Does TRT - Testosterone Replacement Therapy Give You An Advantage in the Gym?

I wanted to discuss the subject of TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy), because it seems that anytime a person on YouTube is somewhat fit and/or lean then it is assumed by many people that they are on some sort of performance enhancing drugs - since there is no other way this can be possible ;)

I get comments from people listing a bunch of drugs I’m supposedly taking that enable me to be lean and muscular and they claim that I’m for sure on a bunch of performance enhancing drugs. Again because there is no other way this is possible (like hard work and a strict diet), and since there is an easy way to get these results, then I must be getting an advantage somehow.

I also get questioned a lot about if I am on TRT and so I wanted to address this in a YouTube video to explain the purpose of TRT because I feel most people think TRT will give a person this huge advantage in the gym over a person who is not on TRT.

First off, what is TRT or Testosterone Replacement Therapy?

TRT is a therapy usually prescribed by a doctor to replace the hormone Testosterone in a Man or Woman that is not naturally producing enough of their own Testosterone, and yes a Woman can also be on TRT since women can be low in both Testosterone and Estrogen!

What are some of the symptoms of Low Testosterone?

• Low sex drive
• Difficulty with erections (Men only)
• Fatigue & lack of energy
• Loss of muscle mass
• Increase in body fat
• Decrease In bone mass
• Mood changes
• Hair loss

What are normal TRT prescribed dosages?

Testosterone can be prescribed in the form of Injections, pills and jells. Prescribed injectable levels of Testosterone for the purpose of Testosterone Replacement Therapy can range drastically from person to person. In Men a dose can be as low as 100mg every two weeks right up to 300+mg per week. It all depends on how each individual reacts to the Testosterone replacement therapy and at what point they start to see positive changes in their symptoms.

As a point of reference: A starting does for a person using testosterone for enhanced body building purposes is generally no lower than 500mg per week and can be as high as 2000mg per week. Keep in mind the Testosterone is usually stacked with other injectable and oral steroids at the same time compounding the effects.

This should give you an idea of how minimal the effects are at least for the purpose of body building a normal 100-200mg per week TRT dose really is. No you will not get huge and ripped on TRT! If you don’t workout you will not look any different than anyone else with normal levels of Testosterone. If you do workout you will look the same as everyone else working out to the same level as you.

Is a doctor the only one that can prescribe TRT?

Usually but not always, there are hormone replacement clinic and there are also location where Testosterone can be purchased legally without a prescription. For example here in Canada it is not illegal to buy and use Testosterone without a prescription. It is however illegal to sell Testosterone, go figure ;) 

What am I getting at? There are people on TRT programs using various methods to do so. Doctor prescribed and regulated, Clinical, and even self prescribed (with or without doctor monitoring).

What are some possible TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) Side Effects?

• Increase in DHT and Estradiol which can cause: Acne, Prostate enlargement, increase in male patten baldness, fluid retention, breast tissue changes.
• Reduction in testicle size and suppression of fertility.
• Thickening of the blood from increased red blood cells which can cause high blood pressure, possability of a stroke. 

Will a person on a regulated TRT program have an advantage in the gym over a person who is not on TRT?

Keep in mind that this is based on the assumption that both subjects have levels or Testosterone that are within normal and natural ranges.

The short answer is no, there is no difference, for the simple reason that the person on TRT requires a Testosterone supplement in order to bring them back up to natural and healthy Testosterone levels. The person who is not on TRT already has enough natural Testosterone in their body so both subjects are on a equal and level playing field in this example.

Why do people who are on TRT claim to see strength gains, fat loss and recovery improvements when they go on TRT?

This is because the person in this situation was Testosterone deprived before going on TRT, they where not on an even playing field with a someone who has normal natural levels of Testosterone in their body. When the TRT program increases their levels of Testosterone they obviously would feel the benefits of normal healthy levels of Testosterone which include muscle gain and fat loss as compared to their Testosterone depleted former self.

Example: Let’s use a race car engine and a turbo charger as an example. A turbo charger is a device that increases air pressure in a cars engine. The higher the turbo pressure the more air is compressed into the engine which in turn allows more fuel to be mixed per engine stroke which provides a bigger boom and more power. If the turbo is not outputting enough pressure, then the potential power of the engine is reduced. When a turbo is producing optimal air pressure, then more power is provided to the engine.

Car A in this example has an engine with normal race car turbo pressures and normal power output for that race division. Car B has the exact same setup but for some reason the turbo settings are not producing enough air pressure so power output has been limited and not up to race performance levels. In this example the doctor would be the mechanic and by manually increasing the air pressure output of the turbo in Car B, the mechanic can in turn bring that engines power output back up to the same race performance levels of Car A.

So of course the owner of Car B is going to notice a significant power increase after his Turbo performance has been optimized, but his car will not be faster than the owner of Car A as they are both now on an even playing field. Would it be a fair race if one engine was more powerful than the other? Is the owner of Car B cheating in any way now that his engine is performing up to normal race standards?

When would a person on TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) have an advantage over a Natural athlete?

The only time this is possible is if the individual on TRT was taking more Testosterone than necessary. So similar to my engine turbo charger example, the mechanic or engine doctor turned the turbo settings up higher than they should be causing the engine to have more power than normal race setup. Relating this example back to our Testosterone discussion, this would be similar if a doctor was prescribing too much Testosterone for that individual making his levels higher than what they should be in a normal healthy situation and creating an uneven playing field with the person on TRT having an advantage in the gym over a person not on TRT with normal Testosterone levels.

How can this TRT over-prescribing take place?

As with all good things, even TRT can sometimes be manipulated or taken advantage of. Some athletes will use a TRT program to get an advantage over their competitors in sports, some people simply just want all the benefit of TRT plus a little boast since additional strength and increased recovery time is a benefit when workout out. 

Are you lying to people about your gains if you are on TRT?

Not at all if you are within normal ranges, again we are talking about everyone being on an even playing field, there is no advantages or disadvantages for anyone if all parties have similar Testosterone levels at the end of the day.

Is a person obligated to tell others about their TRT program?

This is really up to each individual and how they feel about sharing it with others. Do you expect people you know in person or on YouTube to simply tell you about all their medical history and all prescriptions they may be taking. Or perhaps any legal matters they may have been in. How much money they make each year… What a person decides to share with others is totally up to them and they are not obligated to share if they are on TRT unless they want to.

 

Work Hard Athletics VYPER HYPERSPHERE HYPERICE COMPRESSION Products Preview

In this Preview video I talk about some super high end fitness aids from Work Hard Athletics! Work Hard Athletics caries a high quality line of products design to help athletes improve their performance by accelerating recovery time, prevent injury and enhance mobility.

The Work Hard Athletics products I am reviewing are really well made and the performance is outstanding, much better than I had expected!

Many top Athletes around the world use Work Hard Athletics Products to help them with recovery time and injuries so they can get back to training and performing at top level..

I do want to point out that Work Hard Athletics Products are not cheap by any means in price or in quality! But as we all know, you get what you pay for. If you want the best you have to pay for the best :)

Here are the products Work Hard Athletics was kind enough to send me for review…

VYPER Vibrating Roller:

• High Intensity Vibrating Roller.
• 16.8 volt Lithium Ion battery.
• 3 Vibration Speeds.
• German Engineered Roller.
• Used to increase range of motion, flexibility and circulation

HYPERSPHERE Vibrating Ball:

• Localized Vibration Therapy Increases range of motion and flexibility + increases circulation.
• High-intensity vibrating core transfers maximum vibration to the body.
• 3 vibration speed settings.
• Compact and portable.
• Textured rubber exterior.
• Rechargeable lithium ion batteries give over 2 hours of use per charge.

HYPERICE ICE COMPRESSION: 

• Cryotherapy to reduce inflammation and pain.
• Portable and simple to use.
• 2 Part System - Ice Cell with Air Release Technology and Compression Wrap.
• Air Release Valve Technology.
• Delivers optimal cryotherapy to any part of the body for superior recovery.
• Available in: Knee, Utility, Back, Shoulder & Extended Shoulder versions.

If you are interested in purchaing a product from Work Hard Athletics, make sure to use Promo Code "Getfitover40" to save an additional 5%.

Athletes Collective Athletics Wear Preview Video

First off I want to thank Adam from Athletes Collective for providing me with these really great athletics shirts!

All shirts are unbranded, so you can wear a nice quality athletics shirt without being a walking advertisement for some company. After all you more than likely had to pay for your shirt so why do you need to advertise for them too?

All Athletes Collective Shirts are Pre-shrunk, you can dry on high heat and wash and dry them as often as you like and Adam has promised they will not shrink no matter what! Mind you Adam has not met my wife...

Another awesome fact about Athletes Collective is that they are Canada based and all products are made just outside of Toronto Canada - eh!

Adam boasts that his Athletes Collective Shirts have an Athletic fit, not a compression shirt and not too lose, true to size. I am a large in real life and so I asked Adam to send me all large shirts trusting him that this was true and they are a perfect fit. They are also super stretchy so you will not feel constricted at all while working out and as you get even more huge, the Athletes Collective shirts will accommodate your new massiveness :)

Pricing is very competitive as compared to other similar major brands, and that’s in Canadian funds which is good for us here in Canada and for all everyone in the US since your dollar is so strong right now!: 

• Sleeveless $22.50
• Short Sleeve $25
• Long Sleeve $30

Athletes Collective also offers Free Shipping to Canada and the US on orders over $50 which is a great deal since you only need to buy a couple of items to take advantage of the free shipping.

And if that was not enough already, every first purchase comes with these free items: 

• 32oz water bottle
• Drawstring back with front zipper pocket

Adam also gave me a Promo Code "GETFITOVER40", so my viewers can save an additional 15% off on their first order, so make it a big one! I am sure you will not be disappointed and will wish you had purchased even more shirts from Athletes Collective.

Atlas Wristband Strength Training Fitness Tracker Preview

In a world of Fitness Trackers where everyone seems to be tracking steps, distance, active time and even sleep, there seems to be a void or hole for people that like to simply lift weights or do activities where counting steps is not applicable.

I am talking about people that lift weights, perhaps do Crossfit or even simply exercise by using their own body weight movements. Again all of these types of workouts do not track so well when steps are being counted since few steps are performed in these kinds of workouts.

To the rescue comes Atlas with their Atlas Wristband Strength Training Fitness Tracker! This is not a step counter, it is not interested in how much sleep you got or even how much activity you got during the day. It could not care less if you stayed on the couch for 12 hours straight! But if you do actually get off the couch and go to the gym to lift a bunch of heavy weights, well that's when things get interesting with the Atlas Wristband Strength Training Fitness Tracker because the Atlas Wrist Band is all over that!

All the Atlas Wristband Strength Training Fitness Tracker does at least at the moment is monitor your heart rate and count reps and sets automatically! Oh yah, it also tells the time and date! You might be thinking that's it? Yup, but it does it really well, well at least that is the claim and that is what I am going to find out!

Enjoy this quick Preview Video and unboxing of the Atlas Wristband Strength Training Fitness Tracker where I show you around this interesting fitness wearable and give you some of the low down.

FX-Sport VRX Stand Alone Headphones with Built-in Personal Trainer Review

First off I want to thanks Duncan from FX-Sport in the UK for setting me up with a pair of their very unique VRX Headphones.

If you like what you see in this Review, you can purchase the FX-Sport VRX Headphones direct from FX-Sport using Promo code "MIKE20" and get $20 off for a limited time!

What are the FX-Sport VRX Headphones? First off they are based on a stand alone design so no built in Bluetooth and no iphone or smartphone is required! All of your music and selected Pre-prepared and Real Coach Training Sessions store within the 8GB internal memory. The FX-Sport VRX Headphones are built for quality, comfort and sound with notable features like top notch sound quality, customizable playlist with text to speech, and even the ability to make them fully water resistant so you can swing with them using the Silicone Skin Swim accessory.

Features:

• Come with carry bag and USB charging cable.
• Custom speaker with extra embedded amplifier of louder distortion free  sound.
• Secure and comfortable, stay in place without feeling to snug.
• 8GB Wire Free MP3 player
• Upload free pre-prepared workouts from the FX-Sport Workout Store.
• Upload “Real Coach Training Apps” to hear real world class trainers talk you through your workouts with your own choice of music playing.
• Can even design your own workouts.
• Scroll through multiple workouts stored on the FX-Sport VRX Headphones.
• Water Resistant/Sweatproof and Wire-free.
• Upgradeable to fully waterproof headphones using the FX-Sport Silicone Skin Case for swimming.
• Track Change and Volume Control.
• Fast Forward and Rewind within an Individual Track.
• Text to Speech Navigation through Playlists.
• Superior music quality. Bass and Treble Settings
• 5hrs battery life using all functionality with low battery ‘beep” indicator.
• 3x faster quick charge time.

Navigation: 

• -Power, play and pause button.
• (+) Button for volume up, track and playlist selections.
• (-) Button for volume down, track and playlist selections.
• FF/RM Button for fast forward and selecting and starting workout sessions.
• REW/SH Button for rewind and shuffle mode selection.

FX-Sport VRX App:

• Simple in design but gets the job done.
• Music Tab - for creating playlists and adding your personal music, the FX-Sport program automatically creates a text to speech audio files so your playlist is named on the VRX when selecting a playlist on the device.
• VRX/VRI Tab - for setting up training options like Race Mode, Pace Mode and the Programmable Trainer.
• Settings Tab - for adjusting the EQ for the FX-Sport VRX Headphones.

What I like!

My first impression was wow, the FX-Sport VRX Headphones look and feel awesome! The quality of the material is really good, they have their own very attractive look to them and the flexible band stays tucked nice and tight to the back of your head so these headphone are not going to interfere with your workout at all. I really like how all the controls are raised and textured so you can feel exactly which button you are pressing without having to see them. The FX-Sport VRX Headphones have to be one of the most comfortable headphone I have worn so far, they do a have bit of weight to them but this does not effect their comfort in the least.

In terms of sound quality the FX-Sport VRX Headphones again did not fail to impress me, they are able to go beyond loud but this can be good for sound tracks that may have been recorded on the low side. The overall sound quality it really smooth, lots of deep base and clean crisp highs that are not too tinny, the mids are very present but not woody sounding. I found listening to the FX-Sport VRX Headphones at even higher volumes distortion free and not tiring on the ears.

The controls did take some time to get used to since there is a lot you can control on the FX-Sport VRX Headphones, but once I got used to them I really appreciated the ability to easily control volume, skip songs, pause and start songs, find workout sessions and even fast forward through sections of music I want to bypass. 

What I would like to see improved:

There is not a lot here to say, from the ground up the FX-Sport VRX Headphones where designed to be a stand alone headphone with no dependencies on having to bring your Smartphone or be in Bluetooth range while working out. I did however miss the ability to pair the FX-Sport VRX Headphones to my iPhone or computer simply because I like to stream internet radio at times while I workout, I also like to watch videos or play games on my computer or iPhone and it would have been nice to be able to use the FX-Sport VRX Headphonesfor this use also. However I see the workout advantage of not being so connected to your smartphone and all of its distractions and interruptions.

On the Fence Stuff:

I pretty much only do weight training and literally never do any interval training, at least these days. Perhaps in the future when I’m not training for fitness contests I’ll do more interval based workouts. I realize you can make your weight training session interval based but that is not my style presently as I feel I am experienced enough at this point to known when I am ready to do my next set and how intense my workouts need to be. I do not want to discredit the importance of having pre-prepared and Real Coach Training workouts on the FX-Sport VRX Headphones since it is kind of cool how it all works and I can see how useful it can be for making your workouts more productive, fun and interesting. I can see the pre-repaired and Real Coach Training workouts not only being a great tool for the trained athlete but also the newbie learning how to get the most out of a workout.

Another thing I’m not is a swimmer :) So having the ability to upgradeable the FX-Sport VRX Headphones to a fully waterproof system using the FX-Sport Silicone Skin Case for swimming is another really notable feature but again one I would not personally use. If I was a swimmer I would probably jump all over this feature, Duncan from FX-Sport says that at time up to 50% of their sales come from swimmers so being fully water proof is in demand and worth making note of.

Summary:

The FX-Sport VRX Stand Alone Headphones with Built-in Personal Trainer are a headphone like no other and I really like that FX-Sport has seperated themselves from the trend. There are so many Bluetooth headphones out there all competing for a piece of this huge market. FX-Sport has done something radically different than all the rest by making their headphones stand alone in a world where everyone else feels they need to be connected at all times. The FX-Sport VRX Headphones free an athlete while still enabling them to have playback of all their favorite music and at the same time get a personal coach style workout in a super stylish and high quality package.

If you like what you see in this Review, you can purchase the FX-Sport VRX Headphones direct from FX-Sport using Promo code "MIKE20" and get $20 off for a limited time!