Low test.. symptoms, signs, possibilities?

[SirIsaacBrock]

First off: was not sure where to post this at all so if this is the totally wrong area and there is somewhere more suited to it, I apologize.

I have wonders about my level of test or natural growth hormone or whatever.. I've always been a really skinny guy, couldn't get over 130lbs @ 5'8". Since january Ive packed on 30lbs doing the SL5x5. Being honest, when I started, just squating my bodyweight 5x5 had my legs stiff for a week before I could really lift again, and then Id strain my glute or whatever and be out another week..
I've progressed, but not at an 'add 5lbs each workout' rate.. im sitting at roughly between 15-20%bf, I know a good amount of the weight gain has been muscle. Ive done a deload, but my lifts just don't seem to be climbing at all, Im lucky to add 5lbs a week if that.. according tot he SL program I should be moving onto an intermediate at this point but my lifts are as follows:
squat: 80lbs
deadlift: 150lbs
bench: 75lbs
row: 75lbs
ohp: 50lbs

ive added roughly 80lbs to my squat and deadlift, 40~ to bench and row and 25 to ohp.. but after 4 months I feel like this should be more? I mean.. these weights are fucking pathethic, there are girls smaller than me who put this shit up with ease, I just dont get it.

I have a decent enough sex drive but my recovery and muscle growth and ability it seems just really fucking sucks...

I'm keeping at it but Im just wondering if I should hit the doctor up.. I dont drink or smoke or do drugs, I take a multi, fish oil, vit d and joint supps.. I get 6-9hours of sleep eveyr night.. Im doing as much as I possibly can to maximize my gains but I feel like I still havent had any of those amazing newbie gains everyone talks about.. I feel like a bitch

thoughts?

 

[Jbranken]

Get bloods done and post them up here. It's all guessing until you do that. Other than that, stick with the program you're on but youve got to ge the diet right to see results. Keep the cals high but CLEAN. Eat 6-8 times every day. Get your macros in order. What's your protein/carb/fat intake like?

 

[SirIsaacBrock]

I'm not entirely sure on the macro %ages

Typical day from wake to sleep is about as follows:
morning: 1 scoop whey, 22g protein, 1cup oatmeal + 1cup mixed berries (500cals~)
midmorning: natty pb sandwich on ancient grain bread (500cals~)
lunch: 1-1.5 chicken breast or 1/2 ground beef, or equivalent steak or pork steak, + 1/2-2/3cup brown rice + a green like brocolli, brussels sprouts, spinach, peas, or corn, (1k cals)
mid afternoon: apple or a banana, sometimes a few handfuls of almonds if im extra hugnry that day (?? negligible)
I get home and have 2 more scoops of whey, or wait until after I train on training days
dinner: similar to lunch, I make dinner + lunch for the next day at the same time

I dont eat much else after dinner, maybe some carrots or light snacks.. I know Im hitting 3k cals, Ive done the estimates that way and I know Im getting at least 1g per lb of body weight protein, and with the amount of brown rice or whole wheat pasta, plus the oatmeal I know I am getting a good amount of carbs.. Im not packing on fat and I am making gains but they just seem so miniscule. Sometimes I will eat half the lunch and then the other half a few hours later on my next break at work. I heard that splitting your meals into little bits throughout the day is just broscience nonsense and it doesnt matter so long as youre getting the macros? I don't think my stuff is that far off but if you really think those %ages could play a significant role I guess Ill look into figuring them out exactly

thanks for the response

 

[rustilldown]

I'm not entirely sure on the macro %ages

Typical day from wake to sleep is about as follows:
morning: 1 scoop whey, 22g protein, 1cup oatmeal + 1cup mixed berries (500cals~)
midmorning: natty pb sandwich on ancient grain bread (500cals~)
lunch: 1-1.5 chicken breast or 1/2 ground beef, or equivalent steak or pork steak, + 1/2-2/3cup brown rice + a green like brocolli, brussels sprouts, spinach, peas, or corn, (1k cals)
mid afternoon: apple or a banana, sometimes a few handfuls of almonds if im extra hugnry that day (?? negligible)
I get home and have 2 more scoops of whey, or wait until after I train on training days
dinner: similar to lunch, I make dinner + lunch for the next day at the same time

I dont eat much else after dinner, maybe some carrots or light snacks.. I know Im hitting 3k cals, Ive done the estimates that way and I know Im getting at least 1g per lb of body weight protein, and with the amount of brown rice or whole wheat pasta, plus the oatmeal I know I am getting a good amount of carbs.. Im not packing on fat and I am making gains but they just seem so miniscule. Sometimes I will eat half the lunch and then the other half a few hours later on my next break at work. I heard that splitting your meals into little bits throughout the day is just broscience nonsense and it doesnt matter so long as youre getting the macros? I don't think my stuff is that far off but if you really think those %ages could play a significant role I guess Ill look into figuring them out exactly

thanks for the response

Your meal timing is relatively unimportant , at the end of the day weight gain / loss is going to be determined by calories in vs calories out. So I wouldn't stress that much and you have decent meal timing anyhow. I know when I first started I had a hell of a time gaining any weight. I had to EAT and I mean EAT big . Way bigger than I thought . Now you say you aren't piling on any fat... So eat more and see how you react.
Still keep it clean of course like your meals are already. Maybe try some tablespoons of natty pb before bed like I enjoy . Def helps get those calories In and sleep it off plus peanut butter is delicious . It would be wise to get bloodwork done for sure,
Never hurts to see where you stand and maybe you will have low test but until then it's only speculation . And the body grows it waves you may be stalled out right now but 30 lbs since January is pretty impressive if you ask me... Does this mean your 5'8 160? Or were you 100 lbs before and now your 130...

 

[ALIN]

I would get some lab work done then go from there.

 

[SirIsaacBrock]

Your meal timing is relatively unimportant , at the end of the day weight gain / loss is going to be determined by calories in vs calories out. So I wouldn't stress that much and you have decent meal timing anyhow. I know when I first started I had a hell of a time gaining any weight. I had to EAT and I mean EAT big . Way bigger than I thought . Now you say you aren't piling on any fat... So eat more and see how you react.
Still keep it clean of course like your meals are already. Maybe try some tablespoons of natty pb before bed like I enjoy . Def helps get those calories In and sleep it off plus peanut butter is delicious . It would be wise to get bloodwork done for sure,
Never hurts to see where you stand and maybe you will have low test but until then it's only speculation . And the body grows it waves you may be stalled out right now but 30 lbs since January is pretty impressive if you ask me... Does this mean your 5'8 160? Or were you 100 lbs before and now your 130...

Yeah sorry, should have made that clear, I am 5'8" 160 as of last week. Was never able to get above 130ish but I never actually was consistent with anything, skipping breakfast, eating little bits here and there, id always eat a huge dinner, like I do now, but adding that dinner to lunch and making sure I get breakfast has made me see gains for the first time ever.

Been gaining about 1-2lbs a week, its slowed to 1lb a week lately, which I realize is still excellent, and I dont feel like ive been getting any fatter.. so I am making gains but.. I just feel so puny still. At my size I know I should be putting up a lot more weight compared to other dudes..

Around 150~ I noticed I was getting too much of a belly so I cut down on the milk in my diet (which really isnt that bad but seeing as Ive always been really lean it seems comparitively a lot and I didnt like it), but now I am thinking that since my weight has increased so much that my cals needed have also increased quite dramatically, and when I cut out the milk cals I was actually cutting out cals I needed at that time, the fat gain was from the excess at < 150lbs, and now at 160 maybe I need those cals back in the diet to make even muscle gains?

I mean, I guess the numbers are okay vs where I started.. but still.. so pathetic. I read stories of dudes adding 5lbs to their squat every workout and getting up to like 300lbs starting as 120lb sticks like I did and I just dont get it

 

[SirIsaacBrock]

I would get some lab work done then go from there.

What specifically should I ask my doctor for?

Just that I want some blood work done to determine my test levels? is there anything else I should ask about?

 

[buddhabuilder]

Congratulations on getting into the gym and starting to develop an understanding of training. Like you will hear said from time to time, 90% of bodybuilding is diet. This is the area that you should be focusing on for the time being. There is no end to ways to develop your diet to build muscle and lose fat. Just study the stickies in that section of this forum to get started, and then use the search to keep refining the information. You have years of natural growth ahead of you as long as you continue to expand your knowledge.

The SL 5x5 is great, but I believe any program has about a 12 week arc before gains slow or even stop. That doesn't mean you won't come back to it at some point in the future, it is just time to shake things up. This keeps your body having to adjust and grow, and also makes things interesting and exciting. Look into periodizing, dog crap training, bulking routines, cutting routines; the possibilities are endless. Once you find something you feel strongly about, post it in the exercise section here for feedback. This will help you tweak the program to reach your goals.

You are at the very beginning, and it is always "from this moment on."

 

[stevesmi]

how old are you?

I weighed 120's in high school. now I'm 200+... you are expecting magic results over nite.. it takes YEARS to build a base. just keep killing it and over time you will get the results. read my bulking diet and consider transitioning into a 3 day split routine.. if you do not try different workouts you will never know what works best for you

i am guessing but you probably have always been a skinny kid.. ectomorph. that doesn't mean you have low T or you have shitty genetics at all. because I was that person all my life. it took me getting into lifting hardcore to change my body composition and the results started to come on but it did take time

 

[SirIsaacBrock]

I'll be 25 next month

Yeah Ive always been the small dude, small bone structure too.

I realize nothing is going to change over night and that things have been changing. And I realize that I can't exactly compare myself to others because everyone is different. And I do realize that compared to where I started I have made some decent gains, at least I think, but I feel like I should be getting much more compared to other noobs making gains.. I've read over and over if you're stalling so early in the SL5x5 then youre doing it wrong or not adding 5lbs a workout like youre suppsoed to but I stopped being able to add 5lbs a workout so early it just seems absurd.

I am mainly focused on strength right now, Id like to be able to bench at least a plate, heck, squat a plate even.. I feel like my squat is way off compared to my deadlift

I'll check out your diet Steve, thanks and thanks for the advice buddhabuilder

actually, my diet doesnt seem all that far off from what you reccomend, maybe ill switch up my breakfast a little.. but I love me some oatmeal.

 

[Essie]

Look at Steve's signature ... there is a link to a post explaining bloodwork and getting it done.

Then ... dude ... you packed on 30LBS IN 4 MONTHS and for some reason you don't seem to know how decent that is! You have to recognize it man! And congrats to you for doing it all natty ... that really is decent! Are you following the StrongLifts program correctly and lifting in the splits and following the rest days it recommends? Adding 5lbs every workout is feesable and realistic in the beginning, provided that you start with an empty bar, but only for so long. Have you EVER trained before you started with the SL program ... at all?

For a skinny guy with small bone structure and not much muscle (when you started on this in Jan) you have made good progress, really good progress. If you never trained before, then you have made exceptional progress. When I was 26 I weighed a measly 138 @ 5'11" and it took me 4 years of training, resting and eating eating eating eating and EATING to get to a reasonable 160. I hit plateu there and started supplementing. A further 2 years and I hit 175. So it took me 6 years of training, resting, eating AND supplementing to gain 7 lbs more than what you gained in 4 months! I was your typical hard gainer. So, in light of my own road ... you have done pretty damn good and have nothing to be concerned over except your lack of patience ... Keep at it ... keep hitting the iron and eating and supplementing and resting. Your strength break through will come and your mass gains as well, don't worry, just keep at it. You might not end up being a 200lbs+ dude, but that is not the be-all-end-all, you know?

 

[Labtec70]

Exactly what I thought Essie.

I think 30Ibs of gains in 4-5 months is pretty remarkable, even for a newby. This guy should be proud with what he's already achieved. Even if he only puts on another pound a month, he'll be about 185Ibs within two years.
If he increases his caloric intake and gets an experienced partner I reckon he'll break the 200Ib barrier (and naturally) withing 2-3 years.

He obviously has some sort of good genetics and a small bone structure can make an aesthetically pleasing bodybuilder too. Arnie had medium bone structure and a tiny waist, and his slim bones made him - arguably - the world's best ever.

Go for it mate. All will come good for you.

Craig

 

[SirIsaacBrock]

Thanks for the kind words guys..

Yeah essie I've been following it strict with the A/B workouts (a: squat bench row, b: squat press deadlift) doing mwf so its a 2 week rotation.
I currently workout at home and don't have an oly bar, but this is good because the 45lb bar was way too much for me, I mean, like I said I started squatting just my bodyweight and that was messing my legs up for a while. Started the deadlift at about 50lbs too, but that was pretty easy. The deadlift is the only exercise where I feel like I am making decent strength gains. I started probably for the first month just doing the same weights over and over because DOMS were killing me, until my muscles got used to it. Then adding 5lbs a workout became impossible.. I mean I started benching 40 and in 2-3 months more im now benching 80.. thats only 5lbs.. if that a week vs if I had added 5lbs per workout I should be benching well over 100lbs by now. Im making gains in size yes.. but I dont feel like the strength is there.. and since I am gaining size I know I am eating well enough.. I hadnt been working out ever before and was a pretty sedentary individual.. im as fresh as it gets really.

I just feel like the numbers I am putting up at pathetic.. Im not obese so I wonder where the hell my size has come from because the weights im moving arent all that much more. My goal is to bench a plate.. and for most guys even those who never worked out thats like a starting point :/ there are skinny runner chicks on my facebook pulling 2 plates and snatching a plate and shit and I just dont get how lol

 

[Essie]

LOL!!!!! The SL workout is (and this is a personally opinionated statement and, consequently, arguable) one of the best there is. Look at any weighlifter's training routine vs your bodybuilder .... HUGE difference and the weighlifter's routine is EXTREMELY similiar to SL .... though some lifters love aesthetics as well and will add some BB excercises. Just have patience and persevere mate. I promise you that things will up in time, unless there is some weird neurological condition that you suffer from. I have seen guys in the gym who started fresh and green like you and most of them pile the weights on as expected, but every now and then one or two join who cannot get past benching 90lbs for about 14-18 months, no matter what, until one day where it just happens and the nerves fire up, the motivation is back (as it tends to go away), the focus is there, the body is rested and BAM ... they go from 90 to 120 in 4 sets! Shit happens ... but if you SH ... then IT happens ... get it?

 

[SinisterUproar]

I'm not entirely sure on the macro %ages

Typical day from wake to sleep is about as follows:
morning: 1 scoop whey, 22g protein, 1cup oatmeal + 1cup mixed berries (500cals~)
midmorning: natty pb sandwich on ancient grain bread (500cals~)
lunch: 1-1.5 chicken breast or 1/2 ground beef, or equivalent steak or pork steak, + 1/2-2/3cup brown rice + a green like brocolli, brussels sprouts, spinach, peas, or corn, (1k cals)
mid afternoon: apple or a banana, sometimes a few handfuls of almonds if im extra hugnry that day (?? negligible)
I get home and have 2 more scoops of whey, or wait until after I train on training days
dinner: similar to lunch, I make dinner + lunch for the next day at the same time

I dont eat much else after dinner, maybe some carrots or light snacks.. I know Im hitting 3k cals, Ive done the estimates that way and I know Im getting at least 1g per lb of body weight protein, and with the amount of brown rice or whole wheat pasta, plus the oatmeal I know I am getting a good amount of carbs.. Im not packing on fat and I am making gains but they just seem so miniscule. Sometimes I will eat half the lunch and then the other half a few hours later on my next break at work. I heard that splitting your meals into little bits throughout the day is just broscience nonsense and it doesnt matter so long as youre getting the macros? I don't think my stuff is that far off but if you really think those %ages could play a significant role I guess Ill look into figuring them out exactly

thanks for the response

Eat more, your eating lean which normally would be a good thing but at your height and weight you can basically eat whatever you want. Grab some steaks and McDonald's bro!

 

[SirIsaacBrock]

I don't know how Id handle not being able to increase the weight for over a year.. thats insane. I mean, Im upset with a 5lb a week/2week rate.. still I feel weak as hell. A little browsing on here had a dude at 6'1 and 155lbs saying he was benching 225.. and it just boggles my fucking mind.

I think Im going to switch to a variation of the SS routine using chins/pulls and dropping to the 3x5 instead of 5x5 and see what happens there, switch things up a little bit. May also just do pushups for a bit instead of bench pressing. I cant actually do a chin up or a pullup.. so Ill use the smith and do rack chins/pulls gradually increasing the angle until I can hack the real deal.
I like the way this looks, only 1 deadlift a week which sucks but I really feel like my lats are really falling behind, which is pretty bad considering i consider everything else to be behind.

Week 1
Monday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Press
1x5 Deadlift
Wednesday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
3x10 Back Extension
3xFailure(15 max) Chin-ups
Friday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Press
5x3 Power Clean
Week 2
Monday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
3x10 Back Extension
3xFailure(15 max) Pull-ups
Wednesday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Press
1x5 Deadlift
Friday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
3x10 Back Extension
3xFailure(15 max) Chin-ups
Again thanks for the inspiring words, I guess maybe I'm not doing all that bad considering where I started.. but still, it gets to me

 

[SirIsaacBrock]

Eat more, your eating lean which normally would be a good thing but at your height and weight you can basically eat whatever you want. Grab some steaks and McDonald's bro!

I already have more of a belly than I'd like at the moment, I'll stick to eating lean

edit:: plus, being honest, the cost of a double quarter pounder combo comes out to about $10, I can go buy 4x+ the amount of ground beef for the same price