Ryan Hall Q&A: "I’ve had clinically low testosterone levels, which affects everything."

AT&T wrote:

Why would he take thyroid but not testosterone? Is one morally OK and not the other?

Testosterone is banned, thyroid medication is not.

Poor Sara.

Not Ryan Hall wrote:

http://running.competitor.com/2015/10/features/qa-ryan-hall-on-his-recent-struggles-his-running-future-and-his-growing-family_136951

"There isn’t anything that I can legally do to change that and even if I were to get a TUE (therapeutic use exemption) for testosterone, I still wouldn’t take a synthetic version because then the body stops producing testosterone naturally. I also feel like taking synthetic testosterone, even with a TUE, crosses a moral line that I am not willing to cross.

The quintessential gray area question. My wife and I had this argument not too long ago.

Would a TUE be analogous to treating a physical injury? Like having surgery on a foot problem; both caused by running too much; both returning his body to "normal" levels, and therefore acceptable.

Or would a TUE allow him to maintain training and/or body fat levels that are unsustainable naturally, and therefore be considered doping? This is obviously Hall's stance.

Or should he allow himself to raise his levels to the typical 1:1, but not the 4:1 that he could legally do with a TUE.

Assumptions for the sake of argument:

-training too much caused the lower test,

-rest and/or adding body-fat would allow it to return to normal,

-boosting to a 1:1 does not offer any benefit over someone training at the same level with a natural 1:1

Being married an having kids is associated with low testo levels.

http://www.ehbonline.org/article/S1090-5138

(01)00101-5/abstract

The fact that Ryan and Sara just adopted FOUR kids is not going to help his T levels. This instant ramp-up to 24-7 parenting of such a large family can only add more fatigue.

I have to admire the Halls for their selflessness, graciousness and living their commitment. But let's be honest--those kids are a blessing that will hit his house like a bomb.

Runningart2004 wrote:

Also we are talking about chronic and excessive (by normal standards) endurance training. Running 3 miles every other day is actually good for testosterone, like all exercise.

Also, a high fat diet will not raise testosterone. A caloric surplus diet however will raise it.

Alan

yup. For a top athlete its best to get as lean as possible during base training and eat a little more than necessary in racing season before hard workouts. Just one of many reasons Lydian periodization is so important.

Anyways, there may be something in Hall's diet, maybe wheat, maybe coffee, maybe dairy, etc effecting his digestion/absorption that can lead to this.

It's really simple, Being anorexic and running a hundred or more miles a week is rough on hormonal systems. Nothing short of trouble should be expected. It's no different than women's gymnastics where the girls fail to menstruate and what not.

I'd like to give the guy props for addressing this situation. It does help understand the precipitous drop off in his race the last 3 or 4 years.

I even admire his stance on TUE, however the fact of the matter is that there are many legal and accepted practices that do not require TUE, and at the end of the day also "get the body to a normal level."

For instance, NSAIDs fight pain and inflammation caused by running, allowing you to do more. Someone else mentioned surgery to correct issues caused by running.

If running too much causes Achilles tendinitis and I go through a procedure to fix it so I can run more, is it really all that different than getting your T backup to a normal level (say 1:1 instead of 4:1, as has also already been mentioned).

Too much muscle milk

The dude is FRIED!!!! Stick a fork in him...He's Well Done!!!!!

There is no mystery here. He's been running his A** off his entire life and as the late Don Meredith said "Turn out the lights....The party is over". Great career and overall good guy but now you need to turn the page and move on.

RIP (Run In Peace).

fred wrote:

"Endurance exercise reduces testosterone by design. There's nothing wrong with him. That is how ALL men react to high volume endurance training. It's a natural way for the body to get as lean as possible. It's just that it feels horrible, unfortunately."

Scientific evidence please.

And 120 miles a week isn't high volume.

Hey Fred!!!

Have you ever run 120 a week??? Not high volume??? Put that pipe down and wake up brother. Obviously you've never run a 120 week. Not just one, but 3 or 4 in training blocks throughout the year.

Let me help you out here, HIGH VOLUME TRAINING is not running 1 or 2 weeks at 120 and then being hurt for 6 months. Its putting together consecutive 120 weeks with minimal recovery weeks in between and then REPEATING again and again throughout the course of the year depending on your goal.

Jkj wrote:

Poor Sara.

THIS

She isn't getting any, her husband is SKINNY and not a lot of money coming in anymore either.

"Prolactin and cortisol levels were normal and did not differ between groups. The results suggested normal hypothalamic-pituitary function existed in the trained subjects, and prolactin and cortisol were not causative factors in the lowered resting testosterone and free testosterone levels. The findings indicate that chronic endurance training lowers testosterone and free testosterone in males possibly by impairing testicular function."

1. "cortisol levels were normal and did not differ between groups"

2. "endurance training lowers testosterone and free testosterone in males possibly by impairing testicular function" - Possibly

The cortisol was the same, and possibly endurance training lowers testosterone by impairing the testicles"

Possibly is speculation. They don't know.

I read this and his wife's statements as he USED to take some sort of testosterone boost. Look back to the progression of good times.

He finds God (not that there is anything wrong with that) and now morally cannot take the T.

Runningart2004 wrote:

http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jcem-72-2-422http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/2675257/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/9763799/?i=6&from=/2675257/related

Chronic endurance training lowers Testosterone. Cortisol is going to depend a lot on the type and length of training. I doubt researchers have many high level runners in their studies. Don't worry, most high level athletes are going to have high cortisol levels because they train hard whether they are runners are not.

Alan

"Presently, however, there are no findings to indicate that any consistent dysfunctions of any of the testosterone dependent processes in the male occur due to endurance training."

No mechanisms, no link. It could just be that males with lower testosterone take up running, whereas males with higher levels of testosterone take up meathead sports.

Anytime I've had my testosterone measured during heavy training periods, it's been in the low 400s and a couple times, in the mid 300s

Anytime I've had it tested during an injury (when injured, I don't cross train, I stop everything) or when on a running break, it's been in the upper 700s with it being in the 800s once.

fred wrote:

"Presently, however, there are no findings to indicate that any consistent dysfunctions of any of the testosterone dependent processes in the male occur due to endurance training."

These studies are done with a weekly mileage of your average hobby jogger. 40, 50, 60 mpw. Somewhere above 90 mpw, your testosterone will go down.

Just look at pictures of elite distance runners - they're built like war survivors, not like greek gods.

Shoebacca wrote:

I assume Ryan isn't reading this, but to anyone who is I would recommend adding some basic plyometrics. .

I assume he is/was. There was a letsrun thread talking about low testosterone 4 years ago, and all of a sudden he addresses it.

Yes Ryan, if you take the testosterone and race against other guys, its a moral problem.

But if you take the T and don't race, you can go back to running long hard workouts. Is there joy in that for you?

You ran 23 @ 5:17 at 9000 feet in 2014, but bogged down after that. Take the T and run 2:10 for fun.

SOUL PATROL wrote:

fred wrote:

"Endurance exercise reduces testosterone by design. There's nothing wrong with him. That is how ALL men react to high volume endurance training. It's a natural way for the body to get as lean as possible. It's just that it feels horrible, unfortunately."

Scientific evidence please.

And 120 miles a week isn't high volume.

Hey Fred!!!

Have you ever run 120 a week??? Not high volume??? Put that pipe down and wake up brother. Obviously you've never run a 120 week. Not just one, but 3 or 4 in training blocks throughout the year.

Let me help you out here, HIGH VOLUME TRAINING is not running 1 or 2 weeks at 120 and then being hurt for 6 months. Its putting together consecutive 120 weeks with minimal recovery weeks in between and then REPEATING again and again throughout the course of the year depending on your goal.

Higher than that moron

Jerome Drayton up to 196 miles a week, Rodgers 200, Shorter 150 plus 2 speed and a long run in the heat.

You didn't hear them complaining about low testosterone