experience for me, I also started during covid with serious training, went from 84kg to 69kg at one point and single digit BF. Was super fit on the bike but my libido was gone and the check at the doc revealed, while otherwise great results, clinically low Testosterone (half of the male minimum). I have since gained back 5KG but am still struggling with recovering the T. I can also second that when I did a longer break after a serious training block, my numbers had a bigger jump in a timeframe of 2 weeks than I ever experienced during the hard training block. Getting proper rest and fuelling properly is definitely real.
Walking is so good for the body. I did the camino frances last year and never had such a low RHR and had multiple 95-100% sleep score streaks on whoop. Even walked off a nasty knee pain.
Thank you for making this video! This is why I partly quit competitive cycling. I was relatively good. I won a few amateur races in elite. I had a 5.33 w/kg ftp at my peak. But every other area of my life sufferd because of cycling. It doesnt just consumed a lot of time from my schedule, but low testosterone caused me to feel off after a hard training and I couldnt really focus on anything else in life. And a got tired of being a skinny, financially broke guy,( who is a quite good cyclist but nothing else) so I quit, because certainly there are better activityes with higher ROI like weight lifting and learning sales for instance. And I found testosteron is closely related to success, bc you feel like you want to conquer the world.:D You feel more ambitious and more energetised.
Yep, this is why I quit cycling for strength training. Was an avid 40yr old cyclist. Daily commute plus structured training for the odd crit. T levels tanked. Now, jacked. 15kgs heavier and Mrs loves the new me...ALL for me
Very insightful video. I'm 6'2" and 215lbs. I was like 250lb years ago before training for races, and now I feel great, my clothes look good on me, and sex life is wonderful at my age. Chatting with other cyclist, they were trying to tell me I needed to get to like 170lbs to optimize my power to weight ratio. I disagreed because the lifestyle I have now is very much sustainable, I eat healthy, I (and my wife) like a little muscle tone, and I feel good overall. To get to 165-170lbs, I would be miserable trying to keep up that much intensive activity and limiting calorie intake. Just wasn't worth it to me. This added perspective about testosterone is on point.
Great information. Though, about 6 months too late for me. It was the perfect storm, and I didn't feel a thing until it was too late to fix. Cycling and training for 14-16 hours per week, with at least 1 alldayer and no days off. I held a CTL of over 100 for many months - bumping into 130 and cycling back down to 100. Restricted my diet to stray as light as possible and switched to a lower carb - keto like diet. I was getting stronger and stronger, and I felt great-right up until I didn't. Zero warning signs, other then a slight drop in testosterone on 2 previous bloodworks. Now that I reduced my training load, and cut out all endurance efforts, my T is still not coming back-23 free on last test. It's look'n like TRT for the rest of my life at 64 years old. Even if you don't care about performance, low/no T opens you up for all sorts of other problems.
For the ladiesssss - T is important for y'all too (recovery, energy, libido)! You should get it tested as part of a comprehensive hormone (blood) lab - ask your doc. Mine was low (
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I read "ladiesssss" in Bill Burr's voice in my head
I can't see why libido is any use to us cyclists. When you're on a 3 week tour you don't need the added distraction I would imagine.I have always had very low libido but fine in every other way apart from being built like Marco Pantini! I certainly would be very wary of taking any T particularly as you could fail a drugs test , even tho you think you might be within the numbers
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@@lydiagould3090 well, many of us like to ride bikes AND enjoy other parts of life too
A super important factor is also everyday stress and what goes on with studying/work/family. Had a big deadline for my thesis last week and for the 2-3 weeks before that, energy appetite and libido were completely gone. Took a complete break from sports. Fast forward to now and my body can endure the same training again, plus appetite and libido are 100% back. I guess I learned to beating my body down with training, when other things in life demand most of me.
good points when I play guitar I have carbs on hand low GI potato mash...lowered with a few other veggies and oils or I have fruit. It is intense practice requiring focus endurance and strength.
I raced bikes decades ago as a teenager and had more success winning races after focusing on racing techniques and skills and not so much on endurance training. I worked on cornering, cornering in rain (I was around Seattle), drafting tighter, doing a sling shot off other riders in a sprint, attacking at the end of a climb to keep speed on the descent, descending. This worked better on technical courses with a lot of corners and skills learned stick with you even if you fall out of shape.
When I was in my teens, whenever I came back from a really hard training camp I would get sick a few days later. I think a lot of those bodily systems that are normally using that energy get sacrificed when you over train. Really interesting video.
I ´ve been sick after every multistage race... and overtrained during my first training camp and was out for a month. Nice to hear the same feom someone else
You have it too simplified when saying "energy get sacrificed". Simply put, your test went down big time int hat major training bloc and most likely your immune system suffered as a result of you getting sick. I'm a former competitive bodybuilder and before I did bodybuilding, I did cycling. The energy levels, post workout, between the two activities, is massive. After a pump up workout, you feel amazing and have less cortisol (this is backed by studies) whereas after even a normal ride, you feel more stressed, more tired, and they attribute it to RED-S but really, its your test went down post ride. I feel even cold after my rides but I feel warm after my bodybuilding pump workouts. Controversial opinion; Simply put, I honestly think cyclists need to be put on testosterone to maintain energy levels. You can only do so much with your diet in cycling before your energy levels suffer. In bodybuilding, diet plays a crucial role but the activity itself produces more test/higher energy levels. Hence why I think if you are doing cycling for the long term, get on test.
Really appreciate the humor thrown in . I’m here for the science based learning but stay longer because the humor helps to make it more palatable. Great videos.
i think a lot of it has to do with the mentioned practices of overtraining and under recovering - a cyclist preparing for the tdf for example, will undergo extreme caloric deficits during certain training blocks to stimulate weight loss to be race ready fit - now, they don't do this all year round so during these times, i firmly believe they micro dose with T to get levels back up to par to be able to perform for the 3 weeks - rinse, recycle, repeat as the season goes on
Should mention talking to your doctor about monitoring low testosterone, especially for Masters aged athletes. Love the hand written Drew Dillman note in the background.
I picture this as Drew snuck into the shed and stuck this on the wall and Dylan didn't notice it until he was editing the video and was like Meh, I'll just leave it.
Weightlifters have been doing this for decades now - we call it "deload" weeks. Easy to no load training. Then start a periodizaition cycle again so that a performance vs time curve looks like an increasing sawtooth pattern.
Endurance exercise of ANY kind causes a drop in testosterone in men. It's one of the prices to be paid for hours and hours of steady-state exercise, just like loss of muscle mass, increased susceptibility to colds, constant fatigue, increased risk of AFIB, overuse injuries, etc. America's best-ever marathoner, Ryan Hall, retired suddenly due to chronically-low testosterone. It increased almost immediately when he ceased endurance training. Most of us have experienced a lack of sex drive, grinding fatigue, increased resting heart rate, etc, when we increased our mileage. Cardiologist James O'Keefe did deep research into the increased risk of heart disease among endurance athletes. He doesn't link it to lowered testosterone but I'll bet it has something to do with it.
Your T-levels fluctuate greatly depending on time of day (mornings, duh), how much drinking you did the night before and even heavy meals or recent diet. My doc and i were looking at my levels and they had dropped significantly but we then saw that the last blood draw was in the morning and then next in the afternoon. His advise is just to keep draw times constant
12:21 That feel when you finish hours after everyone else and only your two friends with cameras are waiting for you. Man even that lady just plain ingonred your existence. But ye, thanks Dylan, well put together video just as always.
Years ago I was in the US Army Ranger School. Imagine doing a Tour De France stage every day for 72 days on 1 meal a day and 4 hours a sleep. They tested us for a lot of things but out of the 333 of us that started the course (139 finished) our testosterone levels were
Hi Dylan, great video. You were kind enough to reply to me when I contacted you about this a while back, I suffer from testicular failure and as a result chronically low T levels. I’ve been on testosterone injections since 2016 and the biggest change I have seen has been when working with a Plant based nutritionist for 8 weeks where I saw the largest single jump in my overall T level. This year I stopped “training” and listened to my body a lot more and have had a great year whilst doing a bit less. Dr Stephen Seiler said I should look at periodising my riding / training similar to how female athletes have to, something I will be doing next year.
Thanks, Dylan, so what's the dance between training and resting, percentage-wise. For myself, biting the bullet of daily all-season commuting, I do enjoy my 'weekend' of not doing much on the bike, particularly during these winter months. And the commutes add up, 150 miles a week is 600 a month is a ride all the way to the coast and back and then some annually. So my mix these days is five days of stout commuting and working a physical job, with one day of nothing and another of light errand running, pretty much. And congrats to you on making the list of that big-time gravel series again. And I hope the backwards hat guy made some sort of list, like microbus driver of the year or something.
I bet this doesn't apply to mountain bikers nearly as much, mountain biking being much shorter in duration with more of a resistance element, plus the trails are in a natural setting which has to be good for the stress levels and cortisol
Thank you for posting this video. Hot topic right now. Shedding light on what can naturally be practiced to increase levels is great! My opinion...There is a lot that contributes to your cycling fitness that falls outside of what you can influence. Genetics, individual physiology, and body mechanics really have a huge impact on where you may fall on the spectrum of riders. Testosterone levels can be included but can also be influenced by what you are currently practicing. My hunch is that testosterone levels are kind of secondary. The large differences in cycling performance could probably be easily discovered the moment you start training as a cyclist. It would be interesting to see FTP numbers for beginner cyclists. But, I feel like every sighted study starts with "we took X amount of elite athletes" and that does not apply to most of the population. People are so easily influenced by what is on TH-cam or something on a podcast that they do not realize that, for some people, the things that they can practice will have marginal effects on the outcome. Additionally, there is a ton of money to be made by even mentioning the topic. On the other hand people might see huge effects from practicing these things. Ultimately, I think that everything you can practice comes down the things that are predetermined by genetics, individual physiology, and body mechanics. Some people have low T. Some people are Tadej, Wout, Remco, or Keegan. Some people are pussies. Some people over train. And on and on... Who is Drew Dillman lol.
Great video! I had some issues last year I was working out myself and the science lines up pretty well. I would however think a discussion between Free testosterone and Total testosterone would be great... as some people with low T might just have low free testosterone which indicates most of the testostetone is being used/binded to proteins (possibly for recovery to training)... I could be off here, but that's my thoughts and it might explain why elite athletes have low T versus us normies. Any ex-physiologists here can correct me. Thanks Dylan!
I can personally say, and bring tons of cycling buddies who will also tell you that Cycling has been the best thing to help increasing stamina & testostrone !!!
Up to a point it will, but you could say the same about anything, exercise is a form of stress on the body and to much will have negative effects on test, sleep, mood etc, to much weight lifting will also lower test but a little bit will positively effect testosterone, this video only applies to professional cyclists and high level amateurs doing many hours of hard cycling per week, the average guy would definitely benefit from cycling
If you don't have spare 13 minutes, read summary of video - physical activity beyond level required to maintain body has detrimental effect. This is why high level athletes struggle with health issues and are happy if they don't spend hard earned money (if there's any!) on medications and doctors.
Any loss in normal testosterone levels is a training load error. Intensity control is the remedy. After an all out effort or race, Testosterone levels may reduce temporarily, but will return as recovery happens.
I have this. Very intensive exercise and loss libido. My normal testosterone level is 700 and drop to 350. I am reduce cycling trening and more gym + clomid half pils every 4 days and now is excellent 👍
I’ve recently been diagnosed with CMV Virus and it’s messed up my liver functions. Can I request a liver function video? Importance, functions, how to fix.
Cortisol (a catabolic hormone) and testosterone (anabolic) are antagonists. Yet cortisol is necessary to release energy, in order to *do* the training, to maintain muscle mass and burn fatty tissue as energy (which is also necessary to maintain T levels). A tough training block/overreaching/overtraining decreases T in the short term but this is obviously necessary to maintain lean body mass in the long run. Strength training/intervals can boost T in the short term but due to the nature of high intensity work, the effects are short lived due to excesssive cortisol long after stopping the workout for the day. So at this point you as an athlete need to time the intensity, duration, and rest days in order to find that escape velocity of improved performance metrics, rather than T levels by itself. T levels in isolation mean little. Exogenous T diminishes need for endogenous T. Aromatase converts T into estrogen. Hence the gynecomastia from steroid abuse in bodybuilders.
Great relevant and informative video!! I would like to see your take on testosterone supplementation. In a similar theme, I’d guess there is a lot of myth debunking possible in the follow-on.
I'm a 55 year old male life long athlete who had a lot of chemo last year for lymphoma. My testosterone levels are obviously very low (I get tested in a few weeks at a regularly scheduled hospital visit) I lift weights twice a week and otherwise train about 5 hours a week mostly zone 2 but with occasional intensity. I simply don't put on muscle or improve.
Well done video, but what I'd like to see covered is about older athletes. I'm a 70 year old runner and for people in this age group it's really an issue. Another point is the type of food you're eating. So, consistent with the movie Game Changers, I know that plant based food helps with testosterone, which may be counter intuitive for some people. I will look for more videos, thanks.
It's cheap to monitor it when doing your bloodwork - where I am it cost me about 7 Euro extra. Keeping an eye on it along your training cycle is possibly worth it. So is taking an occasional break and not killing yourself with training.
As it turns out my libido reflects my testosterone levels. This has been verified by regular blood tests from my GP. There are lots of factors that impact libido but basically for me it's greatest when I'm on holiday. (no stress, plenty of sleep, food and atmosphere) Physiologically when I have a body fat level in the range of 10-15% and perform resistance training 6 days a week for 30 minutes a day. It's a very subjective thing to find the right balance and I would suggest anyone trying to optimize their health to get regular blood tests to see where their markers are. When I have everything dialed in I feel on top of the world so that's what I strive for. My libido is a general yard stick of a balanced lifestyle.
If you don't regularly get morning wood, you probably have low T. I had low T from overtraining last summer...took a few weeks off and just had it tested and it's back to normal...I think its very easy to overdo it, and I know anecdotally many of the cyclists I know have reported similar issues.
now im 16 and i hope that cycling really doesn't really drop the testosterone levels although i haven't ridden in months because i got hit by a car and picked up running again i haven't lost any muscle mass in my legs which is a good thing
Zwift racing will kill your T. Hours of Zone 2 doesn’t seem to affect it though. Sleep is super important. I take ZMA supplements & eat red meat with eggs.
I find when I train more I feel like a teenager. A stressful work day however and I feel like an 80 yr old. I’m 46. Oh yeah I do 2x weights a week so I kinda think that helps
I looked in Strava and saw professional riders. While freeing the legs down the hill Their heart rate is 70-90bpm, which is very low, even when they're riding hard uphill. I want to know What kind of training should I do? The heart rate therefore drops rapidly like them.
Wow interesting. Gotta say as the girlfriend of an endurance athlete, I’ve often wondered where the hell his libido goes, but it’s so difficult to bring up with him….
I know you focus on cycling, but would love to see a video on evidence for how to structure Triathlon training. Specifically how many high intensity sessions and when for each discipline? Such as, would doing 2 high intensity bike, two swim and two running be too much? If it is better to pretend bike and run are the same, is swimming independent? Such as What about 2 or 3 high intensity total run/bike and two for swimming? Or do we just need to pick what we are going to train hard in? And just do zone 2 swimming and focus on bike and run?
Dr. Stephen Seiler pointed out that if you're only having 3 rides a week like less than 6 hrs a week, you should just go hard on all of those rides(if im not mistaken). Can you have a video that focuses on us people who can only give 4~6 hrs a week. Been doing the 80/20 yet my friends who go all out in all sessions are improving better.
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I am not worried about Testosterone. My friends tell me that shaving my legs already puts my Testosterone level to -90.
😂😂😂
Just like Arnold
They are right 😂
🤣
Good friends 😂
As an exercise physiologist who is very often concerned about the amount of pseudoscience related to health and exercise, here is another well balanced and thoughtful video from Dylan on an important topic. Thank you for your evidence based approach.
so brave
🤡
Thank you for that. Plonker.
Do you believe what you just wrote?
@@notreally2406 who's brave?
So glad you made a video about this common (private) discussion.
I am a 40yo male and did a year of pretty serious training which also lead to quite some weight loss and I noticed my previously normal libido to be completely gone. Went to the doc to get my testosterone levels checked and it was closer to the max value for females than the minimum of males (i think females max was 3, men range was 8-21 and mine was 4). I probably always had low testosterone to begin with (no hair loss at 40, little hair in other places, pretty lanky dude) but that still shocked me a bit. Overtraining and calorie restriction could definitely a factor here so I am trying to get that in order now.
I am 61 and am quite lean at 75 kg. I do a mixture of cycling and core work; and earlier this year my testosterone was 23.66 nmol/L (normal range 8.64-29 according to my blood tester). I have since started to cycle boron (one week on, one off), which is said to increase testosterone.
@ebiomat mostly trying to recover more, no more fasted rides (only very short and low intensity), fuel better during rides and generally avoid the combination of over training and calorie deficit. Not sure if its gonna work though
@@speedsociety9177 Did your doctor mention anything about testosterone replacement therapy or did they just recommend more rest/proper fueling/etc?
@@kevinmarshall730 if I can't get the values recover to at least the minimum of normal ranges and my libido coming back, there is the possibility of testosterone injections to get it back to normal ranges yes. All under supervision and regular bloodwork etc of course. But since can impact a lot of things, like if you plan to have kids in the future etc.
@@speedsociety9177 Got it, thanks for the reply and good luck to you!
That explains why every group ride is like a fashion show.
That's why I avoid them...I'm already a fashion icon! 😁
Hahahahahaha!
Best comment by far!
I am suffering from clinically low Testosterone probably brought on by overtraining and underfueling. That being said, your comment made me literally laugh out loud :)
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Grest vid. As an endocrinologist that works on optimizing hormone levels, your facts are on par with what I see clinically. Though you mention a study that checked cortisol, the key to understanding the T decline in endurance and over training is the HPA axis and its connection to endogenous androgen synthesis. In short, excess stress (in all its forms) lowers sex hormones.
Pretty great video!
Personally, I found a solution by swapping two bike rides a week with two weight lifting sessions.
The other 5 bike rides can stay.
But I have to be honest: all my best PR’s, especially uphill, were achieved by riding more and more, being on the edge of too-skinny, being on the edge of low-libido, and on the edge of overtrained.
It’s a very fragile balance unfortunately, at least for those that aren’t genetically super lucky
Great video. Wished I had this a few months ago. Happened to have my testosterone tested in peak cycling season when riding hundreds of miles per week and also dieting. It was quite low. I suggested to the doctor that it might be related to RED-S. He hadn't heard of that and said exercise and weight loss tend to increase testosterone so it's probably not that. As you noted, that wisdom doesn't apply to trained endurance athletes. He referred me to an endocrinologist. Took months to get that appointment, but in the mean time the season was ending and I replaced some of my cycling volume with weight lifting and added more calories to my diet, and my levels went back to normal.
A huge problem with cyclists is that their balls are too hot. Ball temp is underrated and intentionally cooling them can noticeably increase test levels.
After studying for years and testing I realized that the best option is to leave two of the three factors high(you choose) and one low:
-frequency
-intensity
-duration
For example : frequent and intense but short
I ran a very serious training block during COVID quaratine 2 years ago, getting down to single-digit body fat for the first time in my life and the lightest I had been since middle school while doing crazy volume and putting out great (for me) power. However my libido absolutely disappeared and I gradually began recovering much more poorly. At the beginning of the ~6 month block my resting hr was around 55, getting down to 46-48 by the end of the 4th month, then going back up to the low 50s with much more variability. I then went on this week-long backpacking trip that wasn't very strenuous, so essentially had a week of active recovery. Wouldn't you know, during the trip I saw the lowest resting hr values I've ever seen (one day it was 38!), felt amazing, and in the month of training afterwards my numbers jumped up more than they had in the prior 3.
Similar experience for me, I also started during covid with serious training, went from 84kg to 69kg at one point and single digit BF. Was super fit on the bike but my libido was gone and the check at the doc revealed, while otherwise great results, clinically low Testosterone (half of the male minimum). I have since gained back 5KG but am still struggling with recovering the T.
I can also second that when I did a longer break after a serious training block, my numbers had a bigger jump in a timeframe of 2 weeks than I ever experienced during the hard training block. Getting proper rest and fuelling properly is definitely real.
Walking is so good for the body. I did the camino frances last year and never had such a low RHR and had multiple 95-100% sleep score streaks on whoop. Even walked off a nasty knee pain.
Thank you for making this video! This is why I partly quit competitive cycling. I was relatively good. I won a few amateur races in elite. I had a 5.33 w/kg ftp at my peak. But every other area of my life sufferd because of cycling. It doesnt just consumed a lot of time from my schedule, but low testosterone caused me to feel off after a hard training and I couldnt really focus on anything else in life. And a got tired of being a skinny, financially broke guy,( who is a quite good cyclist but nothing else) so I quit, because certainly there are better activityes with higher ROI like weight lifting and learning sales for instance. And I found testosteron is closely related to success, bc you feel like you want to conquer the world.:D You feel more ambitious and more energetised.
Love this!
So what you’re saying is that the reason why I’m slow is that I’m trying to keep my testosterone levels high. I agree with this
Yep, this is why I quit cycling for strength training. Was an avid 40yr old cyclist. Daily commute plus structured training for the odd crit. T levels tanked. Now, jacked. 15kgs heavier and Mrs loves the new me...ALL for me
Very insightful video. I'm 6'2" and 215lbs. I was like 250lb years ago before training for races, and now I feel great, my clothes look good on me, and sex life is wonderful at my age. Chatting with other cyclist, they were trying to tell me I needed to get to like 170lbs to optimize my power to weight ratio. I disagreed because the lifestyle I have now is very much sustainable, I eat healthy, I (and my wife) like a little muscle tone, and I feel good overall. To get to 165-170lbs, I would be miserable trying to keep up that much intensive activity and limiting calorie intake. Just wasn't worth it to me. This added perspective about testosterone is on point.
Agreed. Also what we can look forward as a non pro cyclist is to improve sustained power without loosing much weight.
Great information. Though, about 6 months too late for me. It was the perfect storm, and I didn't feel a thing until it was too late to fix. Cycling and training for 14-16 hours per week, with at least 1 alldayer and no days off. I held a CTL of over 100 for many months - bumping into 130 and cycling back down to 100. Restricted my diet to stray as light as possible and switched to a lower carb - keto like diet. I was getting stronger and stronger, and I felt great-right up until I didn't. Zero warning signs, other then a slight drop in testosterone on 2 previous bloodworks. Now that I reduced my training load, and cut out all endurance efforts, my T is still not coming back-23 free on last test. It's look'n like TRT for the rest of my life at 64 years old. Even if you don't care about performance, low/no T opens you up for all sorts of other problems.
Check out the Huberman Lab podcast on hormone optimization with Kyle Gillette before you go the TRT route
For the ladiesssss - T is important for y'all too (recovery, energy, libido)! You should get it tested as part of a comprehensive hormone (blood) lab - ask your doc. Mine was low (
I read "ladiesssss" in Bill Burr's voice in my head
I can't see why libido is any use to us cyclists. When you're on a 3 week tour you don't need the added distraction I would imagine.I have always had very low libido but fine in every other way apart from being built like Marco Pantini! I certainly would be very wary of taking any T particularly as you could fail a drugs test , even tho you think you might be within the numbers
@@lydiagould3090 well, many of us like to ride bikes AND enjoy other parts of life too
Testosterone has a big impact on fatigue…
Low testosterone that is. As well as mental focus.
This makes a strong case for structured training with plenty of zone 2 work and regular rest weeks.
All of which have tended to avoid....until now!
A super important factor is also everyday stress and what goes on with studying/work/family.
Had a big deadline for my thesis last week and for the 2-3 weeks before that, energy appetite and libido were completely gone. Took a complete break from sports. Fast forward to now and my body can endure the same training again, plus appetite and libido are 100% back.
I guess I learned to beating my body down with training, when other things in life demand most of me.
good points when I play guitar I have carbs on hand low GI potato mash...lowered with a few other veggies and oils or I have fruit.
It is intense practice requiring focus endurance and strength.
I raced bikes decades ago as a teenager and had more success winning races after focusing on racing techniques and skills and not so much on endurance training. I worked on cornering, cornering in rain (I was around Seattle), drafting tighter, doing a sling shot off other riders in a sprint, attacking at the end of a climb to keep speed on the descent, descending. This worked better on technical courses with a lot of corners and skills learned stick with you even if you fall out of shape.
When I was in my teens, whenever I came back from a really hard training camp I would get sick a few days later. I think a lot of those bodily systems that are normally using that energy get sacrificed when you over train. Really interesting video.
100%
I ´ve been sick after every multistage race... and overtrained during my first training camp and was out for a month. Nice to hear the same feom someone else
You have it too simplified when saying "energy get sacrificed". Simply put, your test went down big time int hat major training bloc and most likely your immune system suffered as a result of you getting sick. I'm a former competitive bodybuilder and before I did bodybuilding, I did cycling. The energy levels, post workout, between the two activities, is massive. After a pump up workout, you feel amazing and have less cortisol (this is backed by studies) whereas after even a normal ride, you feel more stressed, more tired, and they attribute it to RED-S but really, its your test went down post ride. I feel even cold after my rides but I feel warm after my bodybuilding pump workouts. Controversial opinion; Simply put, I honestly think cyclists need to be put on testosterone to maintain energy levels. You can only do so much with your diet in cycling before your energy levels suffer. In bodybuilding, diet plays a crucial role but the activity itself produces more test/higher energy levels. Hence why I think if you are doing cycling for the long term, get on test.
Really appreciate the humor thrown in . I’m here for the science based learning but stay longer because the humor helps to make it more palatable. Great videos.
There should be much more awareness of red-s among endurance athletes and in professional sports. Thank you for this video.
i think a lot of it has to do with the mentioned practices of overtraining and under recovering - a cyclist preparing for the tdf for example, will undergo extreme caloric deficits during certain training blocks to stimulate weight loss to be race ready fit - now, they don't do this all year round so during these times, i firmly believe they micro dose with T to get levels back up to par to be able to perform for the 3 weeks - rinse, recycle, repeat as the season goes on
Should mention talking to your doctor about monitoring low testosterone, especially for Masters aged athletes. Love the hand written Drew Dillman note in the background.
I picture this as Drew snuck into the shed and stuck this on the wall and Dylan didn't notice it until he was editing the video and was like Meh, I'll just leave it.
Weightlifters have been doing this for decades now - we call it "deload" weeks. Easy to no load training. Then start a periodizaition cycle again so that a performance vs time curve looks like an increasing sawtooth pattern.
Endurance exercise of ANY kind causes a drop in testosterone in men. It's one of the prices to be paid for hours and hours of steady-state exercise, just like loss of muscle mass, increased susceptibility to colds, constant fatigue, increased risk of AFIB, overuse injuries, etc. America's best-ever marathoner, Ryan Hall, retired suddenly due to chronically-low testosterone. It increased almost immediately when he ceased endurance training. Most of us have experienced a lack of sex drive, grinding fatigue, increased resting heart rate, etc, when we increased our mileage. Cardiologist James O'Keefe did deep research into the increased risk of heart disease among endurance athletes. He doesn't link it to lowered testosterone but I'll bet it has something to do with it.
Your T-levels fluctuate greatly depending on time of day (mornings, duh), how much drinking you did the night before and even heavy meals or recent diet. My doc and i were looking at my levels and they had dropped significantly but we then saw that the last blood draw was in the morning and then next in the afternoon. His advise is just to keep draw times constant
12:21 That feel when you finish hours after everyone else and only your two friends with cameras are waiting for you. Man even that lady just plain ingonred your existence.
But ye, thanks Dylan, well put together video just as always.
Backward hat Dylan is my man.
I had a stint of overtraining and undereating, my overall T was still in the 800s but my SHGB was in the mid 80s tanking my free T numbers.
Years ago I was in the US Army Ranger School. Imagine doing a Tour De France stage every day for 72 days on 1 meal a day and 4 hours a sleep. They tested us for a lot of things but out of the 333 of us that started the course (139 finished) our testosterone levels were
great! thanks for hearing me out! looking forward for this one
Is it true that wearing Crocs lowers T? Need the science on that one.
This is top notch cycling content.
Next video suggestion - TRT effects on cycling!
Or maybe, the collateral effects of TRT in the long term.
Hi Dylan, great video. You were kind enough to reply to me when I contacted you about this a while back, I suffer from testicular failure and as a result chronically low T levels. I’ve been on testosterone injections since 2016 and the biggest change I have seen has been when working with a Plant based nutritionist for 8 weeks where I saw the largest single jump in my overall T level. This year I stopped “training” and listened to my body a lot more and have had a great year whilst doing a bit less. Dr Stephen Seiler said I should look at periodising my riding / training similar to how female athletes have to, something I will be doing next year.
Now i finally understand you cousin, my mother also Johnson.
Thanks, Dylan, so what's the dance between training and resting, percentage-wise. For myself, biting the bullet of daily all-season commuting, I do enjoy my 'weekend' of not doing much on the bike, particularly during these winter months. And the commutes add up, 150 miles a week is 600 a month is a ride all the way to the coast and back and then some annually. So my mix these days is five days of stout commuting and working a physical job, with one day of nothing and another of light errand running, pretty much. And congrats to you on making the list of that big-time gravel series again. And I hope the backwards hat guy made some sort of list, like microbus driver of the year or something.
I think age is a key factor here, as recovery slows down so much over the years.
You knew Backward Hat Dylan would have a big part in this video! Great information. Thx.
I bet this doesn't apply to mountain bikers nearly as much, mountain biking being much shorter in duration with more of a resistance element, plus the trails are in a natural setting which has to be good for the stress levels and cortisol
glad to see you giving daddy watts some love
Yes!!!
Being married for 30 years...thats lowered it for me...😎
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣‼️
🤣
Hahaha 😂😂😂 so true
20 years for me….doing just fine. Weekly Yoga Classes seem to boost the “T” …..I can’t tell if its the scenery or the exercise 😂
Finally someone that speaks clearly on this. Awesome content!!
Thank you for posting this video. Hot topic right now. Shedding light on what can naturally be practiced to increase levels is great! My opinion...There is a lot that contributes to your cycling fitness that falls outside of what you can influence. Genetics, individual physiology, and body mechanics really have a huge impact on where you may fall on the spectrum of riders. Testosterone levels can be included but can also be influenced by what you are currently practicing. My hunch is that testosterone levels are kind of secondary. The large differences in cycling performance could probably be easily discovered the moment you start training as a cyclist. It would be interesting to see FTP numbers for beginner cyclists. But, I feel like every sighted study starts with "we took X amount of elite athletes" and that does not apply to most of the population. People are so easily influenced by what is on TH-cam or something on a podcast that they do not realize that, for some people, the things that they can practice will have marginal effects on the outcome. Additionally, there is a ton of money to be made by even mentioning the topic. On the other hand people might see huge effects from practicing these things. Ultimately, I think that everything you can practice comes down the things that are predetermined by genetics, individual physiology, and body mechanics. Some people have low T. Some people are Tadej, Wout, Remco, or Keegan. Some people are pussies. Some people over train. And on and on... Who is Drew Dillman lol.
Great video! I had some issues last year I was working out myself and the science lines up pretty well. I would however think a discussion between Free testosterone and Total testosterone would be great... as some people with low T might just have low free testosterone which indicates most of the testostetone is being used/binded to proteins (possibly for recovery to training)... I could be off here, but that's my thoughts and it might explain why elite athletes have low T versus us normies. Any ex-physiologists here can correct me. Thanks Dylan!
Great video! I'm 39 and my teat levels is something I've been trying to optimize have been made improvements
I can personally say, and bring tons of cycling buddies who will also tell you that Cycling has been the best thing to help increasing stamina & testostrone !!!
Up to a point it will, but you could say the same about anything, exercise is a form of stress on the body and to much will have negative effects on test, sleep, mood etc, to much weight lifting will also lower test but a little bit will positively effect testosterone, this video only applies to professional cyclists and high level amateurs doing many hours of hard cycling per week, the average guy would definitely benefit from cycling
Yes. My libido gone since I start running and training evryday.
If you don't have spare 13 minutes, read summary of video - physical activity beyond level required to maintain body has detrimental effect. This is why high level athletes struggle with health issues and are happy if they don't spend hard earned money (if there's any!) on medications and doctors.
Any loss in normal testosterone levels is a training load error. Intensity control is the remedy. After an all out effort or race, Testosterone levels may reduce temporarily, but will return as recovery happens.
I have this. Very intensive exercise and loss libido. My normal testosterone level is 700 and drop to 350. I am reduce cycling trening and more gym + clomid half pils every 4 days and now is excellent 👍
This guy needs a podcast
I’ve recently been diagnosed with CMV Virus and it’s messed up my liver functions.
Can I request a liver function video? Importance, functions, how to fix.
Also, get enough good quality sleep to maintain healthy T levels!
I don't know why, but I just subscribed to Drew Dillman. just kinda felt like it I guess
That’s right!
Cortisol (a catabolic hormone) and testosterone (anabolic) are antagonists.
Yet cortisol is necessary to release energy, in order to *do* the training, to maintain muscle mass and burn fatty tissue as energy (which is also necessary to maintain T levels).
A tough training block/overreaching/overtraining decreases T in the short term but this is obviously necessary to maintain lean body mass in the long run.
Strength training/intervals can boost T in the short term but due to the nature of high intensity work, the effects are short lived due to excesssive cortisol long after stopping the workout for the day.
So at this point you as an athlete need to time the intensity, duration, and rest days in order to find that escape velocity of improved performance metrics, rather than T levels by itself.
T levels in isolation mean little. Exogenous T diminishes need for endogenous T. Aromatase converts T into estrogen. Hence the gynecomastia from steroid abuse in bodybuilders.
Ashwaganda! Try it. I dont know if it affects testosterone (it claims it does) but recovery is amazing while taking this supp.
Nice summary, I gained a lot understanding. Thanks!
Great relevant and informative video!! I would like to see your take on testosterone supplementation. In a similar theme, I’d guess there is a lot of myth debunking possible in the follow-on.
Waste of money
Im 22 years Cyclist . Got tested with low t at 270 and was winning races . Just crazy
I'm a 55 year old male life long athlete who had a lot of chemo last year for lymphoma. My testosterone levels are obviously very low (I get tested in a few weeks at a regularly scheduled hospital visit) I lift weights twice a week and otherwise train about 5 hours a week mostly zone 2 but with occasional intensity. I simply don't put on muscle or improve.
Thanks for the info! Are you retiring now to hit that sweet spot for training and testosterone levels? I’m in for the beast mode supplement.
Well done video, but what I'd like to see covered is about older athletes. I'm a 70 year old runner and for people in this age group it's really an issue. Another point is the type of food you're eating. So, consistent with the movie Game Changers, I know that plant based food helps with testosterone, which may be counter intuitive for some people. I will look for more videos, thanks.
Hear that?
That's the sound of a thousand 5th Cats clicking the 'BUY' button on Canadian Pharmacy...
BHD said what I was thinking about the supplement! Lololol. Good stuff D!
It's cheap to monitor it when doing your bloodwork - where I am it cost me about 7 Euro extra. Keeping an eye on it along your training cycle is possibly worth it.
So is taking an occasional break and not killing yourself with training.
As it turns out my libido reflects my testosterone levels. This has been verified by regular blood tests from my GP. There are lots of factors that impact libido but basically for me it's greatest when I'm on holiday. (no stress, plenty of sleep, food and atmosphere)
Physiologically when I have a body fat level in the range of 10-15% and perform resistance training 6 days a week for 30 minutes a day. It's a very subjective thing to find the right balance and I would suggest anyone trying to optimize their health to get regular blood tests to see where their markers are. When I have everything dialed in I feel on top of the world so that's what I strive for. My libido is a general yard stick of a balanced lifestyle.
If you don't regularly get morning wood, you probably have low T. I had low T from overtraining last summer...took a few weeks off and just had it tested and it's back to normal...I think its very easy to overdo it, and I know anecdotally many of the cyclists I know have reported similar issues.
Dylan Johnson thank you! Great video!
Yes, moving on!
Excellent analysis!
great vid, I had a terrible season last year and i thought it was due to low T.....now i have to look else where
Have you come across any studies on training in erg mode vs slope? Love the channel. Thanks.
Great subject, thanks for the research and video.
now im 16 and i hope that cycling really doesn't really drop the testosterone levels although i haven't ridden in months because i got hit by a car and picked up running again i haven't lost any muscle mass in my legs which is a good thing
Bro... need to get to that GC weight the Tour is right around the corner
Great video packed with delicious morsels of important information. 👏👏👏
Good stuff, thanks for sharing!
As always, awesome content!
Zwift racing will kill your T. Hours of Zone 2 doesn’t seem to affect it though. Sleep is super important. I take ZMA supplements & eat red meat with eggs.
I heard watching Drew's videos boost testosterone levels
Absolutely.
Great video as always. You a Seth James DeMoor fan too?
I use recovery periods, but those always end up making me feel worse 😄.
YES it is. Been tested.
Great vid and very relevant.. need to be talked about more 👍🤩🏅🚴
I find when I train more I feel like a teenager. A stressful work day however and I feel like an 80 yr old. I’m 46. Oh yeah I do 2x weights a week so I kinda think that helps
Love the Drew shoutout lol.
This is great. So all them centurion guys actually have less T than I do. I feel much better 😊
Dude, love your humor! Good stuff man!
News just in: All Trainer Road plans boost T.
I looked in Strava and saw professional riders. While freeing the legs down the hill Their heart rate is 70-90bpm, which is very low, even when they're riding hard uphill. I want to know What kind of training should I do? The heart rate therefore drops rapidly like them.
Wow interesting. Gotta say as the girlfriend of an endurance athlete, I’ve often wondered where the hell his libido goes, but it’s so difficult to bring up with him….
I'm delivery cyclist. I pedal 4 hours and 30 minutes every day, 5 - 6 days per week. How bad is it?
Make a video about which cadence wears your chain, chainrings and cassette faster.
“Don’t lose a lot of weight at once.” This is good advice if that’s a few kilos. If you’re really fat then losing a lot at once is a good thing.
Very interesting! 🙌🏼
I don't understand the underfueling though. I like to do sports and I like to eat. Great combination IMO
I know you focus on cycling, but would love to see a video on evidence for how to structure Triathlon training. Specifically how many high intensity sessions and when for each discipline?
Such as, would doing 2 high intensity bike, two swim and two running be too much?
If it is better to pretend bike and run are the same, is swimming independent? Such as What about 2 or 3 high intensity total run/bike and two for swimming?
Or do we just need to pick what we are going to train hard in? And just do zone 2 swimming and focus on bike and run?
Dr. Stephen Seiler pointed out that if you're only having 3 rides a week like less than 6 hrs a week, you should just go hard on all of those rides(if im not mistaken). Can you have a video that focuses on us people who can only give 4~6 hrs a week. Been doing the 80/20 yet my friends who go all out in all sessions are improving better.
Excellent Idea!
See Dylan's 'How to get fast on 6 hours per week video th-cam.com/video/H9SvLGv2c1E/w-d-xo.html
Yes if your not resting properly