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Testosterone Levels – What’s Considered Normal, High or Low?
Understanding Optimal Testosterone Levels in Bodybuilders
Table of Contents
If you want to raise your testosterone levels naturally and thereby see increased muscle mass, rapid fat loss, more drive and determination, and generally better all-round physical performance and masculinity, then there are a number of different things you can try.
But the problem you will encounter when doing this is knowing just how effective the various different strategies you’re trying are.
How do you know if your latest attempt to boost Testosterone levels has worked?
How do you know when your testosterone is ‘high enough’?
One strategy is to get your testosterone tested. But how do you make sense of the data?
How Testosterone Level is Measured?
Testosterone is normally reported as ng/dl. This stands for ‘nanograms per decileter‘ which basically looks at the density of testosterone on a very small scale in your blood.
So what’s the ‘Normal Testosterone Levels for Bodybuilders’?
According to LabCorp – which is one place in the US where you can get your testosterone measured – reference levels are between 348 and 1,197.
Anything within those two numbers is considered ‘normal’ – which you’ll probably agree is quite a broad range. This range was based on a very large sample though, including all ages, all weights, and all levels of fitness.
Another study, conducted in 1996, looks at average testosterone levels at certain ages and finds that the average is generally about 617 in men between the ages of 25-34. Between 35-44 it’s 668 and between 45-54 it’s 606. It generally declines from there onwards.
Go for the Best Testosterone Booster!
If you go to the doctor today and complain of symptoms of low testosterone: weight gain, low energy, low mood, and low libido, they might take a measurement.
As a rule, as long as you’re above 340 or thereabouts, they’ll consider you to be okay and they won’t give you any medication or hormone replacement therapy.
On the one hand, this is a good thing…
HRT can actually lower your natural levels of testosterone due to ‘negative feedback’.
On the other hand, though, the insinuation that you should be aiming to have testosterone levels that are ‘good enough’ is all wrong.
Why would you want to be ‘barely in the normal range’ when you could instead be at the top of your game?
Especially when you consider that our testosterone is much lower on average these days than it was several decades ago.
So what is the optimal testosterone level for building muscle?
Well, that somewhat depends on your goals.
According to one study, the optimal testosterone level for protection against cardiac problems is 550ng/dl – which is still higher than the average.
But as you get more T, this only results in a better quality of life. And if you’re interested in optimal athletic performance then going above 1,000 ng/dl will only result in good things.
Now the question is: how much testosterone would you need for steroid-like effects?
The answer to that question is probably over 3,000ng/dl. A pro bodybuilder, as a rule, will have about 3,500ng/dl and it can go even beyond 20.
It’s at this point though that the negative side effects begin to show themselves – and you could never get your testosterone that high without some ‘chemical assistance’.
So for readers of this blog, change your diet, do more compound workouts, and take testosterone boosters like Testomax from CrazyBulk.
You might just get your ng/dl above 1,000 at which point you’ll see amazing benefits without any side effects. If you work really hard, you might get it to 2,000ng/dl at which point you’d start to see some very noticeable changes.
It’s not common, but it is possible!
How to Increase Testosterone After a Steroid Cycle? [Best T-Booster]
Most Frequently Asked Questions
According to Mayo Medical Laboratories, the normal range of total testosterone in women has to be 8 to 60 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dl). However, this range gradually decreases with the age of a woman. Here is an example of testosterone level range in women from Mayo Medical Laboratories:
20 to 25 years: 0.06 to 1.08 ng/dL
30 to 35 years: 0.06 to 1.03 ng/dL
40 to 45 years: 0.06 to 0.98 ng/dL
50 to 55 years: 0.06 to 0.92 ng/dL
60 to 65 years: 0.06 to 0.87 ng/dL
70 to 75 years: 0.06 to 0.82 ng/dL
Too much testosterone in both men and women can lead to precocious puberty and results in infertility. Even though testosterone therapy has many benefits, it has adverse side effects on your body at the same time. Here are some:
- Mood swings and increase in anger
- Testicle shrinkage
- High blood cell counts
- Increased estrogen levels
High levels of testosterone can lead to dysfunction in the body parts. Men having higher testosterone tend to:
- Consume more alcoholic beverages
- More likely to smoke
- More likely to get injured
- More likely to take part in risk-taking activities including (sex drive, injury risk and even commit criminal activity).
Symptoms of high testosterone in males include:
- Acne or oily skin
- Prostrate swelling
- Breast enlargement
- Worsening of sleep apnea
- Fluid retention
- Decreased testicle size
- Decreased sperm count
- Increase in red blood cells
Generally, the normal range of testosterone in males is about 270 to 1070 ng/dl with an average range of 679 ng/dl. A normal testosterone level in males peaks at the age of 20 and then gradually decreases. Some researchers report saying that the healthiest man has testosterone levels between 400 to 600 ng/dl. Here is the list of average testosterone levels by age:
| Age | Testosterone Levels (ng/dl) |
| 0-5 | 75-400 |
| 6-9 | <7-20 |
| 10-11 | <7-130 |
| 12-13 | <7-800 |
| 14 | <7-1200 |
| 15-16 | 100-1200 |
| 17-18 | 300-1200 |
| 19+ | 240-950 |
| Avg. adult male | 270-1070 |
| 30+ | -1% per year |
There are various natural ways to increase your testosterone levels quickly in your body. Here are a few easy and natural ways to boost your testosterone fast.
- Eat more protein, fats, and carbs
- Exercise and lift weights
- Reduce stress levels as well as cortisol levels
- Take vitamin-D supplements
- More minerals and other vitamins
- Don’t avoid cholesterol
- Take T-boosting ingredients like tesofen, zinc, D-Aspartic acid, and diindolylmethane
- Have plenty of rest and sound sleep
Most men hate going to the doctor for testosterone tests but what if you could easily figure it out at your home? A number of ways are available by which you can perform testosterone tests at home. These are:
- Monitor the smell of your sweat
- Monitor the size of your testicles
- Observe the quality and frequency of your erections
- Through home saliva or blood spot testosterone test kit
- Your body fat percentage
Testosterone affects so many functions so its decrease can bring about significant changes in the body in both aspects physical and emotional. If testosterone level reduces or becomes low in males then the following things can happen:
- Reduced sex drive
- Infertility
- Few erections
- Physical changes such as increased body fat, fragile bones, swelling in breast tissue, decreased stamina, increased fatigue, and loss of body hair.
- Aches and pains in the joints
- Sleeping disturbance
- Depression
- Memory loss
- Irritation
Yes, there are many supplements in the market which you can easily buy from local supplement stores and have your testosterone level go up but you can’t make it go beyond a normal level because there exists no magic pills.
A few supplements may be somehow effective in raising your T-level if it is low in the body but not do not raise your T-level above a baseline. Actually, they are not meant to naturally boost testosterone levels but only help reduce deficiency of vitamins and minerals that affect the T-level in the body.
Yes, there are many supplements in the market which you can easily buy from a local supplement store and have your testosterone level go up but you can’t make it go beyond a normal level because there exist no magic pills.
A few supplements may be somehow effective in raising your T-level if it is low in the body but not do not raise your T-level above a baseline. Actually, they are not meant to naturally boost testosterone levels but only help reduce deficiency of vitamins and minerals that affect the T-level in the body.
No ranges have yet been determined for men aged 70 and older. Based on clinical reports, low total testosterone levels are recognized as less than 220 to 300 ng/dl.