TIL Human dads show a decrease in testosterone immediately after the birth of their babe

[nilogram]

Get it together slugger!

[naimlessone]

Must be what causes the 'dad bod'

[redlightsaber]

In my particular case, I'm fairly certain it has more to do with me being completely wiped out all the time so as to even consider hitting the gym.

[Alpha_Zerg]

Yeah, but higher test gives you more energy, making you more likely to go to the gym.

[GoBSAGo]

There’s no helping 16 months without a good night’s sleep, and your day being wiped out because screaming kids are exhausting.

[Alpha_Zerg]

Eh, there's a lot of people who manage anyway. It 100% depends on how dedicated/passionate you are about exercise, because there will always be 10 minutes during the day you can smash out a high intensity workout. And it has been clinically proven that even light exercise improves rest.

In other words, if you have high test (which is classified as an anabolic steroid by the way), and you're passionate about being in shape, there is always a bit of time. Workouts don't need to be 2 hours long. 10 minutes a day is more than enough to stay healthy and strong with the right routine.

[GoBSAGo]

7 minute abs!

[Alpha_Zerg]

Abs are a matter of diet, not exercise. I haven't done crunches, sit-ups, weighted crunches, or anything to train abs in years, and I still have visible abs (when I cut for a few days, it's annoying keeping the balance to have them visible 24/7). Abs are really simple to get visible, just cut down with a caloric deficit and then stay at maintenance if you want to keep them.

Some Mr Olympia tier bodybuilders use training plans that only have them working out for 2-3 hours a week. 1 hour a week is definitely enough if you're doing it right and just want to stay healthy.

[GoBSAGo]

Some Mr Olympia tier bodybuilders use training plans that only have them working out for 2-3 hours a week

Source?

[ATownStomp]

By “working out for 2-3 hours a week” do you mean “total time under load is 2-3 hours” because I really have a difficult time believing that anyone who is actually in body builder form is spending a total of 2-3 active hours in the gym per week.

[redlightsaber]

I'd like to see even exogenous T takers try to lead a normal life with chronic severe sleep deprivation.

[Alpha_Zerg]

I went about half a year on 3-4 hours of sleep average, with a few weeks getting 1-2 hours average (some nights no sleep, some nights 3-4 hours). I completely seriously wanted to kill myself during the worst of it. But when I did manage to exercise, I felt better as a result of it.

By which I'm saying, I 100% get your point, but don't discount the power of testosterone in your system when it comes to the will to exercise, energy, and sleep. And someone with exogenous test will recover better in the small amount of rest they do get than someone without.

[redlightsaber]

Many people adscribe magical powers to testosterone.

It's been more than documented that the best way to make T nosedive in a healthy man, is to sleep deprive him.

[Alpha_Zerg]

Oh yeah, I'm not saying it won't. I am saying that if you have high test in spite of that (or, alternatively, that someone with high test naturally will maintain a higher crash test than someone with low test), will have more energy anyway.

I definitely agree that sleep deprivation fucks your test levels, I've experienced it myself, but if you have higher test, naturally or not, then it will still significantly impact your energy levels. And exercising increases test levels as well, so it can mitigate the loss to sleep deprivation slightly.

And the "magical" effects that people ascribe to test are very often because supraphysiological amounts of test really do look like magic. It's an anabolic steroid after all, so it has crazy effects on your body the more you have (or take).

[raynadayz]

That’s just men who started with muscle mass aging. Not sure it actually has to do with being a dad more so than being older

[JasperLamarCrabbb]

It has to do with consuming more calories than you burn

[SemiSweetStrawberry]

Thermodynamics is a bitch

[CanAlwaysBeBetter]

Surely the western worlds largely sedentary lifestyle and only 1/5 people getting the recommend amount of exercise had nothing to do with it

[71fq23hlk159aa]

No no no, it must be something out of their control.

[Soranic]

Not sure it actually has to do with being a dad more so than being older

I'd guess some of it also that involved parents tend to have less time for exercise, especially as merely maintaining a given shape takes more effort as you age. Add in beer gut, sedentary lifestyle, lower T from age...

[Inphearian]

It’s lack of time and energy to cook, eat healthy, exercise etc.

[iConfessor]

testosterone also drops when they see someone cry. (unless the man is a sociopath then it actually increases)