It's not just testosterone
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The drop in testosterone and the modern narrative
In recent decades, there has been increasing discussion about a progressive Male testosterone decline.
It's a recurring theme. in books, podcasts, forums, and groups dedicated to training, performance, and hormonal health, and so far, nothing strange about that.
The problem arises when, in trying to understand the causes of this phenomenon, one delves deeper and deeper into a certain kind of narrative, the one according to which the modern world would now be almost incompatible with good hormonal balance.
The more time you spend on social media, forums, or optimization-obsessed communities, the more you come into contact with the idea that Today's society is a continuous trap.receipts, plastics, perfumes, shampoos, deodorants, containers, endocrine disruptors everywhere.
At one point, it almost seems that to maintain high testosterone, the alternatives are two: You either inject it, or you move to a forest far away from everything and everyone..
Which, to put it very simply, That's nonsense. and it is also deeply misleading.
In theory, of course, many of these elements can have an effect. This must be honestly acknowledged, but the decisive point is precisely this: in theory it doesn't mean in everyday practice.
In practice, these details are almost never the true root cause of a testosterone drop. The risk, by focusing too much on what is marginal, is to completely lose sight of what truly matters.
And this matters even more because Testosterone isn't just about muscles and libido at all., as is too often heard.
It doesn't just affect body composition. It also influences energy, motivation, stability, ability to handle pressure, initiative, presence. In other words, It's not just about the body: It concerns the way a person is in the world and when the way a person is in the world changes, it's not just their physical appearance that changes, Changes their attitude, their way of acting, reacting, and facing life and, inevitably, also their way of relating to others.
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Testosterone has been given a bad rap
One of the main problems is that testosterone has often been described in the wrong way, It has been reduced to the hormone of aggression., as if it were a kind of raw fuel that automatically makes a person more violent, more impulsive, more dominated by instincts. It's a simplification that works well in superficial debates, but doesn't reflect reality at all.
The testosterone, much more often, it behaves like an amplifier of the internal state. If a person is already unstable, reactive, and unable to manage their impulses, then that condition can be exacerbated. But if a person is calm, centered, and emotionally stable, then a better androgenic profile can be accompanied by more confidence, more calmness under pressure, and a greater ability to bear the weight of situations without falling apart. It's not just drive; it's also stability. It's not just aggression; it's also presence.
And here comes an even more important aspect, which is often overlooked: When testosterone is lacking, various physical and mental changes can occur. In men, these can include decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, loss of muscle mass, increased body fat, mood changes like depression or irritability, and reduced bone density. In women, while testosterone is present in lower amounts, a deficiency can still lead to a decreased sex drive, fatigue, reduced muscle strength, and mood disturbances., or when the organism's general context is unfavorable to good androgenic function?
In many cases, one doesn't simply observe less muscle mass or less libido. One observes less energy, less initiative, less desire to assert oneself, less motivation, less self-confidence. Sometimes, also a different way of perceiving difficulties: what previously seemed manageable begins to seem too heavy, too threatening, too draining. Some people describe precisely this: not only do they feel more tired, but they feel less solid. More exposed. More easily shaken by what happens outside.
On the other hand, when the picture improves, many people report not only more energy or more sexual desire. They also tell something subtler: greater confidence, greater composure, greater stress tolerance, a more stable sense of presence. Not because testosterone magically transforms a person's character, but because it makes it easier to sustain certain internal states.
In this sense, testosterone it is also linked to drive, that is, to the push to manifest oneself, to leave a mark, to build, to want something and move towards it.. It's not just about physical strength; it's also about the ability to withstand a difficult challenge and perceive it not only as a threat but also as something worth facing. For some people, this drive is expressed in sports, for others in work, entrepreneurship, creation, study, or the ambition to achieve something.
The difference is felt above all in the way fatigue is experienced: there are moments when a difficult task is perceived as an unnatural burden, almost as something the body rejects; in other cases, however, that very difficulty is experienced as the right place to be, as a challenge that calls forth the best.
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Why it matters even more during growth
If all of this is true for adults, it becomes even more relevant when you look at it in the most formative phase of life: the one that roughly goes from 10 to 20 years old.
In those years, a young person is, in most cases, within their most favorable physiological hormonal range. It's a phase where the body is designed to grow, adapt, expose itself, experiment, make mistakes, and progressively build its own identity. But it's not just a physical matter. It's also about how experiences are lived.
A teenager With a good level of energy, a certain basic confidence, and decent stress resilience, one tends to approach the world differently. Difficulties don't disappear, but they are perceived as manageable. Challenges are not automatically avoided. Confrontation with others, while inevitable, doesn't immediately become paralyzing.
On the contrary, when this foundation is more fragile, even the exact same situations can take on a completely different weight. The judgment of others weighs more heavily, uncertainty is amplified, comparison more easily becomes a source of insecurity. And this happens in a context that is profoundly different today compared to the past.
In the past, there were relatively few role models: parents, teachers, and a few external figures. Today, a boy grows up immersed in a continuous flow of stimuli, role models, expectations, and opinions.. Social media constantly expose us to extremely high, often unrealistic, standards and multiply comparison exponentially. You are no longer compared to ten people. You are compared, directly or indirectly, to thousands.
In this context, The adolescent phase becomes even more delicate. That's precisely where many of the psychological structures that tend to stabilize in the following years are built. Security, self-perception, how to deal with stress, the relationship with failure: all of this takes shape much more markedly during those years.
For this reason, many of the problems that emerge later in life don't suddenly appear at twenty-five or thirty. They often have their roots precisely in that period. And intervening there, or at least better understanding what happens during that phase, can have a much more profound impact than any late attempt at “correction.”.
This doesn't mean reducing everything to testosterone or turning adolescence into a problem to be medicalized. However, it does mean recognizing that the biological, psychological, and environmental context of those years matters; and it matters much more than we think.
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How we sabotage ourselves by trying to optimize everything
And this is where one of the great modern paradoxes emerges. The more a person delves into the world of optimization, the more they risk moving away from what they actually want to achieve.. Especially when it loses its sense of proportion.
We know that the testosterone and the cortisol belong to the same large family of steroid hormones and both derive from cholesterol. This doesn't mean the body functions like a simple mechanical scale, but the general concept remains useful: in a context of chronic stress, the organism tends to prioritize immediate survival, vigilance, alertness, and therefore a setting that favors cortisol and everything needed to withstand a situation perceived as challenging or threatening.
The longer this state persists, the less the general terrain will be favorable to a good testosterone balance, and the problem is that many people, in an attempt to “optimize” their hormones, end up creating precisely this state.
Before entering this world, maybe a bad night's sleep was simply a bad night's sleep. The next day you'd wake up a little more tired, get through your day, and the following evening you'd go back to sleep, end of story.
Today, however, many people experience the same situation in a completely different way.
They sleep poorly one night, and from there starts an almost automatic mental chain: “I slept poorly, so today I'll have higher cortisol, then testosterone will also be lower; if I train today I'll increase cortisol even more, but if I don't train I'll skip the program and if I skip the program I'll compromise the journey, so I'll lose all the results achieved.” At that point, the biggest damage is almost never the single night of poor sleep. It's the rumination that follows, it's the way the mind turns a small deviation into a catastrophe.
The same happens with many other details. A person begins to control everything: body products, perfumes, receipts, containers, routines, schedules, every tiny gesture. And slowly health stops being a path of improvement and becomes a source of continuous pressure. But a system that is experienced this way is no longer a system that sustains life; it is a system that burdens it.
To understand the point This is a very simple example. If someone told you that to improve your health or increase testosterone you have to drink a glass of water a day, you would take the glass and drink it. Period. You wouldn't start wondering if the water should be cold or lukewarm, if it should be drunk all in one gulp or sipped, if the glass should be tall, short, narrow, wide, or if a mug would work just as well. Yet this is exactly what we often do with many other habits: we turn a simple gesture into a puzzle.
The point isn't that one shouldn't improve. The point is that effective changes should be implemented so naturally that they stop occupying the center of your mind after a while. It’s normal to think about them more at first, because they’re something new. But if, after weeks or months, a practice continues to weigh on your mind like a burden, a control system, or a source of tension, then something isn’t working. For this reason, in most cases, gradualness is better than initial fervor.
The analogy with studying is very useful. A student starting from scratch in a subject might think the best method is to open the first page and try to memorize every detail right away. In theory, this would seem like the most thorough way to proceed. In practice, however, it's a method that often blocks, stresses, and slows you down. It's much better to build the big picture first, then the chapters, then the subheadings, and only then delve into the details. Details on their own are like leaves without branches: they exist, but they don't yet have a place to belong. The same applies to optimizing health and testosterone. If you try to implement everything at once, rigidly and obsessively, you risk accumulating leaves without building the tree. If, however, you proceed in layers, you create a structure. And within that structure, the details finally find their place.
For this, a principle that seems almost too simple applies, ..., but which is actually decisive: better to prevent than to cure: better to avoid the trap of living health obsessively from the outset; better to learn early on to integrate what is needed naturally, without turning one's journey into a continuous source of fear and maniacal self-control.
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Personality matters more than you think
Making everything even more interesting is another often underestimated factor: personality. Not everyone works the same way, and what represents order and stability for one person can become a cage for another.
Let's take two extreme cases. On one hand, there's the more introverted, more solitary person who is comfortable with themselves, doesn't need a lot of interaction, and in fact finds serenity in a very precise, almost meticulously detailed routine. For this type of individual, a structured day isn't a constraint. It's a reassuring container. It gives them control, reduces anxiety, and allows them to feel centered. In such cases, a fairly rigid routine can work very well.
On the other hand, however, there is also the person who is much more social, more extroverted, and more spontaneous—someone who draws energy from movement, variety, interactions, and things that aren’t always the same. For this person, imposing an overly rigid structure in the name of optimization can be harmful. Not because healthy practices don’t work, but because they are applied in the wrong psychological context. If the routine takes away more energy than it gives, if it makes a person feel trapped rather than supported, if it limits precisely those aspects of life from which a person draws vitality, then the end result can be worse, not better.
The exact same routine, therefore, can have completely different effects depending on who experiences it. And this is a fundamental point, because it means that it’s not enough to know which practices are theoretically useful. You need to understand when to implement them, how to implement them, and to what extent to adapt them to your own lifestyle. You don’t have to blindly conform to an abstract idea of optimization. Optimization is what needs to be adapted to you. You are the one who must remain at the center. You are the one who must decide how to integrate what you need in a way that is truly sustainable.
Of course, the exact opposite is true here as well, and that’s just as wrong. This line of reasoning must not become an excuse to never get started, to always put things off, or to justify inaction. The point isn’t to say, “Well, then, let everyone do as they please.” The point is something else: to prevent the perfect theory from destroying what is actually possible in practice. The best path is almost never the most flawless one on paper, but the one a person can actually stick with without breaking down.
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Competition, Social Interaction, and the Role of Women
And then there's one last large block, perhaps the most delicate one, where biology, psychology, and relationships truly begin to intersect: competition, social comparison, and the role of the partner.
From a biological perspective, in mammals, testosterone is also closely linked to competition among males, physical prowess, rivalry, and the ability to assert oneself and reproduce. This does not mean that modern human life should be reduced to an animalistic model, but it does mean that certain underlying mechanisms still exist. If a person finds themselves in a healthy competitive environment, this comparison can become a powerful motivator. Imagine two friends who start working out together, and one of them is just slightly ahead: a little stronger, a little more muscular, a little more disciplined. In such a situation, the gap is still perceived as bridgeable. Competition, if it remains healthy, can motivate both of them. They push each other, grow together, and the rivalry remains a source of momentum.
The problem arises when the gap becomes too wide or too consistent. If someone who’s just starting out spends hours comparing themselves to people who’ve been training for ten years—or perhaps to physiques built with anabolic steroids—the comparison can stop being realistic and become overwhelming. In that case, it no longer motivates; it holds you back, makes you feel small, and leaves you feeling inadequate. The same goes for social media. Constant comparison can be toxic—and, in most cases, it is. But not always. There are also instances where a person sees an extremely high standard and, instead of viewing it as a condemnation, interprets it as proof of what’s possible. They don’t compare themselves obsessively; they don’t ask themselves every other day if they’ve reached that level yet. They simply see a possibility, draw inspiration from it, and then go back to working on themselves. In this case, comparison acts as a catalyst, not as poison.
And this is precisely where the relational aspect comes into play. When discussing the role of women, it’s important to clarify one thing right away: many of the dynamics I’m about to describe can be reversed and apply, to a large extent, in the opposite direction as well. Here, the focus remains on male psychology and biology because that is the topic of this newsletter, but the principle of relationships is reciprocal.
That said, The type of relationship a man lives in can make a huge difference. The outside world is often a place of confrontation, performance, judgment, competition, success, and failure. That is why the value of a home, a relationship, or a partner can become immense when that space ceases to be yet another arena and instead becomes a place of peace. A place where one can retreat—not to escape, but to recharge. A place where a person knows that their worth does not depend solely on their latest achievement out there.
Let's consider a simple example. A man takes the stage for an audition and doesn’t win. Or he takes an important exam and fails. Or he misses out on a job opportunity. If they return home and find someone who continues to see them for who they are—for their values, for their true worth—and not just for the trophy they missed or the result they didn’t achieve, then that failure takes on a different weight. It hurts, of course, but it doesn’t destroy their identity. It doesn’t turn the home into an extension of external judgment. And this, in the long run, can make a huge difference in how a person approaches life.
On the contrary, a relationship strongly based on status, success, performance, and approval Conditional approval can also become, in the short term, a form of motivation. Some men might experience it as a push to do more, achieve more, and prove themselves more. But this is precisely where the problem lies: this form of motivation is often unstable. As long as everything is going well, it may seem effective. But what happens when failure strikes? What happens when you lose, when you fall apart, when the desired result doesn’t materialize? If, at that point, you sense distance, coldness, diminished esteem, or waning interest from your partner—even without explicit words—then the system reveals its full fragility. What seemed to be driving you forward suddenly proves incapable of bearing the weight of reality.
For this reason, in the long run, A healthy relationship tends to offer more profound support than a relationship purely based on performance. The first provides a foundation, while the second often provides only tension. And tension, however stimulating it may sometimes seem, rarely builds lasting stability.
It's worth repeating one last timeWhat has been said here about the role of women can largely be reversed. A man, in a healthy relationship, should also represent a space of security, support, dignity, and peace for a woman, not another place of judgment. However, since we are talking about testosterone and male psychology here, it was important to focus primarily on this direction.
Ultimately, if you take a close look at the whole picture, A very simple point emerges: Testosterone isn’t just something to boost. It’s a signal. A signal of one’s internal state, of one’s circumstances, of stress, of one’s sense of security, and of the sense of direction a person feels they have in their life. That’s why reducing it to a list of prohibitions, fears, and obsessions means failing to grasp what’s essential. The real work isn’t about escaping the modern world or controlling every detail. It’s about building a supportive foundation—one solid enough to allow the body and mind to function well in real life.
In this newsletter, I wanted to provide precisely this vision: the big picture, the context, the most common mistakes, and the dynamics that often go unnoticed.
In the ebook I’ve organized all of this and added what didn’t make sense to go into detail about here: the more concrete and structured aspects. How testosterone is produced, how it’s transported in the blood, the role of receptors, as well as sleep, nutrition, exercise, body composition, and the impact of modern stimuli on the dopaminergic system.
If you'd like to learn more, You can find my ebook here and it's on sale at -20% through April 6 :
Good Easter!
Oliver
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Beautiful food for thought!
Topics you absolutely must know about and explore in depth.
I hope I can buy the ebook because I'm terrible with digital stuff...
Thank you Oliver, thank you all for the continuous advice on becoming the protagonists of our (and not only our) HEALTH!
Claudia Ceroni
Thank you very much to you!
Good morning Oliver, my daughter, 33 years old, has the opposite problem, meaning she has high testosterone which causes acne, and taking Aldactone resolves it. Does the book also talk about this? Thank you. Liana De Bona
The main point is correct: testosterone is not an isolated variable, but an indicator of overall physiological status.
The hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis is heavily influenced by factors such as chronic stress, sleep, energy balance, and allostatic load, with a well-documented interaction with the HPA axis (cortisol).
Therefore, it makes sense to de-emphasize obsessions with marginal factors and focus on determinants that are truly impactful and sustainable over time.
In summary, rather than “optimizing testosterone,” it's more correct to create the systemic conditions for it to be maintained at adequate physiological levels.
Good morning, I’m new to this wonderful blog. My name is Antonella. I have so many questions, but for now I can’t ask them for myself—only on behalf of my partner. He’s 59 years old and is definitely (in fact, 100%) experiencing a significant drop in testosterone. For me, this wouldn’t be a problem, since I know it’s a normal phase of life—just like menopause is for me. The problem is, though, that he blames me for things that humiliate me and that I don’t deserve. Let me start by saying that he’s opposed to any form of medicine. He thinks that his snoring is so bad it’s driving me to take sleeping pills, but they only work for no more than two hours, and then my nights continue to be exasperating.and in the morning I struggle to get up—plus I have fibromyalgia—so imagine how I must feel after nights spent tossing and turning and often crying. That said, if there’s anything natural that could help him!!!! Also, because he often blames me, yells at me, etc. Plus, he’s put on that famous belly fat, and guess what!!!! In this case, too, it’s my fault. Can you give me some advice???? (P.S.: I APOLOGIZE IF I TOOK THE LIBERTY OF ADDRESSING YOU INFORMALLY). You probably have a lot of questions to answer, but even if you can’t reply, I thank you anyway. THANK YOU.