When was the last time you went to the doctors to have your testosterone levels checked? If you are anything like millions of men around the world, the answer to this is likely never.
Just take a minute to let that sink in. You want to optimize your natural testosterone synthesis, but have no idea where you currently stand.
This is a definition of an impractical goal, as it impossible to increase something if you have never set out to determine its baseline.
Luckily, there are a couple of factors that can help give you some insight of where your levels may fall.
Keep in mind, these are mere associations and are in no way going to guarantee accuracy. You can consider this a DIY testosterone test for dummies! Here is what you can start looking for right now.
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1. Frequency Of Morning Erections
Your erection frequency is strongly associated with overall testosterone levels, with men that have higher levels more likely to experience regular morning, nocturnal and random erections throughout the day.
However, while frequent boners are a good indicator of high testosterone levels, an absence of them does not always 100% correlate with low testosterone levels.
What does this mean?
Blood flow and dopamine sensitivity are also strongly contributing factors. You may have high testosterone levels, but if your natural nitric oxide production sucks, or you have dopamine desensitivity, it may still manifest as infrequent erections.
Just consider yourself lucky if you get them regularly, as it means your levels are probably in the normal to high range.
2. Measure Your Body Fat
As well as getting testosterone measurements, you should be getting your body fat analyzed.
However, we know that you probably won’t go for the all-out dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) test, which is the most reliable indicator of overall body fat, so for most people skin calipers will suffice.
You should not rely on body mass index if you work out frequently, or think you have a greater amount of muscle mass than average, as you may get inaccurate high results.
Body fat calipers are a better way to go as the average body fat is based on multiple measurements from different areas.
Men with higher amounts of body fat are more likely to suffer from low testosterone levels, even if a blood test indicates a normal value as more of this hormone will be converted into estrogen. This is just how it goes; the higher your amount of body fat, the more aromatase enzyme being produced in you, and the greater the conversion into estrogen.
3. Embrace Your Age
By the time we hit 30 our testosterone levels slowly begin to decrease – no exceptions. Thus, it is normal and expected for a man in his mid-40s to have lower testosterone levels than a guy in his early 20s.
This does not have to mean that your levels are extremely low, unless you are in such poor health that many other factors compound and make matters worse.
I know dozens of men in their 40s and beyond that are in better shape and hormonal health than much younger men who should be peaking in testosterone production.
4. Analyze Your Workouts
When you work out, do you leisurely walk on the treadmill, or are you constantly challenging yourself to lift a greater weight, do more work in a shorter amount of time?
If your answer is the second, and you are mostly able to keep up with the demands, your testosterone levels are probably pretty good. Testosterone is well known to improve physical function, strength and muscle mass.
This is because in order for your body to be able to keep up with the demand and stressors placed on it each and every workout, anabolic hormones such as testosterone, insulin-like growth factor, growth hormone and many others need to work synergistically to make your muscles and cardiopulmonary system more efficient.
Men with low testosterone will not be able to keep up with this, as anabolic stimulus is very weak. Thus, seeing that the muscle gains only come by a slow crawl, you may end up quitting altogether.
5. Be Honest About Your Ejaculate Volume
The truth can be the hardest pill to swallow, even though you’re probably accustomed to downing several supplements per day!
Semen volume is a good indicator of overall testosterone levels, as greater testosterone correlates with increased spermatogenesis and semen volume (to the extent of high-normal, and not supraphysiological as observed from steroid use).
If you think your loads are subpar, and you also think one or more factors above apply to you, your testosterone levels may be lower than normal.
6. How Do You Smell?
Have you ever wondered why is it that men typically smell more obnoxious than women? The answer to this has to do with the density of apocrine sweat glands present in men, which is normally much more than those found in women.
These glands appear to get switched on during puberty under the effects of testosterone and other androgens.
Thus, it is expected that you smell worse the greater the amount of these apocrine glands, since it indicates a greater influence of testosterone and DHT on them.
If you thought your lack of pungent odor was a good selling point to the ladies previously, you may want to rethink it now!
On that note, you should avoid direct application of cologne to the skin, as it typically contains dozens of synthetic xenoestrogens which are absorbed and can cause hormonal dysfunction.
7. What Do You Typically Eat?
If your diet or lack thereof is something you don’t give much thought to, chances are high that it will negatively impact testosterone values.
For one, efficient testosterone production requires generous fat consumption, primarily mono-unsaturated fats and those of the saturated variety.
This means red meat, avocados, olive oil, and other real fats. What it does exclude are packaged or synthetic fats used in fast food.
Diets high in protein and carbohydrates but low in fat are also bad news for your testosterone levels as synthesis will be low.
8. Testicular Size
The size of your testicles does not determine bravery, but rather androgenicity, as measured by higher testosterone production and semen volume.
Testicles that are smaller and showing signs of atrophy, such as is common following the use of anabolic steroids indicates a very low production of this important androgen.
This is why professional athletes desperately try to stimulate testosterone production by the testes following their use of these compounds, as natural hormone levels will be suppressed as indicated by their overall size.
9. Medications Being Used (If Any)
As a man ages his need for certain medications increase, whether it be for blood sugar, hypertension, an enlarging prostate or dozens of other medical conditions.
What you may not know, however, is the fact that many medications may function as anti-androgens and have an adverse effect on normal testosterone synthesis, without you ever realizing it.
For instance, commonly used medications that go by the name Proscar and Spironolactone are both anti-androgens and have been associated with suppressing testosterone and even resulting in erectile dysfunction from use.
These risks may not be referred to you by your physician at the time they were prescribed, so it’s very important that you also perform your own research and ensure you safeguard your valuable hormones.
10. Try An At Home Test
It seems like there is a DIY home test for everything these days; ranging from DNA and ancestry tests, to marijuana and of course, various hormones.
When it comes to testosterone tests, they generally fall into two broad categories; saliva tests, and blood spot “prick” testing like the ones diabetics use to check blood glucose.
Out of the two types, blood testing is generally far more accurate, but still not nearly as accurate as a test done via a blood draw.
Saliva testing is the least accurate of the bunch, and only gives you a rough indication of where you stand.
In addition to poorer accuracy, you need to keep in mind that testosterone levels fluctuate throughout the day, and because of multiple different variables.
For example, testosterone levels are highest in the night and in the wee hours of the morning prior to getting up, while factors such as anxiety and stress can have a short-term impact on your levels.
Thus, if you are stressed out or nervous man testing in the middle of rush hour traffic your levels may indicate you are as good as dead!
Conclusion
While the things mentioned above can help give you a general indication of what your testosterone levels are, you should not rely on them as a gold standard by any means.
The only thing that can definitively tell you where your levels are is a blood test that analyzes multiple aspects of hormonal health.
If your physician diagnoses you with low testosterone, and you have yet made positive changes towards improving the same, start off with a testosterone-friendly diet, regular workouts with the occasional supplement here and there and see how it works.
You may save yourself from going on testosterone replacement therapy for the rest of your life.
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