Renowned sports scientist Dr. Mike Israetel has revealed the dramatic protocols he used during his bodybuilding journey, including a previous peak dose of 2500mg of testosterone per week.
In a breakdown of his recent body transformation, Israetel provided transparent insights into both his current and past approaches to performance enhancement.
The Starting Point
Following surgery on March 26, 2025 to remove excess skin and fat from his lower back and love handles, Israetel faced a challenging recovery period. “I had to take five weeks off of training, which for the first two weeks I was like thank god because I was really messed up,” he explained.
His May 13 DEXA scan showed him at 235.82 lbs (106.9 kg) with 15.6% body fat, carrying approximately 36.8 lbs (16.6 kg) of fat tissue and 199 lbs (90.2 kg) of lean tissue.
The initial phase involved gradually returning to normal training capacity over several weeks, during which he maintained his testosterone replacement therapy at a standard 150mg per week. “I didn’t escalate my d***gs at all during that time in the summer because I was like, why? I can just get back a whole lot of muscle, drop a bunch of fat just by eating clean and training and getting like 10,000 steps a day or so,” Israetel noted.
Over approximately 15 weeks of dedicated fat loss, Israetel achieved remarkable results. His December DEXA scan revealed 222 lbs of bodyweight at exactly 6.00% body fat, representing a loss of 23.5 lbs (10.6 kg) of fat tissue while simultaneously gaining 9.7 lbs (4.3 lb) of lean mass. This meant he lost between 58% and two-thirds of his total body fat.
His nutritional approach centered on consuming approximately 2800 calories daily, creating a 700-calorie deficit from his estimated 3500-calorie maintenance level.
Protein intake was substantially elevated at 320 grams per day, roughly 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight. “I took a hint from Menno Henselmans’ one of our conversations we had last year. Menno had suspected that people on anabolics especially could just use more protein more productively,” he explained.
Israetel also stated: “I tried 320 grams, which is like, you know, got about a gram and a half per pound per day. I think it worked great. It didn’t seem to not work and it kept my hunger lower and I really like the diet.”
The diet also included 265 grams of carbohydrates and 50 grams of fat daily, spread across five meals. Israetel relied heavily on meal prep services and convenient protein sources including protein bars and protein puffs to maintain consistency.
Training Structure and Philosophy
Israetel employed an eight-day training split featuring pull, leg, and push days with rest days interspersed. Each session incorporated 2-5 working sets per exercise, utilizing myo-reps and rest-pause techniques to maximize volume while managing fatigue.
“What you need in a fat loss phase is to provide just enough of a stimulus to not lose muscle and just enough of a progression to continue to have your strength hang in there or get a little bit better,” he emphasized.
A key innovation was implementing micro-progressions of just 2.5 lbs per week rather than attempting aggressive strength gains. This approach proved particularly valuable during the caloric deficit, allowing sustainable progress without excessive fatigue or injury risk.
Daily activity remained consistent at 10,000 steps, which Israetel identified as optimal for fat loss without excessive fatigue. “Moderate high levels of activity that can be sustainable are undefeated. Super high activity is great if you can do it. Super low is no good,” he observed.
The Reality
Perhaps most significantly, Israetel disclosed the dramatic difference in his protocols. During his summer 2024 peak condition at approximately 227 lbs (102.9 kg) and 6% body fat, his total androgen load reached approximately 2500mg of testosterone equivalent per week when including both injectables and oral compounds.
For this recent transformation, however, he maintained a peak of around 750mg of testosterone equivalent. “That’s like three times less gear and man did that feel super way better. And also I looked really great. And so my lesson from this is taking a ton of gear is overrated. You can get almost the same results taking way less gear and save your health and save your sanity,” Israetel stated.
He also incorporated GLP-1 including tirzepatide and retatrutide to manage s**roid-induced hunger, improve sleep quality, and reduce inflammation. “These are miracle dr**s. Most people are better off taking tirzepatide than not taking tirzepatide,” he asserted.
Israetel also emphasized that fundamental principles remain paramount. “Nothing beats consistency in a high protein, healthy calorie deficit diet with moderate to high activity, 10,000ish steps, and weight training regularly. This is the formula for transformation. Period,” he concluded.
Moving forward, Israetel plans to maintain his lean condition while potentially pursuing even lower body fat levels in the coming months.
