There is more to testosterone than just reduced libido and less gym enthusiasm

Be a man, don't neglect your health

- By Mzwandile kaBizokwakhe

Quietly and slowly, the man who would tackle a Saturday run, DIY project, or braai with friends with vibrancy has gradually faded.

“It must be stress or that natural march of Father Time,” every man in his late 40s who has experienced this immediately thought, yet it was a deeper fatigue than one sleep could fix.

The mental fog had made concentration a struggle and motivation a distant memory.

But why? What happened to the man who used to take to the gym with vigour?

The most common assumption is that testosterone, the hormone associated with strength and performance, is all about muscles and sex. But it goes much deeper than fading intimacy to affect physical, mental, and overall well-being.

As Ingrid Singels, associate director of Pharma Dynamics' scientific division, explains, “Testosterone underpins much of what men take for granted - strength, drive, focus and mood. When it dips, the effects ripple across body and mind.”