How Teak's testosterone coaching works

How does Teak's testosterone coaching work?

In five steps, all in one WhatsApp chat. You send your blood test, a coach reads it with you and you get a written plan. On the 12-week programme you then check in weekly, and at week 12 you retest and we compare the two results. Teak is coaching, not medical care: we don't diagnose, prescribe, order tests or sell testosterone, supplements or tests.

The Baseline, 4 weeks covers the first three rows; the 12-week programme covers all five. Check who this isn't for first: men under 18, men on testosterone, hCG or clomiphene, and anyone after a prescription or a guaranteed number.

Step 1: How do I send my blood test?

Tap the WhatsApp button and answer two quick questions: what's bothering you most, and whether you have a recent blood test. Your answers become your first message, written for you. WhatsApp puts it in the text box, or you paste it in, and nothing sends until you press send.¹ If our WhatsApp line isn't open yet when you try, the last step asks for your email instead, and we let you know the moment it opens. Once you're in the chat, attach your results:²

• iPhone: tap the + (Attach), then Document for your lab's PDF, Camera to photograph the printout, or Photos for a picture you've already taken.
• Android: tap the paperclip (Attach), then Document, Camera, or Gallery for a picture you've already taken.
• Photos: lay the page flat in good light, include the units and reference ranges, and send every page.

No recent test? Say so and we'll tell you which markers to ask for, or use our blood test checklist. You arrange and pay for the test yourself:

• Australia: the usual route is a referral from your doctor, then a visit to a pathology collection centre.³ Medicare covers all or part of the cost of most common blood tests, and many are bulk billed, which means there's nothing to pay.⁴
• New Zealand: if you're eligible for publicly funded care, a test your GP requests costs nothing when the sample is taken at the lab. There may be a charge if it's taken at your practice instead. From 16 you can request some tests yourself, but you pay for them.⁵

Book an early morning collection and, unless your GP tells you otherwise, fast beforehand. Testosterone is highest in the morning.⁶ bpac nz advises testing between 7 and 11am, ideally after an overnight fast,⁷ and the Endocrine Society of Australia says between 8 and 10am.⁸ Both adjust the timing for shift workers, so tell your GP if you work nights.^7,8 Costs are on our test cost page.

Step 2: What does the coach look for in my results?

Your coach reads every marker in plain English, after checking how the test was done:

• Your lab's range. Results vary with the assay a lab uses, so each is read against the range on your report.⁶ If your report gives testosterone in ng/dL rather than nmol/L, our unit converter switches between the two.
• Timing, food and alcohol. Eating can lower total testosterone by as much as 25% for a short time,⁹ and recent alcohol or an acute illness can cause a temporary drop too.⁷ A late, after-breakfast or unwell-day result is read with that in mind.
• Free testosterone. Most testosterone in your blood is bound to SHBG and albumin,⁶ so free testosterone is calculated from total testosterone and SHBG, with albumin where your panel has it. bpac nz prefers this calculated figure, using the Vermeulen equation, to direct measurement.^7,10 The Endocrine Society of Australia doesn't recommend calculated free testosterone for clinical decisions,⁸ so we use it to explain your results, never to label them. SHBG isn't always on the form: bpac nz says it isn't routinely needed, and some New Zealand regions may restrict funded free testosterone testing, for example to total results of 7 to 15 nmol/L.⁷ Ask your GP whether it can be added. See our free testosterone and SHBG guide.
• Your medicines. Some, such as opioid painkillers and corticosteroids, are linked with lower testosterone.^8,11 If one of yours is, we suggest raising it with your prescriber. We never tell you to stop or change a medicine.

A coach won't tell you whether you have a condition. A lower-than-normal level doesn't necessarily mean androgen deficiency,¹² and the Endocrine Society of Australia notes that up to 30% of men with one low result have a normal level when it's repeated.⁸ That's why guidance in both countries says a low result should be confirmed with a repeat morning test.^7,8 If anything looks medical, we tell you plainly and straight away to see your GP. Here is when we do that.

Step 3: What goes into my plan?

Your plan ranks the habits most likely costing you across six areas, biggest first, and you keep it in writing.

The Baseline gives you the ranked habits and a written four-week plan. The 12-week programme adds a nutrition, sleep and training plan built around your results, and the pelvic floor programme. We don't sell supplements or suggest doses off a blood result; a suspected nutrient deficiency is one for your GP. The evidence for each area is in how to increase testosterone naturally.

Step 4: What happens at a weekly check-in?

On the 12-week programme, your coach sends a few questions in WhatsApp once a week. You answer in your own words, and the plan gets adjusted for the week ahead. Typical questions:

1. How many nights did you get seven hours or more?
2. Which sessions did you train, and how did they feel?
3. How many standard drinks, and on which days?
4. What's your waist or weight doing?
5. Did you get your pelvic floor sessions in?
6. What got in the way, and what's the one change for next week?
7. Anything new with your health or medicines?

You can message your coach between check-ins too. A new symptom that needs a doctor goes to your GP, and we stop coaching on it until you've been seen. Anything urgent: 000 in Australia, 111 in New Zealand.

Step 5: What happens at the week-12 retest?

You get the same panel done again through your GP or a private lab, and your coach reads it against your first result, marker by marker. Use the same lab if you can, at the same time of morning, fasting again: labs use different assays,⁶ and time of day and food both shift the number.⁹

Then we tell you plainly what changed, what didn't, and what we'd suggest next. We don't promise a number. Results can rise, hold or fall, and a result below your lab's range goes to your GP. The Baseline has no retest, but move up to 12 weeks within 60 days and the Baseline price comes off.

What does a coach do, and what does your doctor do?

Teak coaches aren't doctors or registered health practitioners. More in coaching vs TRT. How we source and check pages like this one is in our editorial policy.

Who sees my results, and where are they kept?

Your coach, in your chat. We don't share them with anyone else unless you agree, the law requires it, or someone's life or safety is at serious risk. Full detail is in our privacy policy.

• Where: in WhatsApp, which Meta operates, and on your coach's device. Orders sit with Shopify. These providers may store information outside New Zealand and Australia.
• Encryption: it depends on how a business runs WhatsApp. WhatsApp says chats with businesses that use the WhatsApp Business app are end-to-end encrypted by default. When a business uses optional Meta services, such as Meta storing its messages, WhatsApp shows this clearly in the chat and doesn't count those messages as end-to-end encrypted. Either way, once a message reaches a business, that business's own privacy practices apply.¹⁴ Ours are in the privacy policy.
• Never: we don't put health information into advertising tools, pixels or audiences, and we don't sell your information.
• How long: while you're a client and up to 12 months after your last session. Ask, and we delete it sooner.

We follow New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020 and Health Information Privacy Code 2020, and Australia's Privacy Act 1988.

How much does Teak coaching cost?

Chatting first costs nothing. Blood tests are paid separately to your GP or lab. Instalments: ask in the chat. See our refund policy. Prices last checked 30 September 2026.^15,16