Working out reduces sex drive?

[member11823]

How to counteract? Supplements?

 

[Sefton10]

Working out too intensely, too often or for too long can have a massive impact on energy metabolism. It is a stressor after all. My advice would be to cut back on what you are doing if it is negatively impacting other aspects rather than looking for a sticking plaster.

 

[Ben.]

I dont know ... working out always led to me being realy horny/available for sex when getting home from the gym and having ate something well.

Like some kind of holy trinity of wellbeing.

Perhaps you are realy overdoing it? How long is a session lasting? How intense is the workout?

 

[member11823]

I think I'm deficient in something. Probably amino acids?

 

[David90]

How to counteract? Supplements?

Like @Ben. said, i have the same effects after Workout and Eating Well (being realy Horny/Available for Sex).

Like he said, maybe you are overdoing it. But we need more Detail:

-How is your Workout Regimen structured?! (Bro-Split, Upper/Lower, Push/Pull or Full Body?).
-Are you Training (in Total) more than Three Times Per Week (4.....5 or even 6 Times per Week?)
-How long are your Workout Sessions?! (More then 30-45 Minutes per Workout?!).
-Do you take enough Pauses between Sets?! (Compound Exercises 3-4 Minutes Pause and Isolation Exercises 1-2 Minute Pause)
-Is your Nutrition Good/on Point (?). Are you Lacking Vitamin and/or Mineral Deficiencies?!. Are you Eating enough Protein (0.8-1g/Pound of Bodyweight) and Carbohydrates?.

I had the same feeling as you before. Before knowing the Ray Peat Forum i was training sometimes even over 60 Minutes per Day with too much Volume and it was not good for the Body (Metabolism and Muscle-Wise). Recovery was bad and i was getting Cortisol-Symptoms like crazy (Reduced Grip Strength, excessive Yawning after Workout, Bloating and so forth)

Since Knowing the Ray Peat Forum ( and @Hans ) and Increasing my Knowledge about his Principles i reduced my Workout Volume and Workout Time and feeling and doing better in my Workouts.

like @Sefton10 said, reducing Workout Volume and Workout Time would be a good Option. 15 Sets Total per Workut (Mostly from Compound Exercises, not counting ab Exercise(s)) and Redcuing Workout Time (to around 30-45 Minutes) would be a good Idea.

 

[member11823]

No side effects of overtraining except loss of libido. The other things are OK. Mood is OK and so on.
3 times per week, only compound movements. Pretty short workouts. Lots of carbs. Protein is moderate.

 

[Ippodrom47]

I was severely overtrained some time ago and am still recovering. It can take months or years to recover from extreme overtraining, so better take a week or two off, get lots of sleep, eat lots of carbs, go for walks, have sex and enjoy your life :) I've personally found that working out 3 times a week was too much, so I was better off with only two workout sessions a week with 3-4 days of rest in between. To each their own, though. Loss of libido can be a pretty serious indicator of impending overtraining, so better not to push yourself.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

Cardio especially can do that.

 

[Sefton10]

I was severely overtrained some time ago and am still recovering. It can take months or years to recover from extreme overtraining, so better take a week or two off, get lots of sleep, eat lots of carbs, go for walks, have sex and enjoy your life :) I've personally found that working out 3 times a week was too much, so I was better off with only two workout sessions a week with 3-4 days of rest in between. To each their own, though. Loss of libido can be a pretty serious indicator of impending overtraining, so better not to push yourself.

This has been my experience too unfortunately. It’s so frustrating and hard to leave it alone as I love training, but it’s undoubtedly had the biggest negative impact on my health and I’m still trying to recover from it months/years later.

 

[David90]

No side effects of overtraining except loss of libido. The other things are OK. Mood is OK and so on.
3 times per week, only compound movements. Pretty short workouts. Lots of carbs. Protein is moderate.

Can you define ''short workouts'' ?. How long are they in General. Around 30-45 Minutes?.
Only Compound Movements sounds good to me, can't go wrong with that.

Also if you eat Moderate Protein, have you enough of the Amino Acids ''Glycine'' and ''Proline'' in your Diet (via Gelatin Powder oder Collagen Powder)?. These Two can be Anti-Cortisol.

 

[David90]

I was severely overtrained some time ago and am still recovering. It can take months or years to recover from extreme overtraining, so better take a week or two off, get lots of sleep, eat lots of carbs, go for walks, have sex and enjoy your life :) I've personally found that working out 3 times a week was too much, so I was better off with only two workout sessions a week with 3-4 days of rest in between. To each their own, though. Loss of libido can be a pretty serious indicator of impending overtraining, so better not to push yourself.

3 Times per Week, CAN be (depending on the individual circumstances) too much. But it depends strongly on the Lifestyle of the Individual. If you have (Job-Wise) Long Working Hours (9-10 Hours or More) or have a very stressful Lifestyle, than Two Workouts per Week with longer rest can also work ALTHOUGH IMO it's not quite optimal. A Friend of Mine has long Working Hours (over 10 Hours Daily) and he does also 2 Workout Sessions per Week. It works for him.

Also Overtraining CAN occur via doing Too much Sets per Week or going always to Failure. 10-20 ''Hard'' Sets (and 4-8 for Smaller Muscle Groups like Biceps, Triceps, Abs, Rear Delts) per Bodypart per Week are Optimal. What is Defined as a ''Hard Set''?. According to ''Revivestronger'' (if i read that correctly a few Weeks ago) a Hard Set is Defined as staying around 1-4 Reps from Failure (having 1-4 Reps in the Tank). This would be described as ''Hard Set''.

3 Times per Week is Optimal for most People, since you have Enough Volume, Intensity and Workout-Variants, to do this for a very long Time. Also the Overtraining Risk is much lower with 3 Times per Week vs. 5-6 Times per Week. But like you said, to each their own. Overtraining Symptoms are not only Libido Loss. ''Losing Grip Strength'' , and getting ''Flu Like Symptoms'' the Day after the Workout Session CAN also be a Sign of Overtraining.

 

[Ippodrom47]

This has been my experience too unfortunately. It’s so frustrating and hard to leave it alone as I love training, but it’s undoubtedly had the biggest negative impact on my health and I’m still trying to recover from it months/years later.

Hi! Could you please elaborate on your training routine/symptoms at that time? Have you been able to recover (at least partially) some of the health? Thanks!

 

[Sefton10]

Hi! Could you please elaborate on your training routine/symptoms at that time? Have you been able to recover (at least partially) some of the health? Thanks!

Lots of fasted weightlifting and calisthenics to failure were the straw that broke the camel's back. I would literally get up and train every morning before breakfast, not for long but very intensely. A lot of dieting around that time too - calorie counting and the typical gradual move toward less and less carbs before ending up carnivore and doing 24 hour fasts, interspersed with massive binges/blowouts on junk as a "reward". Leangains was probably the diet/training regime I spent the most time doing. It felt really good for quite a while and I got shredded, but now I know that was just sky high stress hormones. Prior to that I did a lot of cardio for a few years - training for sprint triathlons and 5/10k runs etc. I started to just feel worse and worse over time, culminating in a brutal case of shingles, which I'm still battling the after effects of a couple of years later. I have very little exercise tolerance currently and if I do anything beyond walking or a round of golf I can suffer a recurrence of a lot of issues so I have to be really careful - the temptation is always to over exert myself whenever I feel "good". To be honest I enjoyed feeling fit, but most of it was just driven by vanity and "looks", I wish I knew then what I know now - I still remember buzzing off a resting heart rate of 36-38 thinking it was the epitome of health.

 

[Ippodrom47]

Lots of fasted weightlifting and calisthenics to failure were the straw that broke the camel's back. I would literally get up and train every morning before breakfast, not for long but very intensely. A lot of dieting around that time too - calorie counting and the typical gradual move toward less and less carbs before ending up carnivore and doing 24 hour fasts, interspersed with massive binges/blowouts on junk as a "reward". Leangains was probably the diet/training regime I spent the most time doing. It felt really good for quite a while and I got shredded, but now I know that was just sky high stress hormones. Prior to that I did a lot of cardio for a few years - training for sprint triathlons and 5/10k runs etc. I started to just feel worse and worse over time, culminating in a brutal case of shingles, which I'm still battling the after effects of a couple of years later. I have very little exercise tolerance currently and if I do anything beyond walking or a round of golf I can suffer a recurrence of a lot of issues so I have to be really careful - the temptation is always to over exert myself whenever I feel "good". To be honest I enjoyed feeling fit, but most of it was just driven by vanity and "looks", I wish I knew then what I know now - I still remember buzzing off a resting heart rate of 36-38 thinking it was the epitome of health.

That sounds so awfully familiar.
I used to work out almost every single day (split squats, push-ups, pull-ups) before breakfast and added a weightlifting workout in the afternoon every now and then. At first, I was really fit and shredded, with nice biceps, quads, triceps, etc, but then it all started. One day after one such workout outdoors, I felt extremely dizzy, couldn't even remember how I got home. My symptoms gradually increased from annoying to almost debilitating: hellish insomnia, low body T, low heart rate, fungal overgrowth and gut issues, cold intolerance, extremely low Free T3, low Free T4/normal TSH, anxiety. My WBC was very low (was referred to a hematologist once), even now my lymphocytes are below normal from time to time, My testosterone and free testosterone are low for my age (31), my thyroid hormones are low-normal or a bit under the range, my morning cortisol is high. Also, the sleep is not extremely good, especially if I walk for too long or too fast during the day. I wake up in the middle of the night, and I'm happy If I can fall asleep after that, No workouts for the time being, of course. Do you feel like there is any hope to restore your health back to normal again?

 

[Sefton10]

That sounds so awfully familiar.
I used to work out almost every single day (split squats, push-ups, pull-ups) before breakfast and added a weightlifting workout in the afternoon every now and then. At first, I was really fit and shredded, with nice biceps, quads, triceps, etc, but then it all started. One day after one such workout outdoors, I felt extremely dizzy, couldn't even remember how I got home. My symptoms gradually increased from annoying to almost debilitating: hellish insomnia, low body T, low heart rate, fungal overgrowth and gut issues, cold intolerance, extremely low Free T3, low Free T4/normal TSH, anxiety. My WBC was very low (was referred to a hematologist once), even now my lymphocytes are below normal from time to time, My testosterone and free testosterone are low for my age (31), my thyroid hormones are low-normal or a bit under the range, my morning cortisol is high. Also, the sleep is not extremely good, especially if I walk for too long or too fast during the day. I wake up in the middle of the night, and I'm happy If I can fall asleep after that, No workouts for the time being, of course. Do you feel like there is any hope to restore your health back to normal again?

Definitely sounds like you've been down a similar path. I'm a little older than you (41) so might take longer to dig myself out. I'm an optimist so do have hope I will get back to good health again, but it is definitely feeling like a slow process despite focussing on the general pro-metabolic approach for a while. One thing I haven't tried beyond a few small doses of T3 (no real effect) is thyroid supplementation so I do wonder if that needs to be my next step. I've always been aware it needs a really careful and considered approach so haven't committed to it, especially when reading all the mixed results on the forum. What has made the biggest improvements for you so far?

 

[Ippodrom47]

Definitely sounds like you've been down a similar path. I'm a little older than you (41) so might take longer to dig myself out. I'm an optimist so do have hope I will get back to good health again, but it is definitely feeling like a slow process despite focussing on the general pro-metabolic approach for a while. One thing I haven't tried beyond a few small doses of T3 (no real effect) is thyroid supplementation so I do wonder if that needs to be my next step. I've always been aware it needs a really careful and considered approach so haven't committed to it, especially when reading all the mixed results on the forum. What has made the biggest improvements for you so far?

My endocrinologist has prescribed me levothyroxine, but I'm a bit hesitant to try it as I've been told here it might make my hypothyroidism symptoms worse. So far, I've only been property resting for several weeks so it's hard to tell whether any positive tendency is in place. Could I check on you in a little while to know the progress, if you don't mind?)

 

[Sefton10]

My endocrinologist has prescribed me levothyroxine, but I'm a bit hesitant to try it as I've been told here it might make my hypothyroidism symptoms worse. So far, I've only been property resting for several weeks so it's hard to tell whether any positive tendency is in place. Could I check on you in a little while to know the progress, if you don't mind?)

Yes of course.

 

[ecstatichamster]

when I lifted heavy weights, I could go one workout in 5 days or even 7 days and I would benefit. More than that was counter productive. I was in my 40s and 50s at the time.

 

[David90]

That sounds so awfully familiar.
I used to work out almost every single day (split squats, push-ups, pull-ups) before breakfast and added a weightlifting workout in the afternoon every now and then. At first, I was really fit and shredded, with nice biceps, quads, triceps, etc, but then it all started. One day after one such workout outdoors, I felt extremely dizzy, couldn't even remember how I got home. My symptoms gradually increased from annoying to almost debilitating: hellish insomnia, low body T, low heart rate, fungal overgrowth and gut issues, cold intolerance, extremely low Free T3, low Free T4/normal TSH, anxiety. My WBC was very low (was referred to a hematologist once), even now my lymphocytes are below normal from time to time, My testosterone and free testosterone are low for my age (31), my thyroid hormones are low-normal or a bit under the range, my morning cortisol is high. Also, the sleep is not extremely good, especially if I walk for too long or too fast during the day. I wake up in the middle of the night, and I'm happy If I can fall asleep after that, No workouts for the time being, of course. Do you feel like there is any hope to restore your health back to normal again?

Sounds like ''2 Workouts a Day'' for me. Maybe this was too much for the Body to Handle. One Workout a Day (and in Total 3-4 Workouts per Week) are more than Enough if Asthetics / Building Muscle / Athletecism are the Main Goals. Doesn't have too be long Workouts Either. 30-45 Minutes Maximum.

Waking Up in the Middle of the Night sounds like High Cortisol AND Adrenalin. Have you tried drinking Gelatin with some Milk, Honey & Salt at Night (1 Hour before Sleep)?!. This could help reducing your Cortisol and makes your Sleep better.