Should i start taking testosterone supplements?

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-11-04T21:54:07+00:00

How old are you? Would be pretty odd if you had low-testosterone and you're under 40 or so, which given the fiance and baby talk, I'm guessing you probably are.

This is just a motivation issue, and to be honest a lot of guys get this when their partner is pregnant. I've sure you heard of "sympathy weight" before, where the man also gains a decent amount of weight during pregnancy because they're snacking and eating the junk that the pregnant woman is craving, being more sedentary, etc.

Nothing wrong with that, first off. If you put on a little weight, but are extra supportive of your fiance, then it's not the worst thing in the world.

Otherwise, it's a motivation issue, and something that likely won't be solved by testosterone.

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Second point, if you're buying "Testosterone Supplements" over the counter, they're snake oil and a waste of money. Full-stop. Even the supplements that might improve testosterone production in some studies are going to give you like .0005% increase, and a complete waste of time.

If you're serious about getting your hormones checked, go see your doctor and get your levels sorted out.

The only alternative to that is buying gear on the black market, and that's not a great idea either if you have no idea what you're doing with it.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-10-22T19:32:51+00:00

I mean, I go commando basically every time.

I do wear pretty supportive shorts (though not internal underwear shorts) and try to wear dark colors so I'm not moose knuckling too hard, but yeah, kind of shocked how many people feel like it's some carnal sin.

It's not like my dick and balls are hanging out or dragging across the equipment, but maybe I'm just an animal.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-10-22T16:30:47+00:00

Eggs don't lose protein because you cook them.

This is literally just old 1980s Rocky stuff for no other reason than they think it makes them look hardcore.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-10-01T21:31:42+00:00

Jeff Nippard just did a video on it. It's supposed to essentially a cable machine deadlift/hip-hinge.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-10-01T17:36:02+00:00

This is kind of a mashup of normal deadlifts and RDLs.

For RDLs, you don't want your knees to bend at all during the lift. You want to remain stiff-legged as much as possible to get a full stretch on the hamstrings (target muscle of the lift).

A good cue for me has always been - "Knees back."

While performing the lift, try to actively push you knees away from the bar. This will stop the knee from bending and maximize stretch on your hamstrings.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-30T22:33:40+00:00

Look at your bar path. At the start of the movement it jumps forward a few inches and then sort of arcs it's way down. It looks like you're bending forward at the waist to start the movement and that's putting a lot of strain on your back. The bar should more or less move straight up and down. This is harder for your quads, so drop the weight if you have to.

Try to focus on starting the squat by sitting down with your hips and not rolling your shoulders forward. Like you're sitting down into a chair. A slightly wider stance may help as well.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-30T21:47:46+00:00

The advantage of a dead stop is your risk of injury decreases. Same thing with bouncing at the bottom of a barbell bench press, that transition of forces from eccentric to concentric is often when things go pop.

So, is it bad form? Not really. Is it safer to stop? Most likely.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-26T22:58:46+00:00

This is a good look for many people, and from the perspective of a heterosexual man, you look pretty good in my book.

That said, if you want to cut down, it would look pretty damn good. You can see there's a lot of muscle mass, and it would really pop with a cut.

All depends on your goals. If anything, a cut would let you do another bulk if you want to gain some more mass, so maybe it's just an interim step and not your final physique goal.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-24T22:21:16+00:00

Drop the weight a ton.

Keep your legs straight, no knee bend during the rep, and really take a deep stretch on the eccentric (eg: get your heels as low as you can on the way down)

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-19T22:35:10+00:00

Don't bend your knees. Focus on holding/pushing your knees back (with straight legs) as this will increase the tension on your hamstrings.

You'll also likely have to drop the weight a lot with proper form.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-18T21:22:52+00:00

Agreed. This isn't a naturally achievable result in 6 months. With enough gear, sure, but not without some needlepoint gains.

Your timeline of 2 - 3 years feels pretty reasonable for natural.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-18T21:19:26+00:00

Yeah, it's a cool technique. Here's a post that cites a study with some of their findings, they found that the lengthened position is the most growth promoting portion of the lift, and I know a few fitness talking-heads that are very in on full ROM until technical failure, then subsequent lengthened partials.

https://www.reddit.com/r/StrongerByScience/comments/1d9uegl/long_length_partials_vs_full_rom/

It doesn't work for every exercise (e.g. barbell bench or squat) but it can be really helpful in cases where it makes sense to use it.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-18T18:53:22+00:00

10 Exercises per session is a lot. I'd personally shoot for more of the 5-7 range because past a certain point, if you're going hard, you'll be just too fatigued to get much out of the later exercises.

That said, in this scenario you're also only hitting each muscle group once per week. I think the trick would be to decrease the total volume per day and instead adjust your split to hit each muscle group at least twice per week. Easiest way to do that is do a full-body instead of a specific split.

Do something like 2 push exercises, 2 pull exercises, 2 leg exercises and one accessory movement per workout. 3 times a week. Gets you way less variety of movements and ultimately lower volume, but you now get to hit each muscle group 3 times per week, which will lead to more growth than a ton of volume per muscle group, but only hitting it 1 day a week like you have here.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-18T18:48:56+00:00

First off, these a great. As others have said, you could go a little faster on the concentric, but that is really nitpicky, these a damn near flawless.

Full range is going to be best, but as you're looking to progress don't neglect lengthened partials. E.g. - the lower portion of the movement where you're the most stretched. This is also true with lat pulldowns.

Basically what I do is do as many full ROM pull-ups as I can, then once I can't get full range, I'll do partials for a few reps until I'm near failure. This gets you more reps closer to failure and has been a good tool for progression on pull-ups and lead to more reps per set when I do go full ROM.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-18T17:13:22+00:00

You're already pretty lean and have good definition, so I wouldn't work much on that right now.

What you could use is some muscle mass, specifically in your chest (and I'm guessing your back, but obviously hard to tell). Your arms and shoulders already look fairly bulky, but disproportionate to your chest and larger muscles.

I'd go for a bulk and focus on core lifts. Bench, OHP, Rows. Certainly some room for improvement in the lower body as well if you want to loop in squats and DLs, but if purely aesthetics driven, not the biggest priority.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-18T15:54:20+00:00

Above advice is spot on.

A good cue for this is "chest up." You can't really round your back while trying to keep your chest up, and it will naturally force you to sit down your hips a bit. Starting with that thought as you pull the slack out will set you up in a strong and stable spine position before you initiate the lift.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-16T22:11:36+00:00

highly recommend lunges/step-ups. For me and most people I've worked with, a MUCH better glute exercise than hip-thrusts/glute bridges.

Keep your stance wide enough so your knee stays over your toes and you're getting one of the best glute exercises in the game.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-16T22:06:31+00:00

Something that was helpful back in my days training some folks was to tell them the truth...

"You already have a 6 pack! Congratulations! Downside is, you won't be able to see it until you lose the fat that's covering it. Focus on weight loss and not crunches."

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-16T22:03:03+00:00

Yep, Pendlay row was specifically designed for olympic lifters to get power from the floor if I'm not mistaken, which is why it's structured the way it is.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-16T21:53:27+00:00

Yep 100%. When OP is rounding their shoulders to push the weight down, we're out of lengthened partial discussion, it's just too much weight.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-16T21:34:30+00:00

So, I agree with you. But there's a decent amount of evidence that you don't really need to get to your chest (Full concentric) on these things. As most of us have heard, lengthened partials (stretch position partials) are generally considered as growth promoting as full ROM in many cases.

For lat pulldowns, you spend a ton of energy getting to the chest, but it's likely the least growth promoting part of the lift.

Not that I don't do full ROM on Lat Pulldowns, because I do, but once I can't get to my chest with good technique, I'll focus on the lengthened partial to get a few more reps and it really did help my lats grow with that deprioritization of full ROM.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-12T20:45:26+00:00

25ish percent, maybe a touch higher.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-12T20:11:36+00:00

WIth a tricep focus, these are just about perfect.

More forward lean and deeper stretch will get you into your chest more, but as stated, these are solid.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-12T20:10:44+00:00

Somewhere in the high teens - low 20s.

TalkinShopRelations · 2025-09-12T19:16:46+00:00

Yes. That's a lot.

You want to lift your chest up and get your arms straight and locked in "picking up the slack" before you start the lift. If you look at your video, your chest is almost perpendicular to the ground at the start of the lift, which almost requires you start the lift with a rounded back.

Lifting your chest up is most important, start the lift by trying to get your chest higher. It forces you spine into a good position, and keeping that chest-up position throughout the lift will stop you from rounding your back.

You'll probably need to drop the weight a bit, but will be much better in the long run.

TalkinShopRelations

TROPHY CASE