[mondocat]

The far more common pathway to steroids is the 40 something man who wakes up feeling tired, sore, and grumpy and decides he has to skip the workout today. Then he realizes he's doing this more and more. He discovers TRT, gets a prescription, and feels better. Not psychologically, though that too - but physically, in that he can continue living his life at the pace he was accustomed to. He's not getting huge, he's just trying to slow the natural descent of age. For some people, working out in some fashion most days of the week is their life: their physical and social connection and outlet. When it's removed, it doesn't just mean they're not setting that record or getting those clicks, it means their everyday quality of life goes down. And it's recoverable, with TRT, and some of their friends are already doing it, so they do it. They don't have heart attacks, rages, or become massive, and they're probably pretty honest about it, not that you've have any cause to even wonder in the first place. They just get to keep going.

[hombre_fatal]

That said, TRT also has trade offs. It adds test and limits endogenous hormone production thus doesn’t help with any downstream hormones/metabolites and their effects. It’s not a free lunch that you want to get on if your T levels are still in ref range. We can’t actually give you the full hormonal system profile of a 20yo, just give you test which is only one of many differences between a 20yo and 50yo hormonal system.

Yet TRT tends to be peddled like it’s magic.

[Eddy_Viscosity2]

This is true, but is a separate situation. Aging men going on TRT to improve quality of life is very different than going on gear to get shredded. Worse is the prevalence of shredded men on gear in all media (mainstream and social) changes perceptions so that even having an 'average' good physique requires PED for most men. I have no idea what solution exists to reverse this.