Adam Katz always dreamed of being larger than life.
“I knew I wanted to be bigger than what’s naturally possible for most guys,” the Arizona-based online fitness trainer, who started bodybuilding at age 14, told The Post.
After seeing no results from his natural approach, the 24-year-old turned to testosterone replacement therapy, or TRT, which supplements the reproductive hormone and, in some cases, helps build muscle. The so-called “testosterone maxxing” trend has taken the fitness world by storm, thanks in part to its widespread use by bodybuilding influencers who say they started TRT to “get crazy” or attract women.
But as with most things, the latest fast fashion comes with risks that can affect fertility, the heart and more.
That hasn’t stopped male enthusiasts from touting weekly muscle injections as the holy grail for their Hulk physiques, while claiming that “top-level” or “alpha” males, like podcaster Joe Rogan, are on TRT.
“The average guy, I think, obviously only sees the big, ripped guys and they think that’s the norm,” supplement company founder Konlan Paul, 26, told The Post, adding that it’s impossible to look like those first “giant genetic freaks”. on YouTube or Mr. Bodybuilding phase of the Olympics.
The Michigan fitness fanatic started bodybuilding as a teenager, going “down the rabbit hole” of performance enhancers, such as prohormones or selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs), without any education on the risks.
“I said, ‘What’s the fastest possible way for me to look like a bodybuilder?'” he said.
“It completely confused me because I didn’t know what I was doing.”
His use of performance enhancers disrupted his endocrine system and caused his testosterone levels to plummet, falling well below the healthy range for a 22-year-old. That’s when he heard about TRT as a method to replenish his hormones.
“There’s no education out there for that kind of thing,” Paul said. “I was just a kid who wanted to be big.”
The therapy — which is used non-medically by bodybuilders who want to increase muscle mass and energy levels — is usually reserved for men experiencing “low T,” which affects roughly 2% of men, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Testosterone, which is mainly produced by the sex organs, is responsible for sperm count, sexual desire, body hair growth and strong bones and muscles. Men with low levels may experience symptoms such as low libido, erectile dysfunction, hot flashes, low sperm count, increased body fat, and decreased stamina.
The typical range for testosterone levels in men is somewhere between 300 and 1,000 nanograms per deciliter. When Katz started TRT, his level was approximately 450, while Paul’s was at 64.
“If you’re going to do it, it should be in a controlled environment, not taken at the gym, not sure what anabolic steroids you’re taking and how much you’re taking,” said Dr. Theodore Strange, an internist at Northwell Staten Island University Hospital, told The Post, advising young people to consult a doctor first.
“Inside, you don’t know what you’re doing with your blood count, heart, prostate, skin and adrenal glands.”
While the aesthetic appeal and cool factor of taking drugs like steroids is driving young people to TRT, bulging muscles and rippling abs come at a cost.
Florida veterans disability attorney Dan Nolan spent $100 a month on testosterone injections, which are administered directly into the muscle, after starting them in February.
After a month, he saw incredible results: increased energy, mental clarity, increased confidence, better recovery and, of course, began to pack on muscle. In August, however, he stopped taking shots just to see what would happen if he didn’t want to rely on them permanently.
“I lost some muscle. There was a little drop in my body,” he told The Post. “I vented.”
Young people who start TRT, then, are likely to undergo hormone injections for the rest of their lives.
“I understand that young people don’t think about these things in the longer term because they’re thinking about what they want to do now and what they want to look like,” Strange said.
“In younger men who do it, the side effects are real, which can include something as simple as pimples on your skin to a decrease in the amount of sperm a man produces with excess testosterone.”
Side effects include the potential for testicular shrinkage, low sperm count, acne, and an increased risk of blood clots, heart attack, or stroke, but most notable is that the body’s response mechanism and “ability to to be turned back’ is ‘restrained’ as. the result of TRT, he surprisingly explained.
This means that men who stop therapy may see their testosterone levels drop.
“Unless there’s a medical issue as to why you’re not producing it, super-therapeutic levels…can keep the glands from going back to the way they were before they got the therapy,” Strange said.
“If someone says, ‘I’m going to be at this for 40 years,’ that’s a concern.”
This fact has not deterred Katz, who has no intention of stopping TRT, which he started at the age of 21.
“I’ve already accepted the fact that I’m going to be in it for the rest of my life,” he said.
“I personally would rather live a higher testosterone life.”
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