- Reaction score
- 13
Well, well. After deliberate consideration, I have decided to go completely sedentary - zero exercise apart from walking. I will also consume enough food to put on fat. Note: not weight, fat. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not claiming anything, but this is simply an experiment with myself on whether it can halt hair loss. Reading through old threads I come across people who propose the idea that perhaps obese people generally have lower testosterone and higher aromatase (hence, estrogen) levels thereby giving them protection. Moronic wishful thinking? I hope not.
I have been physically active all my life. I started squatting at about age 14 or so, and it was my favourite exercise and I started working out at 18, extremely intensely, and I don't think I ever went more than a week and a half without some kind of activity. This may in part be the reason I am still a NW2 at the age of 29 - the decrease in testosterone from intense, almost overtraining weight lifting has kept my test and in turn, DHT, in check.
Now this comes at a somewhat ironic moment as I had just hit some lifting PR's today and I know I am the strongest I have ever been at this body weight. But it is my personal belief that muscle mass in one part of the body correlates with another part of the body - in this instance, due to my straining of my body different muscles, there is an increase in muscle mass being built in my frontalis, temporalis and other surrounding head musculature, despite myself not voluntarily contracting those muscles. The body grows as a whole (an old bodybuilding adage). And as many of you might be familiar, there is a theory of hairloss called the skull expansion theory. I personally believe this to be the strongest theory out there thus far.
This might backfire. I did experience heavy mid-frontal shedding (might be vertex) which is usually caused by insulin resistance. But for me, it was initiated a few days of complete fasting after a big cheat day. I am getting my blood tested tomorrow, to better gauge if I should stick this plan out.
My gameplan
1) Eat at slightly above maintenance. I will try to intake zero sugar - and limit as much saturated fat as possible. Dietary fat would be kept in a healthy range, probably 20-30% of total calories. I would try to shoot for mostly polyunsaturated fat which has been shown to lower test, but honestly, I wouldn't go out of my way to avoid fattier meats. Protein will be kept high-ish - 1.3g/lb was my original intake when I was lifting, I might lower it to 1-1.1g/lb, judging from how fat I get since I don't wanna become obese. I want to gain predominantly subcutaneous fat, not visceral fat.
2) I will go completely without exercise. Yup, no lifting, not even cardio. What initiated a big shed for me was distance cycling. Granted, it has been shown that cardio increases SHBG, but it also increases test to some degree. With zero exercise, my body might also be persuaded to give up the extra muscle mass I was holding onto.
I am aiming to become skinny fat, and hopefully tip my hormones towards a more estrogenic profile overall. I would try to stick this through at least till the new year, and hopefully at least 2 weeks, since it may take a while to see the effects of a change in lifestyle. I definitely do not want to trigger an insulin resistant related shed. At any point if I experience drastic hair shedding I would take a break, whatever that means, and reevaluate.
I will be starting off my experiment tomorrow with a sizeable cheat day on christmas eve and then moving on to a more reasonable and healthy amount and choice of food. My decision coincides with the festive season, and I am glad I can use this to my advantage and ease my mind off working out. I'm not making any excuses for myself, and this is all in the hopes that I can finally have my hair loss under control. If there was anything else I could rather do I would - lifting has been massive in my life, it kept me lean and looking good for the ladies, but I am willing to sacrifice looks and to some extent health if that means I can keep my hair.
This too would mean I will free up plenty of time to focus on my other endevours, of which lifting has honestly robbed me. Of course, this is just an experiment and I can just as easily hop back to lifting should it fail. I shall update this as I see fit. But for now, it's the holidays, guys, hope every single one of you have a great end of year! Wish me luck!
I have been physically active all my life. I started squatting at about age 14 or so, and it was my favourite exercise and I started working out at 18, extremely intensely, and I don't think I ever went more than a week and a half without some kind of activity. This may in part be the reason I am still a NW2 at the age of 29 - the decrease in testosterone from intense, almost overtraining weight lifting has kept my test and in turn, DHT, in check.
Now this comes at a somewhat ironic moment as I had just hit some lifting PR's today and I know I am the strongest I have ever been at this body weight. But it is my personal belief that muscle mass in one part of the body correlates with another part of the body - in this instance, due to my straining of my body different muscles, there is an increase in muscle mass being built in my frontalis, temporalis and other surrounding head musculature, despite myself not voluntarily contracting those muscles. The body grows as a whole (an old bodybuilding adage). And as many of you might be familiar, there is a theory of hairloss called the skull expansion theory. I personally believe this to be the strongest theory out there thus far.
This might backfire. I did experience heavy mid-frontal shedding (might be vertex) which is usually caused by insulin resistance. But for me, it was initiated a few days of complete fasting after a big cheat day. I am getting my blood tested tomorrow, to better gauge if I should stick this plan out.
My gameplan
1) Eat at slightly above maintenance. I will try to intake zero sugar - and limit as much saturated fat as possible. Dietary fat would be kept in a healthy range, probably 20-30% of total calories. I would try to shoot for mostly polyunsaturated fat which has been shown to lower test, but honestly, I wouldn't go out of my way to avoid fattier meats. Protein will be kept high-ish - 1.3g/lb was my original intake when I was lifting, I might lower it to 1-1.1g/lb, judging from how fat I get since I don't wanna become obese. I want to gain predominantly subcutaneous fat, not visceral fat.
2) I will go completely without exercise. Yup, no lifting, not even cardio. What initiated a big shed for me was distance cycling. Granted, it has been shown that cardio increases SHBG, but it also increases test to some degree. With zero exercise, my body might also be persuaded to give up the extra muscle mass I was holding onto.
I am aiming to become skinny fat, and hopefully tip my hormones towards a more estrogenic profile overall. I would try to stick this through at least till the new year, and hopefully at least 2 weeks, since it may take a while to see the effects of a change in lifestyle. I definitely do not want to trigger an insulin resistant related shed. At any point if I experience drastic hair shedding I would take a break, whatever that means, and reevaluate.
I will be starting off my experiment tomorrow with a sizeable cheat day on christmas eve and then moving on to a more reasonable and healthy amount and choice of food. My decision coincides with the festive season, and I am glad I can use this to my advantage and ease my mind off working out. I'm not making any excuses for myself, and this is all in the hopes that I can finally have my hair loss under control. If there was anything else I could rather do I would - lifting has been massive in my life, it kept me lean and looking good for the ladies, but I am willing to sacrifice looks and to some extent health if that means I can keep my hair.
This too would mean I will free up plenty of time to focus on my other endevours, of which lifting has honestly robbed me. Of course, this is just an experiment and I can just as easily hop back to lifting should it fail. I shall update this as I see fit. But for now, it's the holidays, guys, hope every single one of you have a great end of year! Wish me luck!
