Can women take testosterone for fitness?

Unless there are clear clinical medical indications and the entire use is under the guidance of a specialist, it is absolutely not recommended for ordinary fitness women to take testosterone by themselves.

Women's ovaries and adrenal glands secrete a small amount of testosterone, and the level is only about 1/10 to 1/20 of that of adult men. This dose is enough to support muscle synthesis and metabolic regulation in a natural state, and no additional supplement is needed. Many people will focus on testosterone because they know that it is an anabolic hormone that can greatly improve the efficiency of muscle building and speed up body fat consumption. The results are much faster than half a year of hard training. Several friends I know who compete in professional women's bodybuilding will indeed use relevant testosterone during the preparation period under the full monitoring of the team. Vegetarian preparations, but that is a choice in extreme scenarios - their core goal is to impact professional performance, and they are already prepared to take corresponding risks. There are also dedicated personnel to regularly monitor hormone indicators and make post-game recovery adjustments. Ordinary enthusiasts do not have this supporting condition at all, and blindly following the trend will only lead to pitfalls.

Two years ago, I met a little girl in 1998 at a local iron gym. She bought the so-called "female muscle growth hormone" from an online "drug dealer", which is actually a low-dose testosterone. After taking it for three months, her deadlift score increased from 80 kilograms to 110 kilograms. Her vest line was very clear without carbon control. What followed was amenorrhea, stubble on the chin, and a voice that was getting thicker and thicker. I went to the hospital for six hormone tests and found that my testosterone level was 6 times higher than the normal upper limit. The doctor said that even if I stopped taking the medication now, the problem of a thicker voice might be irreversible. I still remember the way the little girl squatted at the door of the clinic crying.

Of course, this does not mean that testosterone is completely a scourge for women. In recent years, academic circles have indeed come to different research conclusions: some experiments have shown that for women who have insufficient testosterone secretion during perimenopause and have already experienced symptoms such as muscle loss and fatigue, low-dose testosterone supplementation can indeed improve related symptoms. Symptoms and improve the quality of life, but this is a strict clinical treatment category. A complete hormone examination must be done first to confirm that there is indeed a deficiency before a doctor can prescribe it. The dosage used is several orders of magnitude different from the dosage circulated in the fitness enthusiast circle, which is not the same thing at all.

To put it bluntly, when we ordinary girls exercise, don’t they just want to look good in clothes and have good physical fitness? If in order to quickly develop peach buttocks and waistcoat lines, you will end up with menstrual disorders, growing beards, and having a thicker voice. This is completely putting the cart before the horse. If you really want to improve your muscle-building efficiency, it is better to focus on eating well, eating enough 1.6-2.2g of protein per kilogram of body weight every day, gradually adding weight during training, and getting enough sleep for 7-8 hours. The results after half a year will definitely not disappoint you, and you really can’t do anything with these unknown risks. Not to mention that there are many so-called "natural testosterone precursors" and "phytotestosterone" from unknown origins on the Internet. The ingredients are not clearly labeled, and banned anabolic hormones may have been secretly added. If you have problems after eating them, you don't even know who to call for rights protection.