Does TRT Beat Exercise?

Less than a quarter of testosterone prescriptions in the US are written after the patient gets a single lab. Half of patients who start TRT never get a follow-up level checked. The wellness-clinic playbook is engineered to skip the workup, because the workup is what would catch the cases where TRT isn't actually the answer. Dr. Jordan Feigenbaum and Dr. Austin Baraki walk through how a real testosterone workup gets done: morning sample, fasted, not during illness or after a run of bad sleep; total testosterone first, then on the repeat draw, add LH, FSH, and SHBG to localize the problem and check the binding protein. From Episode 2 of our Signal book launch series. Pre-order our book, Signal: barbellmedicine.com/signal Watch the full episode on the channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz9utAEx9-w&feature=youtu.be Chapters: 00:00 Why morning, fasted, and not during illness 01:30 The 8-hours-after-waking myth (and why it's bogus) 02:45 The all-night-bender anti-pattern 03:45 Why the second draw matters (~50% normalize) 05:00 What to add to the second draw: LH, FSH, SHBG 06:15 Free or bioavailable T as a follow-up step 07:15 Why the wellness-clinic single-afternoon-draw model exists Resources & links Signal — Feigenbaum & Baraki (Barbell Medicine, 2026): coming soon Episode 1 (Is the Testosterone Crisis Real?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm5FxIw-I7Y&feature=youtu.be Training Plateau Action Plan (free): barbellmedicine.com/training-plateau-action-plan Barbell Medicine programs and consultations: barbellmedicine.com To support us and get ad free listening, plus special product discounts, and exclusive content, go to supercast.barbellmedicine.com https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20554979/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29562364/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18308002/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16670164/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19112025/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18838208/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27210182/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10523012/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33739153/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40066943/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26075486/