Hormones · Marker 01
Total T · Total Testosterone
Total testosterone is the full amount in your bloodstream, bound and unbound together. It's the headline number, but not the whole story.
Common reference range
500–900 ng/dL
- Worth watching
- Below 350 ng/dL
- Population median
- 412 ng/dL
- Units
- ng/dL
Your record always keeps the range printed on the report the result came from, which can differ from the range above.
Why it matters
What Total T tells you.
Symptoms (energy, drive, recovery) actually track free testosterone, which depends on a binding protein called SHBG. We always read both.
Total testosterone reports the bound and unbound fractions together. SHBG determines the ratio between them. If SHBG is high, total can read normal while free runs frankly low.
Symptoms track free testosterone, not total. Always order both. Always interpret SHBG alongside.
What the record reads
The direction, not one number.
The trend across years, read alongside sleep, body composition, and stress.
Total T · ng/dL · six results
Illustrative seriesOnce you file two results, the record compares them to each other rather than to a population average, and names the report each value came from.
What can influence it
The things that move Total T.
In rough order of effect, and read alongside your own history rather than on their own.
- 01
Sleep duration
Each hour of sleep loss measurably suppresses morning testosterone.
- 02
Body composition
Visceral fat reduction raises testosterone via aromatase reduction.
- 03
Strength training
Increases acute and trended testosterone over months.
- 04
Cortisol load
Chronic elevation suppresses gonadotropin-releasing hormone.
Daily things that show up here
- Sleep seven to nine hours nightly
- Strength train consistently
- Reduce alcohol
- Lower visceral fat
In your record
What happens when a Total T result arrives.
The same four steps for every result, whether you upload a report or type a value in by hand.
01
Filed to its date
The value is stored against the day it was drawn, with the report it came from kept alongside it.
02
Named and normalized
Total Testosterone is recognised as one measure, so the same marker from two labs joins one series.
03
Read in plain language
You see what it measures, whether it sits in the printed range, and what usually moves it.
04
Shared only if you say so
A clinician sees this result when you grant scoped, expiring access, and the view is logged.
This page is educational. It does not diagnose, and it does not replace a conversation with a clinician who can see your history.
Where to go next
Start with one report
Upload a single lab report and Total T is filed to its date, named and read back in plain language.
Create my free recordFind someone to read it with
The directory opens filtered to clinicians who work with hormones markers.
Verified cliniciansRead the evidence
The reading list opens searched for Total T, with every study linked back to its source.
Studies on Total T
Read alongside
Other hormones markers.
Further reading
Longer pieces on this marker.
References
Where this comes from.
- Bhasin S, et al. Testosterone Therapy in Men With Hypogonadism. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2018;103(5):1715-1744. DOI
Reviewed by Dr. Marcus Pereira, DO · Endocrinology · Last reviewed Apr 07, 2026