“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”
– Elbert Hubbard

Low testosterone (T) symptoms may include low sex drive, erectile dysfunction, fewer sexual thoughts, mood problems, fatigue, loss of muscle, poor concentration, sleep disturbances, and fewer morning erections. Low T is also associated with several chronic medical conditions, including obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression, and cardiovascular disease.

Men who get treated for low T have a very positive experience. The changes in appearance and mental state can be very profound. Interestingly, these positive changes associated with T therapy, have been found to occur at different times. A study from the University of Koln in Germany analyzed the relationship of time following administration vs. the effects on sexual functioning and mood on forty subjects. Researchers found sexual thoughts and fantasies occurred within weeks of initiating T therapy. Total number of erections rose steadily and peaked at 9 weeks. Ejaculations per week steadily rose and plateaued over 12 weeks. Depression decreased gradually and leveled off at 6 weeks. Mental concentration improved within the first 3 weeks, but overall mood did not improve until weeks 6 – 9.
The Aging Male 2009, 12: 113-118

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is a widely used food additive that may lead to obesity. It is often present in processed foods although it is frequently not clearly labeled. MSG is frequently seen hiding behind such innocent-sounding names as hydrolyzed protein, vegetable protein, soy protein isolate, soy protein concentrate, whey protein, and natural flavoring, spices, enzymes, autolyzed yeast extract, stock, broth and carrageenan. If MSG was as benign as the food industry says it is, why do they have to disguise the name?

In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers followed more than 10,000 adults in China for about 5.5 years on average. The researchers measured MSG intake directly by before-and-after weighing of products, such as bottles of soy sauce, to see how much people ate. They also asked people to estimate their intake over three 24-hour periods. Men and women who ate the most MSG (a median of 5 grams a day) were about 30 percent more likely to become overweight by the end of the study than those who ate the least amount of the flavoring (less than a half-gram a day), the researchers found. After excluding people who were overweight at the start of the study, the risk rose to 33 percent.”

Pharmaceuticals used to treat male pattern baldness (MPB) like Proscar (finasteride), work by decreasing serum levels dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT has been called the most potent of all androgens (male sex hormones), and is the major factor in MPB.

The current theory is that DHT binds to the hair follicle and prevents ribonucleic acid (RNA) from functioning. RNA is responsible for protein synthesis. In a nut shell, if the RNA doesn’t function, the follicle cannot create protein and stunts hair growth. Decreasing DHT levels will prevent baldness, but is it worth the side effects?

A Study reported in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, conducted standardized interviews with 71 healthy men taking finasteride to prevent baldness. 94% of the participants developed low libido, 92% developed erectile dysfunction, 92% developed decreased arousal, and 69% developed problems with orgasm. So, if you’re willing to give up your sex life to have a full head of hair, go ahead and take Proscar.

Are you an athlete looking to enhance your abilities? Would you like to increase your muscular size? Would you like to increase your strength? Would you like to boost your self-esteem? Do you want to lose body-fat? Are you a weekend warrior trying to extend your ability to play sports? Are you a stay at home mom who just wants to look and feel better? Are you a forty something male who wants to feel strong and lose some that spare tire? If you answered yes to any of these, you should be training for strength.

Strength training is not just for powerlifters, bodybuilders or high impact sports. Strength training can benefit everyone. At a minimum you should be strength training to ensure your health and overall wellbeing. And I’m not just talking about today, but for the future as well. As we age we lose muscle. This is an undeniable truth. This facet of aging has several negative outcomes:

Losing muscle will cause a decrease in your basal metabolic rate. Muscle drives the metabolism. The more you have the more calories you burn. Conversely, the more you lose the fewer calories you burn. It doesn’t stop here.

The more muscle one loses the weaker one gets. This is logical because the fewer muscle fibers there are to create motion, the less force you’ll be able to produce.

The weaker one gets as a result of muscle lost, the tighter one gets resulting in a loss of flexibility. And as one loses flexibility, they lose more strength, which also creates a loss of muscle. This loss of flexibility coupled with a loss of strength dramatically increases ones risk for injuries.

Are you starting to see what a vicious cycle this becomes?

So, I think my point that despite your genetics, experience, what you know (or what you think you know) about training, strength training is for you.