By the time he stepped on stage his testosterone levels had gone from 9.22 ng/mL to 2.27 ng/mL–that’s an 80% reduction. He dieted/exercised his way from 14.8% to 4.5% body fat. One study tracked a natural (drug-free) bodybuilder for six months as he prepared for a competition. Is it possible to get too lean as far as hormones go? Maybe.
This study just reinforced something we already know: getting lean and staying that way is important for overall health and vitality. But the scope and length of this study lead researchers to this conclusion: “Longitudinal analyses showing no influence of baseline hormone levels on change in anthropometric measures imply that body composition affects hormone levels and not the reverse.” 1 As expected, higher body fat percentages were associated with lower testosterone levels. One recent study, in fact, looked at over 800 men, measuring both their body fat and testosterone levels. High body fat levels are correlated with low testosterone and high estrogen in men (losing combination). “Someone at 20% bodyfat is almost guaranteed to have high estrogen as well as a host of other problems that would be virtually non existent at 10% bodyfat.” With that in mind, I’ll start with a quote from Jason Ferruggia’s Renegade Diet: One of my main interest in researching/writing this article is to look at the connection between leanness and healthy hormone levels.
What is the ideal body fat level for men?
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