Dr. Feigenbaum,
I have recently thrown myself back into the Starting Strength community and recall coming across an interesting statement by Mark Rippetoe in a seminar Q & A with regards to the infamous ~Texas Method~. His response that the quantitative cutoff for the TM being considered is 750 ng/dL of testosterone. While I do agree that the TM is not for everybody, not even close, there is a population for which it was intended. I believe this would be a 24 or under year old male with adequate resources to eat enough, get 9 or more hours of sleep a night, time for 2 and a half hours workouts, and with a job that isn't strenuous. . .and presumably with a higher than mean total testosterone level. Would Rip's answer imply that I - as a 23 year old male hoping to eventually be strong enough to compete - should badger my doctor about my testosterone level? Is testosterone levels in populations under the age of 40 at all a useful parameter for programming? To expand the question, are there any other blood tests that can be useful in this way?
Thanks in advance
I would not test your testosterone levels without some evidence of a deficiency. I would not use it to guide programming either and I would never recommend TM.