“Testosterone-maxxing,” the media says, is a worrying new trend. Young men are being told, by videos and posts they see on social media, that they should increase their testosterone levels by working out, fixing their sleep schedules, eating certain foods—especially animal foods (eggs, milk and meat)—and taking various supplements, like zinc and ashwagandha.
There are, indeed, worrying aspects to this trend, not least of all the suggestion that young men, in the prime of their physical lives, should risk destroying their natural hormonal function by taking steroids.
Part of the problem lies in persistent myths and outright charlatanry within the fitness industry and professional sport. For decades, since the invention of performance-enhancing drugs, athletes have lied about their use of them. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was intense scrutiny of bodybuilders and professional wrestlers. Were they doping? Of course they were! The kind of superhuman physiques that became the standard on the bodybuilding stage and in the squared circle were precisely that—superhuman, beyond the natural boundaries set by Mother Nature on muscular development. Even today, despite everything we know or should know, it’s still considered a “revelation” to be told that this or that bodybuilder or wrestler was taking steroids in their prime. And even when they do admit steroid use, former athletes and bodybuilders almost always play down the amounts they were taking. Doping has powerful stigma, and rightly so.
A realistic view would be that professional athletes have an extraordinary natural endowment that’s enhanced by steroids. What’s more, there’s no substitute for dedication and hard work. Simply taking steroids is not enough, on its own, to guarantee a Herculean physique or the ability to play football, fight, snatch 200 kilos overhead, or sprint the 100 metres in less than ten seconds.
But, still, these truths shouldn’t blind us to the dangers of taking steroids, up to and including death, and medical professionals who warn against their increasingly widespread use are right to do so.
Young men today are vulnerable to the beguiling claims of fitness influencers on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, especially influencers who claim to be “natty”—to have achieved their splendid physiques without the aid of steroids—when in fact they are anything but. There are plenty of tell-tale signs for those who really know, like round “capped” shoulders and trapezius muscles—the “yoke”—that wouldn’t be out of place on an ox or other beast of burden. The incentives for making such claims are obvious. If this dude can look like Mr Olympia without synthetic enhancement, surely he kmows some fabulous secret others don’t know. Buy his latest ebook and you’ll find out for the low price of only $50!
No matter how much you perform this special exercise or drink that special protein shake, you still don’t look like your favourite influencer, and then comes the realization that the only way for a mere mortal like yourself to become a demi-god must be to take steroids. And so, many do. It’s a cruel trick indeed.
We need a serious adjustment to expectations of what can be achieved naturally, and of how long it takes. Honesty is what’s needed.
Justified warnings about the darker side of seeking physical perfection should not be used, though, to downplay or even hide the fact there really are problems with testosterone today. Grave problems.
The truth, as I discuss at length in my forthcoming book The Last Men: Liberalism and the Death of Masculinity, is that the Western world has seen a catastrophic decline in testosterone levels in recent decades, and it’s seriously affecting the health and happiness of young men. It’s also making it harder to reproduce. The broader reproductive-health decline of which the testosterone decline is just one part could make it impossible for mankind to reproduce by natural means within decades. According to world expert Professor Shanna Swan, sperm counts are declining so precipitously, by 2050 the media man will have a sperm count of zero: Half of all men will produce no sperm at all, and the other half will produce so few, they might as well produce none—they won’t get a woman pregnant, no matter how hard they try.
Alarm about testosterone levels was first raised by the Massachusetts Male Aging Study (“MMAS”), a random population-cohort study conducted in the Boston area between the late 1980s and early 2000s. The study showed a 1% year-on-year decrease in testosterone levels among men of all ages. Over a period of less than 20 years, testosterone decreased by just over 20%. Follow-up investigations in Finland, Israel and the US confirmed these results and deepened our alarm; although many still try to pretend none of this is happening.
In simple terms, testosterone is the master male hormone, and as such it’s largely responsible for making men men and not women (although women also require testosterone for good health, just as men require the “female” hormone estrogen). Its effects go far beyond simply increasing muscle mass. Testosterone governs mood, motivation, libido, immune function and much, much more. Men who have less testosterone—and especially men with low testosterone—are likely to be weaker, less motivated, anxious, sluggish, disinterested in sex and unhappy.
Understanding the crisis of masculinity, and its root in plummeting testosterone levels, is easiest when we look at what happens to men who have low testosterone. The forum website Reddit contains whole sub-forums dedicated to the negative effects of having low testosterone. They’re full of personal testimonies, often very moving, of the ruinous effects of having low testosterone as a man, and the miraculous transformations that take place when normal levels are restored. Many end up taking testosterone therapy, but as I repeatedly counsel in my work, most men do not have congenital low testosterone—don’t have a genetic or medical condition—and can improve their hormonal health simply by doing things like exercising, especially lifting weights, cleaning up their diets, getting sunlight and sleeping properly. Testosterone injections or gels aren’t usually needed.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to In the Raw to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.