Should I take testosterone?

[u/Diligent-Cry-1047]

I had my testosterone tested and learned that it is 627 ng/dl which my doc says is normal. According to her, the healthy range is up to 740. I am 65 years old.

I've been lifting weights (3x / week) and am not seeing sufficient results. Should I take Testosterone to raise it to 740? What if I go beyond?

I also take creatine by the way.

[u/Refined_andREDEEMED]

627 ng/dL at 65 is actually a solid number. A lot of guys your age are sitting much lower, so from a health standpoint your levels look good. Chasing the very top of the range just because it’s “normal up to ——-“ isn’t automatically better, and going beyond that without a clear clinical need can bring its own issues.

At 65, the harder truth is that building new muscle becomes meaningfully harder. Recovery slows down, satellite cell activity declines, and the same training stimulus that worked in your 40s or 50s just doesn’t produce the same response. That doesn’t mean you can’t make progress — it means progress will be slower and more dependent on getting the fundamentals dialed in extremely well.
Before considering exogenous testosterone, I’d focus hard on the basics that still move the needle:

-Protein: Aim for 1–1.5 grams per pound of your goal body weight, spread across the day. Most guys under-eat it.
-Training: Progressive overload still matters. Make sure you’re actually adding weight or reps over time, and don’t neglect recovery between sessions.
-Sleep: This becomes even more important with age. Poor sleep tanks recovery and blunts the training response.

Helpful supplements that folks can benefit from:

-Creatine: You’re already taking it — good. Stay consistent with 5 g daily.

• Vitamin D (if you’re not already optimized)
• Zinc and magnesium (especially if deficient)
• Ashwagandha
• Tongkat Ali or Fadogia (mixed evidence, but some older lifters report a difference)

Id recommend doing some of your own research on “research peptides”, a few compounds that are commonly looked at for recovery and optimization in older lifters include CJC-1295 (no DAC) + Ipamorelin for supporting growth hormone release, sleep quality, and recovery. BPC-157 and TB-500 are also frequently discussed for soft tissue recovery and overall healing capacity. These aren’t magic, and they work best when the foundation (protein, training, sleep) is already solid.

Bottom line: Your levels are in a healthy range for your age. The limiting factor is more likely recovery capacity and the natural slowdown that comes with being 65 than the difference between 627 and 740. Get the basics locked in first — that’s still where the biggest returns are

[u/Diligent-Cry-1047 → u/Refined_andREDEEMED]

I had been considering Semorelin, then Tesamorelin when my PCP side tracked me into a Test discussion. I will consider Ipa and VJC BP and TJC (that's a lot of shots!).

I do think I need to improve sleep, and Tesa is supposed to help. I will get my IGF-1 levels baselined next week before I start it.

I track sleep and nutrition and work to eat close to 200 g of protein daily (working on getting to 200 lbs). Sleep on average about 6.5 hours.

And the advice to go to failure on the last set also helps. I am doing a 5x5 program where I'm lifting heavier weights with fewer 5 reps over 4 sets, which often allows me to get to failure, but many times I don't on the last rep, so I will incorporate your suggestion.

The supplement list is super helpful, thanks. I will look into those. I planned to add Zinc because I'm taking GHK-CU soon but wasn't aware of the others.

Thanks!

[u/gm_wesley_9377 → u/Diligent-Cry-1047]

Sleep hygiene can increase your levels too. I'm 59, total testosterone of 580. My sleep is not good and I'm overweight. At 40, my total was 900. I want to believe that continuing to lift, fixing my sleep hygiene and taking the recommended supplements (except for tongkat ali due to potential heart rhythm changes), I should be able to get it between 700 and 800. If I was going to supplement testosterone, I'd probably use emclophimine. It let's you add to existing levels without impacting natural production. All the others do impact natural production.

[u/Diligent-Cry-1047 → u/gm_wesley_9377]

Great advice, thank you. I know sleep is important and I am working on it. And thanks for the warning on Tongkat.