It’s more like your body’s “we’re safe + well-fed + recovered + ready to build / reproduce” signal. When your brain detects danger (sleep debt, stress, starvation, inflammation, too much endurance/overtraining), it downshifts that whole system hard.
Here’s the “WHY” behind the protocol—no fluff, just the levers.
Your body runs testosterone like a luxury output
Testosterone production is controlled by the hypothalamus → pituitary → testes (the HPG/HPT axis). If the body thinks resources are low or threats are high, it pulls resources away from “build muscle + libido + fertility” and prioritizes “survive today.”
So most “natural T boosting” is really:
- Remove brakes (sleep deprivation, stress/cortisol, energy deficiency, excess body fat)
- Send the right signal (heavy training + recovery + nutrients)
1) Sleep = the nightly testosterone factory shift
Testosterone normally rises during sleep, and the increase depends heavily on getting normal sleep architecture (not just “lying in bed”).
When sleep gets crushed, testosterone follows.
A classic JAMA study found that 1 week of sleeping 5 hours/night lowered daytime testosterone by ~10–15% in healthy young men.
Translation: if you’re sleeping like a zombie, your body will not run “alpha mode,” no matter how hard you lift.
2) Stress & cortisol = testosterone’s natural predator
Cortisol is useful (it helps you deal with threats), but chronically high cortisol is basically a tax on testosterone.
There’s human research showing that administering cortisol can reduce circulating testosterone.
And evidence that psychological stress can suppress testosterone in real humans under real stress.
Translation: grind culture without recovery = cortisol on repeat = testosterone gets shoved down.
3) Calories & energy availability = “permission” to produce testosterone
Your body treats testosterone as expensive. If energy is scarce, it pulls back.
Research notes that fasting/energy deficiency are known to reduce testosterone—often interpreted as an adaptive response to conserve energy.
Translation: the “shredded at all costs” crash diet can absolutely wreck your hormones. If you want high performance, you need enough fuel.
4) Body fat & metabolic health matter because fat changes your hormone math
Obesity and insulin resistance are strongly tied to low testosterone. One big mechanism: obesity often reduces SHBG, and that drops measured total testosterone.
Another mechanism: aromatase (an enzyme found in fat tissue) converts testosterone into estradiol. In obesity, whole-body aromatase activity increases, which helps explain higher conversion of T → E2 in obese men.
Also, modern reviews show a meaningful chunk of men with obesity have low testosterone, and BMI increases are associated with decreases in testosterone.
Translation: staying lean-ish (not necessarily “stage shredded,” just not high body fat) helps testosterone by improving insulin sensitivity and reducing excess conversion.
5) Training works because it’s the “build signal” (but only if you recover)
Heavy resistance training is a potent stimulus for acute increases in circulating hormones, including testosterone.
Training structure can change the hormonal response too. Research suggests doing large muscle group exercises first can produce a greater anabolic hormonal response compared to reversing the order.
But the dark side: some men doing very intensive endurance-heavy training can develop chronically low resting testosterone (a reported phenomenon in exercise endocrinology).
Translation:
- Lift heavy = good signal
- Sprint/HIIT in sane doses = good signal
- Endless endurance + under-eating + poor sleep = “we’re starving and stressed” signal
6) Minerals & micronutrients matter because your testicles can’t synthesize hormones out of vibes
If you’re deficient in key nutrients, testosterone production can drop because the body literally lacks building blocks/cofactors.
Zinc: A well-known study showed dietary zinc restriction decreased testosterone, and zinc supplementation increased testosterone in men with marginal deficiency.
Magnesium: A controlled study reported magnesium supplementation increased free and total testosterone in sedentary men and athletes.
Translation: if you’re low in these, fixing deficiency can feel like flipping a switch. If you’re already sufficient, don’t expect miracles.
7) Supplements: a few have evidence, most are marketing
A review of commercial “testosterone booster” supplements found that although most claim they boost T, only a minority had data supporting the claim, and some even had ingredients with data suggesting negative effects.
That’s why the protocol focuses on:
- Sleep / stress / training / body composition first
- Then only a handful of supplements with human evidence
Examples with some supportive evidence:
- Ashwagandha (human trials show hormone changes in certain groups).
- Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia) has a systematic review/meta-analysis suggesting increases in total testosterone (especially in low-T men).
- Purified shilajit showed increases in total and free testosterone in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
- A review of herbs suggests fenugreek and ashwagandha have some of the more consistent (though still mixed-quality) findings.
Translation: supplements can help a bit—especially if you’re stressed, deficient, or borderline low—but they don’t out-muscle bad sleep and a trash lifestyle.
Bonus: Why “measure in the morning” keeps coming up
Testosterone varies through the day and is affected by sleep. That’s why medical guidelines recommend diagnosing low testosterone only when there are symptoms AND consistently low levels, confirmed with repeat morning fasting measurements.
The one-line answer
Because testosterone rises when your body believes it’s in a high-resource, low-threat environment.
Sleep, calories, stress control, smart heavy training, and fixing deficiencies change the environment your biology is responding to.
If you want, I can compress this into a savage “Top 5 rules” you can follow daily (like a checklist you can actually live by).