F%#^ Father Time: 9 Ways To Maximize Your Manhood In Middle Age

Between the kids, the work, the spouse, it all seems endless, right?

And where does that leave any time for you and your fitness?

But when you DO set time aside for yourself, you’re actually being unselfish, producing and showing up as your highest self in the boardroom and the bedroom.

Not to mention setting a damn good example for your kids.

Here are my best tips to maximize your manhood in middle age…

Get Checked

Get bloodwork done. Particularly your thyroid and sex hormones. A standard blood test will show you where you stand, but even if you’re in the “healthy” range as defined by the medical community, you may not be optimal. There are lifestyle modifications you can make once you know, and many of them are shared in this article.

F Low Carb

With a low carb diet, cortisol (the stress hormone is elevated). Some hormones, your beloved testosterone in particular, heads south very quickly under these conditions. 

Scientists found a high-carb diet generated higher levels of testosterone and lower levels of cortisol than a low-carb diet over just 10 days.

It happens quickly. And when combined with intense exercise and a stressful life, low-carb diets just make matters worse.

That "stress belly" needs to go if you want to maximize your manhood!

When carb intake (and thus, glucose levels) are low, testosterone levels drop, too. In turn, you could lose strength and fatigue more quickly—just one more reason carbs are essential when used in the right amounts and within the context of a diet that helps you lose weight.

Plus, a year-long study found low-carb diets negatively affected mood compared to a low-fat diet with more carbs. If you’ve been skimping on the carbs, gently add more and see how you feel.

Sleep.

I’ve got bad news for all you night owls: testosterone is directly related to the amount of sleep you get each night. The more sleep, the more you increase your testosterone. Sleep also boosts Growth Hormone and rebuilds your brain. Want an easy way to increase your testosterone? Turn off the TV and computer and go the F to bed.

Weight Lifting.

Scientists aren’t really sure how it raises testosterone, but then does it really matter? The important thing is that pumping iron pumps up your baseline testosterone by as much as 15% according to one study referenced in Lee Myers Natural vs. Testosterone Therapy.

Though other studies have suggested the opposite (my hunch is only when nutrition does not allow for proper recovery, spiking cortisol levels. High testosterone can’t live in unison with high cortisol as I said). It’s probably a temporary spike and a small benefit in the big picture, but you should be lifting for other reasons anyway. Just don't do too much.

We focus on quick, efficient workouts in the Belly Burn Blueprint that add to your life, not leave to crippled.

Back Off The Booze

Heavy alcohol consumption can lead to zinc depletion, which in turn can lead to lower testosterone levels. A pint on a Friday or Saturday night? All good. But drinking more than two drinks (for men) daily is considered heavy consumption.

One binge can do your hormones in and lead to horrible sleep and a hangover you can’t afford with kids expecting you to be present tomorrow.

Watch the Sugar.

According to another study in Lee Myer’s work: blood sugar spikes lead to decreased testosterone. It does not matter whether you are diabetic, pre-diabetic or normal: your testosterone will suffer just the same.

This is where metabolic flexibility plays a role, which is an integral part of the dietary approach I take with clients in my Belly Burn Blueprint. We time carb intake when they’re needed most and avoid at other times.

Vitamin D

Turns out a few cents a day of this all-important vitamin could boost your testosterone levels. Vitamin D is critical for fertility, muscle growth, exercise performance and hundreds of other physiological processes.

Correcting a vitamin D deficiency, which is quite common in winter climates and throughout the western world, can lead to a bump in total testosterone of about 30% according to a number of studies.

If you don’t want to pop a supplement, it’s better to get 10 minutes of midday sun exposure in the summer (3-4 times per week). Sorry, this won’t work on -40C winter days. ??

Magnesium (citrate)

What dirt cheap supplement might give you a nice boost in testosterone according to a recent study?

Magnesium is very inexpensive and was found in a study of seniors to be tightly correlated with T levels.

And it is no wonder: magnesium is used by literally hundreds of critical systems in the body. Another very interesting study noted that magnesium levels increased testosterone when combined with exercise.

*Don't get Mg oxide. That's a laxative.

Drop the Extra Weight

This has got to be priority #1 if you have weight to lose.

There is nothing uglier than those love handles to your health: they are estrogen factories.

Fat converts ever increasing amounts of your precious testosterone into estradiol, the chief estrogen. As a verification, low testosterone is correlated to being overweight.

Myers also mentioned a study that examined 64 severely obese men: their average testosterone was a measly 340ng (upper limit is 1070 ng/dL) even though they were in their 40s. Multiple studies have shown that being overweight lowers free testosterone as well (and that’s the number that matters most for how you look, feel and perform. We help raise that number through lifestyle modifications and clients often see a 15-40% bump depending on how low they were to begin with)

PS - Need help maximizing your manhood?

The Belly Burn Blueprint will help you ditch the spare tire and “stress belly” optimizing your man hormones, reinstating your Man Card and freeing yourself from the tired, stressed out, lethargic version (your partner is unimpressed by that al dente noodle, let's be honest).