To maximize testosterone release and muscle growth, perform multi-joint exercises like back squats for 6 sets of 10 repetitions at 80% of your one-repetition max, ensuring you can sustain 10 reps by adjusting the load if needed. Rest for 2 minutes between sets to create metabolic stress and drive anabolic environments.
For general fitness, perform intense, testosterone-boosting workouts (e.g., 6x10 at 80% 1RM with 2 min rest) twice a week. On other days, vary your workouts by either emphasizing higher volume with reduced intensity (12-20 reps) or reducing volume while increasing intensity to drive different physiological adaptations.
Avoid ice baths or cold exposure during periods focused on muscle growth (general preparatory work) as it can dampen the mTOR pathway and hypertrophic signaling. Instead, use cold exposure during competition phases to enhance recovery and maintain quality of skill execution, as muscle building should already be achieved.
Focus on quality over quantity for skill acquisition. Keep training sessions shorter (e.g., 90 minutes over 3 hours) and stop as soon as fatigue impacts accurate movement mechanics, as continued training with poor form hinders motor learning.
Implement a periodized nutrition strategy by consuming carbohydrates immediately before, during, and after high-intensity training sessions to fuel performance. For the rest of the day (breakfast, lunch, dinner), adopt a largely ketogenic approach to train your body to preferentially use fat at lower intensities and improve metabolic efficiency.
To improve heat tolerance and sweat rates, begin with 15-minute sauna exposures (e.g., 200°F), gradually increasing duration to 30-45 minutes continuously. Aim for around 14 sauna exposures over 8-10 weeks to drive significant physiological adaptations.
Short-term stress, especially when anticipated and voluntarily engaged with (e.g., a challenging workout or parachute jump), can acutely increase stress hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine, which can lead to a temporary increase in testosterone and enhanced physical performance. Preparing mentally for a stressor can also improve performance.
Recognize that rest is as crucial a programming variable as load and intensity. Shorter rest periods (e.g., 2 minutes) between sets can increase metabolic stimulus, leading to greater muscle gains, while longer rest periods reduce metabolic stress by allowing waste product removal.
When experimenting with new training regimens, diets, or recovery methods, commit to a 12-week (three-month) period. This duration is generally sufficient to observe physiological adaptations, whether beneficial or detrimental, and understand how your body responds.
Be a ’thinking man’s athlete’ by consciously understanding your body’s state at all times. Keep a journal or log of your training, feelings, mood, and sleep to track individual responses and optimize your approach.