This round we feature guest Matt Bach, an elite triathlete and Ironman champion, as we dive into more on men’s health for active guys—and what can go wrong when you push too hard for too long. We often discuss this scenario for females, but guys are certainly at risk too, and Matt has experienced this first hand. Thankfully, he’s turning his experience into a chance to learn, educate, heal and increase awareness. For the backstory on Matt, check out the podcast series I did with him on Endurance Planet. Also, you don’t have to be an “athlete” to be at risk for these issues; many active hard-hitting men are pushing just as hard if not harder than athletes.
Show notes:
- Bone density issues in male athletes.
- Stress fracture vs. stress reaction.
- Bone density tie in with hormone levels and the HPA axis.
- HPA axis dysfunction in males.
- Low testosterone in male athletes.
- Tracking matt’s T levels and how he got improvement.
- What are “normal” T levels—it varies between 300 to 1,000 and largely depends on age; for a man in his 30s average total T is generally in the 600-700 range.
- Total testosterone vs. free testosterone.
- Matt’s survey shower that out of 22 questioned, only 3 male triathletes did not have a hormone issue.
- Comparisons on health in male athletes vs. female athletes—female issues much more well-documented and researched.
- What the current research shows in male athletes who are “fit but unhealthy.”
- What research needs to be done.
- Contributing factors to Matt’s decline in health and performance, including not eating enough.
- Study that Tawnee mentions on athletes chronically under-eating.
- In this study, the “average CHO intake represented less than half of the recommended intake, while energy intake was on average 17% too low.”
- Symptoms of poor health and low T in men, e.g. libido.
- On dietary fat: saturated and monounsaturated fats are superior to polyunsaturated fats for building healthy T.
- Matt’s experience working with researchers and talking at sports conferences on the matter.
- Matt’s “new” approach to training and changes he’s made.
- 5-7 hours a week of endurance training seems to be ok, but 10-12+ hours is risky.
- Gut issues in the equation of being “fit but unhealthy” and the tie in with psychological stress.
- Supplements for supporting bone density: Vitamin D, magnesium, curcumin, etc.
- Research on why you may want to avoid supplementing with calcium.
If you have followup questions, comments or thoughts to share, let us know in the comments!