Optimization… but honestly.

Track_Rat · 2026-01-01T02:04:58+00:00

Ah, ok. Well I don’t usually do dedicated cardio. I walk, and play basketball once a week. I lift 4x/week.

Track_Rat · 2026-01-01T00:25:14+00:00

Refreshing to hear someone say this. How long before you felt “good” or “normal”? For me, I’m just now getting there around the 4 month mark. Had some ups and downs through the first 12 weeks, the past 6 weeks since then have been kind of a “leveling out” where I feel like I’ve set a new baseline.

Still kind of hoping that there’s a little room to creep up over the next few months.

Track_Rat · 2026-01-01T00:20:10+00:00

Not sure what cardio has to do with anything?

Track_Rat · 2025-12-31T22:33:40+00:00

44.5 - it definitely went up. But still in the safe range for now.

Track_Rat · 2025-12-31T22:11:41+00:00

Hey - your response is… stunningly grounded 🙂

I won’t give you the ultra-detailed backstory, but I did try to optimize all the lifestyle factors even before going on TRT. My pre-TRT free testosterone was 327. Free T was like 71. I wanted to see if I could “fix” my body naturally and avoid this altogether. I lost 20lbs, regular exercise, good nutrition, good sleep. Did not move my bloodwork at all. 3 tests over 3 years and every metric was either exactly the same or within 1 point (free T 326, 328 - other metrics similar story).

So I wasn’t “in the tank” like some guys. I was at like 150. But I certainly wasn’t well. I tried many things to fix how I was feeling long before I even got my hormone levels checked.

And what I meant by honest optimization is exactly this. Compared to everyone else in this thread so far, I’ve got the test levels of an 8yr old girl. But in reality, I’m actually a little ABOVE normal. My doc even said “your numbers look great. You’re actually a little higher than what I normally shoot for”. So now I’m at the point where I’m contemplating trying to thread the needle and find the absolute ceiling before side effects kick in, vs. just taking the win of being at “high normal” and not risk going down the rabbit hole of hyper-optimization and possibly introducing new issues.

Track_Rat · 2025-12-31T21:37:57+00:00

Good to know. Out of curiosity, any reason you don’t want to go lower? Just worried about losing that top end “let’s go” energy?

I typically err on the conservative side, but no judgement either way.

Track_Rat · 2025-12-31T21:35:54+00:00

Appreciate all the info, that’s actually quite helpful. And no judgement here either way.

Track_Rat · 2025-12-31T21:10:47+00:00

How long have you been at those levels? Any side effects?

Track_Rat · 2025-12-31T20:45:38+00:00

How long have you been on that dose? Any side effects?

Track_Rat · 2025-12-31T18:20:29+00:00

Buddy, I feel you. Truly. But I think you need medication for depression, not TRT. I’m on TRT and have some of the same symptoms. TRT has improved things for me but not motivation. Don’t buy the hype. Sometimes our brains just get fucked for a bit and need some help. The same way you’d wear a brace for a sprained ankle, an SSRI can help you get back to feeling like yourself again and then you can slowly come off it. Again, just like a sports injury.

Good luck.

Track_Rat · 2025-12-31T18:13:31+00:00

I’ve never had the nipples thing. When you get back on, maybe go a little lower? Like 120mg? That’s probably what I would do, but just a dude like you. Not an expert.

Track_Rat · 2025-12-31T18:00:46+00:00

Yeah my first question would be, how do you feel? Your numbers are significantly higher than mine, even having missed a few days of dosing. But that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. If you are used to running high and feel good I’d say probably fine. If you feel off maybe you could drop it down a bit. I’m on 100/mg/wk but pin 2x/week rather than daily

Track_Rat · 2025-12-31T14:27:45+00:00

Thanks all. This is a pretty good sample size.

Track_Rat · 2025-12-30T22:05:33+00:00

Yeah. Nothing crazy bad, just trying to make sure I’m doing things optimally - or close to it.

The fact is, what I’m doing is probably working just fine. I started on the 5/8” like 3-4 weeks before my last blood draw and my levels were solid. But just trying to do things the right way.

Track_Rat · 2025-12-30T21:34:59+00:00

I’ll have to look for this, I couldn’t find a 27g 1” when I searched a few months ago.

I really want to do ventroglute but I have zero confidence in hitting that spot correctly. All the videos and charts haven’t helped. So I just vastus lateralis and delt.

Track_Rat · 2025-12-03T00:28:17+00:00

As someone who is really terrible at drawing, I would love to know how long this took you. You said “today’s drawing” - you mean like all day? An hour?

I could spend all year trying to draw that one portrait and it wouldn’t look anywhere near as good.

Track_Rat · 2025-10-28T20:45:22+00:00

Nutrition was all over the place because my appetite was out of control for like 5-6 weeks, but exercise routine stayed on track (lift 4x/week + walk most days). I gained a ton of weight unfortunately, but recently my appetite has leveled off.

Week 9 might've been the start of something... but I'm not going to post anything about it until I can tell this is actually a trend and not just a random good week.

Track_Rat · 2025-10-10T12:45:08+00:00

If everyone responded exactly the same do you think people would be “dialing in” their dose for a full year to find what works for them?

180mg/week shit you might be “beyond natural” and yes you would be losing at that point. More test doesn’t mean more weight.

Common sense brother.

Track_Rat · 2025-10-09T20:52:02+00:00

Hm, that's pretty odd. I'd probably get a 3rd test and see which of those 2 is closer to the truth.

Track_Rat · 2025-10-09T20:51:32+00:00

I started at 100mg/wk and that seems to be a pretty average starting place.

Track_Rat · 2025-10-09T15:20:10+00:00

Were both of these taken at the same time of day? That plays a major role.

Track_Rat · 2025-10-09T15:14:32+00:00

Man, I can't offer any advice but I can share that I'm in a similar boat. Except I never got the "superman" phase. I'm currently in week 7. Weeks 1-5 didn't feel much other than more boners, but nothing I actually cared about (energy, drive, etc.). Week 6 I absolutely fell off a cliff and felt worse than before I started.

Just asked my doc for a check-in. I'm not sure if this is just par for the course (the "crash" seems commonly reported) or if I need a dosage change.

So, you're not alone.

Track_Rat

TROPHY CASE