Can High Intensity Interval Training Make You Manlier?


So we know that testosterone is the masculine hormone. We also know that exercise boosts testosterone.

But what’s the best method to use exercise to make you healthy, sexy, energetic, and manly?

The solution? High-intensity interval training.

Can HIIT make you manlier?

Yes. High-intensity interval training can make you manlier by boosting your testosterone levels.

So how does it work?

Testosterone is the “masculine” hormone. It’s what gives you your male features like growth of body hair, increased muscles, and bone mass. Testosterone is what helps develop the male reproductive tissues during puberty, like the testes and prostate.

Testosterone also controls libido, energy, sleep, mood, metabolism, and protein synthesis. High testosterone leads to that high, teenage-like sex drive and that insane ready-for-anything energy. It helps you sleep better, feel better, and be happier, along with helping you to lose weight, maintain a healthy body fat mass, and grow your muscles.

Testosterone is what makes you super-man.

But what happens if your testosterone is low? Does that make you less manly?

No, you’re still a rock star guy. But, you might start to feel less manly if you have less testosterone. And no guy wants that.

You might have reduced sexual desires, low libido, or erectile dysfunction. You might be feeling depressed, anxious, or less motivated. It’s possible that you’ll even start to gain a softer belly with male breasts and reduced muscle mass.

Learn more about the symptoms and causes of low testosterone here: What is low testosterone?

You need testosterone for all your manly attributes.

And HIIT helps increase your testosterone.

How does HIIT work?

In my article Does Exercise Boost Testosterone?, we discussed the three-step workout to boost T:

  1. Compound exercises
  2. Fewer reps, higher weight
  3. Longer rest periods

Most experts lovingly refer to this type of workout as “high-intensity interval training.” It’s also sometimes referred to as high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) or sprint interval training (SIT).

Let’s break it down.

“Training,” refers to working out. So, in order to see results—you actually need to get up and get yourself to the gym. (Or you can even get yourself to your living room.)

“Interval,” refers to the number 3 in the three-step workout. Interval workouts are when you workout as hard as you can for a specific period of time before resting your body. For example, you might lift weights for 15 seconds, rest for 30 seconds, and then lift for 15 seconds again. This creates intervals that alternate between aggressive movement and prolonged periods of rest.

“High intensity,” refers to numbers 1 and 2 in the three-step workout. During the intervals that you’re working out, you want to be doing the most intense movements as possible. This comes in two parts:

  • You want to strain as much muscle tissue as you can at once. These are called “compound exercises,” which work multiple muscle groups in one movement.
  • Additionally, you also want to lift a higher weight for fewer reps (as opposed to a lower weight for more reps). Lifting more weight strains your muscles more.

In essence, HIIT is an anaerobic exercise that alternates between bursts of intense compound movements and long recovery periods.

How does HIIT impact testosterone?


Up until this point, you’ve just believed me when I told you that HIIT increases testosterone. So thank you for your trust.

But now I’ll explain how it works and why that impacts your “manliness.”

Study after study shows that HIIT can increase testosterone. Some examples include:

Where does this relationship of HIIT and testosterone come from?

HIIT boosts protein synthesis (aka it helps build muscle). It’s the number one way to burn fat while building muscle. And testosterone plays a critical role in muscle synthesis. So, while HIIT is building more muscle, your testosterone levels have to increase in tandem to help synthesis that muscle.

Building muscle requires testosterone. Your body has to produce more testosterone and amino acids to give you those strong muscles.

In essence, the more you strain and grow your muscles, the more testosterone your body generates.

The benefits of HIIT include:

  • Increases testosterone
  • Boosts the human growth hormone
  • Increases nitric oxide
  • Boosts muscle mass and density
  • Enhances energy
  • Normalizes blood sugar
  • Increases insulin sensitivity
  • Improves sleep quality

All of these HIIT benefits actually help further increase testosterone. For example, better sleep quality gives your body more time to reset and generate testosterone. Enhancing nitric oxide boosts blood flow throughout the body—especially to the penis—to help overcome erectile dysfunction.

There’s another important benefit of HIIT that has massive impacts on testosterone levels…

HIIT burns fat.

A study at the University of South Wales found that those who participated in HIIT lost 3x the body fat as the non-HIIT group.

HIIT is one of the best ways to quickly and effectively burn fat. When you do cardio or other endurance exercises, your body actually starts to tap into some of its muscle mass in order to get the energy it needs. This can make you start to lose muscle as opposed to fat. (That’s why you’ll sometimes see marathon runners who have a little bit of a gut, even though they’re able to run marathons with ease.)

When your body eats at its muscle, it actually starts to deplete its natural free testosterone sources.

But interval training causes your body not to tap into muscle energies. Instead, HIIT taps into your stored sugars. You get the strength and stamina you need from your fat reserves. So you’re burning fat as opposed to using muscle.

Plus, HIIT actually puts your body in fat-burning mode for up to 36 hours after your workout.

Overall, HIIT actually burns more fat than any other form of exercise.

And burning fat plays an important role in testosterone. If you have more fat, your body will start to create more estrogen. Estrogen is the antithesis of testosterone.

More fat = lower testosterone

Less fat = higher testosterone

So HIIT can help you burn fat so your body can focus on testosterone production.

Fun fact: During a HIIT workout, put your hand on your stomach. If it feels cold, you’re burning belly fat! That’s your body trying to regulate its temperature as it uses up energy.

Why is HIIT better than cardio?

Cardio is good for your heart—but it also has a lot of downsides. Steady cardio actually overworks your body, putting your body into a state of stress. This causes an increase in cortisol levels, which steals away from testosterone production. Cardio can also decrease the immune system, cause oxidative damage, create chronic inflammation, and decrease your metabolism.

That’s not to say cardio is the devil. It’s still a great way to help clear out your arteries and protect against serious disease like hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

However, you want to avoid chronic, intense cardio. Instead, cycle your HIIT workouts with light to moderate cardio to see the benefits of both. HIIT will raise your testosterone and cardio will keep your body moving and strong.

Your HIIT plan

Below are some basics you should know about how to start creating a HIIT plan that will work for you, especially with regards to the length of your workout, the types of exercises, and the frequency of training.

Length

One of my favorite parts of HIIT is that you don’t have to do super long workouts to see the effects. One HIIT session should last no more than 30 minutes. This shortened length is because the intensity of the intervals actually burns more calories and builds more muscle mass than longer, less-moderate periods.

Plus, if you do HIIT for too long, you can actually over-stress your body, which can actually increase the production of cortisol. Too much cortisol actually “steals” away from the production of testosterone. You want to be careful not to stress your body while you workout.

Frequency

You don’t want to do HIIT workouts every day. Like the length of your workout, too frequent HIIT sessions can stress out your body and raise cortisol levels.

Your body needs recovery periods. It’s actually during this recovery that you start to build muscle.

Plus, HIIT puts your body in fat-burning mode for 36 hours after the workout. This means you don’t actually need to do it every day in order to keep your body burning fat—even while you’re resting.

You should perform HIIT only 3-4 times a week. On your rest days, do lighter cardio (like swimming or jogging) to burn calories and keep your body active without overdoing it.

HIIT sounds easy, right? You only have to work out 30 minutes every other day! Score! But it’s not easy. In fact, most men say that even a 15-minute HIIT workout is harder than any other form of working out that they do. So don’t take it lightly! You may even want to get a coach or trainer to help get you through it.

Exercises

HIIT is a type of workout method—not the workouts itself. So you can actually apply this type of training to any form of exercise you want. If you like to run, you’ll sprint for 20 seconds and then rest for 30 seconds. The same is true of swimming, biking, kickboxing, martial arts, or any other type of training that you like to do. You can even turn yoga into a HIIT workout since yoga has some seriously awesome sexual health benefits!

I usually recommend pairing HIIT with resistance training, for example, an exercise with resistance bands. You want to focus on compound exercises that work a lot of muscles at once. With HIIT, you want to be working as much muscle tissue at one time as possible in order to see the greatest effect.

I like doing half of my HIIT as cardio and the other half as resistance training. Below are some sample exercises.

HIIT cardio exercises:

HIIT resistance exercises:

  • Bicycle crunches
  • Calf raises
  • Dips
  • Dumbbell punches
  • Dumbbell squats
  • Kettlebell swings
  • Lunges
  • Oblique crunches
  • Push-ups
  • Pull-ups
  • Resistance band curls
  • Sit-ups
  • Sled training
  • Squats

Check out these awesome 10 HIIT workouts from Men’s Journal.

Sample HIIT plan

I’m going to give you some sample plans that you can mix and match to start blasting fat and boosting T this week! How does that sound?

Let’s go!

Sprinting explosion

Equipment: You can do this on a track, on a treadmill, or in your backyard.
Time: 10 minutes

  • 1 minute warm-up (slow walking/jogging)
  • 30 seconds sprinting at almost full-capacity (like a 7/10 power)
  • 1 minute jogging
  • 30 seconds sprinting at full power (10/10 power)
  • 1 minute slow jogging
  • 30 seconds sprinting at almost full capacity (6/10 power)
  • 1 minute jogging
  • 30 seconds sprinting at full power (10/10 power)
  • 1 min 30 seconds slow jogging
  • 30 minutes sprinting at full power (9/10 power)
  • 1 min moderate jogging
  • 1 minute cool-down (slow walking/jogging)

Ab blast

Equipment: Towel/mat

Time: 10 minutes

  • 1 minute warm-up jumping jacks
  • 30 seconds plank
  • 1 minute rest
  • 30 seconds push-ups
  • 1 minute slow crunches
  • 30 seconds side shuffle
  • 1 minute rest
  • 30 seconds oblique crunch
  • 1 minute side stretches
  • 30 seconds plank
  • 1 minute rest
  • 30 seconds oblique crunch
  • 1 minute cool-down walking

Lower body boost

Equipment: jump rope

Time:

  • 1 minute warm-up jumping rope
  • 30 seconds dumbbell squat
  • 1 minute rest
  • 30 seconds calf raises
  • 1 minute stretching
  • 30 second jump squat
  • 1 minute rest
  • 30 second switch lunge
  • 1 minute stretching
  • 30 second stability ball squat
  • 1 minute rest
  • 30 second burpees
  • 1 minute cool-down walking

Notice here that we’re looking at time as opposed to reps. However, if you’re using HIIT with your typical lifting routine, you’ll want to focus on using heavier weights with fewer reps. For example, you might do 6 curls at 80 pounds as opposed to 12 curls at 50 pounds.

Keep it intense—but don’t forget to rest!

Conclusion

HIIT is a time-efficient way to boost your testosterone and build your muscles. This high intensity isn’t easy at first—but it will make you feel better in no time. HIIT the strongest way to boost your testosterone, increase your energy, and renew your manliness.

I gave you a few HIIT workouts to get you started, but it’s not specific to your individual sexual and overall health needs.

If you want to truly take control of your workouts and FINALLY get control over your health…

If you want to have a clear-cut, doctor-recommended plan to get your T high and your muscles bulky…

Then its time for a MALE 90X Consult.

Schedule a consultation to learn how Gapin Institute can help YOU.

Ready to take the next steps?

Schedule a Call

**************************

Epigenetics Series: Can Working Out Change Your Genes?


Professional athletes seem to have a special “something” that no one else has.

“It must be in his genes,” we say when we see Michael Phelps swimming or Michael Jordan shooting a three-pointer.

But is it actually in their genes? Is there a gene for athleticism?

Epigenetics says “maybe.” It’s not necessarily that professional athletes have a certain DNA sequence that no one else has. It’s that they have a unique DNA expression that the rest of us haven’t yet activated.

For example, elite Kenyan runners have dominated distance running events for the last two decades. Research is working to prove that a mixture of training regiments, high altitude, and diet create a certain type of genetic expression. If researchers can understand the unique interactions of these lifestyle factors, it could theoretically be replicated in any population.

So yes, I’m telling you that you can change your genes and finally be a pro baseball player or soccer player.

But epigenetics isn’t just relevant to professional athletes.

Your genes can impact your athletic ability…

But the reverse is true as well.

Your exercise routine can also impact your genes.

In fact, working out may change your genetic expression so drastically that it can deactivate the genes of disease and illness.

You’re shedding more than just pounds when you exercise. You’re shedding off methyl groups that impact the expression of your DNA.

Let me explain.

What is epigenetics?


Epigenetics looks at the expression of DNA genetic makeup. The DNA you’re born with is the DNA you’ll have until you die. It stays the same throughout your life.

However, the expression of those genes can change.

For example, your hair might change colors or textures based on how your genes are expressed—even though the gene for your hair hasn’t changed. This is because a certain gene is turned “on” or “off.”

In the same way, you can actually activate or deactivate your risk for disease and illness based on how these genes are expressed.

Science has proven that genetic expression has a direct impact on your risk of disease and illness.

Epigenetics looks at two key modifications that impact DNA expression: methylation and histone acetylation.

In this article, we’ll focus on the specific link between DNA methylation and exercise.

What is DNA methylation?

DNA methylation occurs when a methyl (CH3) group is added to a DNA strand. A reaction occurs on the DNA chain, likely between the methyl and the fifth carbon atom of a cytosine (which is one of the four nucleotides of DNA).

Basically, when a methyl group attaches to DNA, it changes the way that DNA is expressed.

Think of it like a light switch. When the methyl group is added to the strand, the light switch is turned into the “off” position. When the methyl group is removed, the light switch flips back to the “on” position.


Methylation usually slows down the expression of genes (although not always).

In some cases, this slowing of genetic expression is a good thing. For example, if you have a gene for Alzheimer’s, DNA methylation may help slow the onset.

In other cases, you don’t want DNA methylation to impact your genetic expression. For example, it could “turn off” the genes that help regulate your body weight. You could be putting on the pounds—even when dieting—simply because your metabolism genes are slowed down due to methylation.

How does exercise impact DNA methylation?

There hasn’t been a lot of conclusive research about the impact of exercise on overall epigenetics just yet. But there has been one significant finding that is completely changing the way researchers are looking at both exercise and epigenetics as a whole.

Yup, this finding is that important.

A Swedish study looked at muscle biopsies of 14 healthy men and women before and after physical exertion. They put them on an incremental treadmill test to exhaustion.

They found significant changes in the DNA in their muscles after an intense workout. The genes that were involved in metabolizing energy actually de-methylated after exercise.

This tells us three really important things:

  1. Working out changes our genes.
  2. The intensity of the workout matters.
  3. Working out even once can impact your epigenetics almost immediately.

  1. Working out changes our genes.

The most important takeaway? Overall, exercise impacts our genes.

The fact that working out can change our genetics is an incredible finding. This says that we are not victims of our DNA. We have control over our genetic expression based on certain lifestyle factors, like working out, diet, or even sleeping.

  1. The intensity of the workout matters.

Researchers pushed participants to the point of exhaustion. They have not yet studied what happens after a mild to moderate workout.

The researchers concluded, though, that methylation is dependent upon intensity. A leisurely walk likely isn’t changing your genetic expression like a sprinted marathon.

  1. Working out even once can impact your epigenetics.

Probably the most surprising result of this study was how quickly the genetic expression changed. The participants had de-methylated genes after just one exhausting workout.

This completely alters the former notion that genetic changes happen slowly (if at all).

This test showed that genetic changes don’t happen overnight… they can happen faster than that.

However, there’s a caveat to this. The researchers know that genetic expression changed after one workout. But we don’t know how long these changes lasted for.

We don’t know if methyl groups were added back to the genetic sequence immediately afterwards—when the participants went back home and started living their normal lives again.

So, change is fast… but we’re not sure if it’s lasting.

What does this mean for your workout?

  1. You need to workout.

If you want to avoid disease and illness, you need to exercise. Of course, working out is the best way to keep your muscles strong, your body fat low, and your arteries clean and clear. Beyond that, working out will help remove harmful methyl groups that could be slowing down your healthy genes.

Your genes can help prevent disease—but only if they’re healthy and clear themselves.

  1. You need intense workouts.

Harder exercise produces more de-methylation. This means that you need to boost the intensity of your workouts on a consistent basis.

I recommend high-intensity interval training (HIIT). This type of training exhausts your body with intense intervals, followed by periods of rest. These cycles of intensity and recovery may have the most influential impact on DNA methylation.

Plus, HIIT is the best way to burn fat, improve muscle mass, and raise your testosterone levels. Learn more about HIIT here.  

  1. You need both cardio and lifting.

In the study, researchers looked at the effects of cardio. This means that you need to get your heart pumping if you want to impact your genetics.


But this doesn’t mean cardio is the only exercise you should be doing. Lifting can also produce an intense exercise that could influence DNA.

In fact, researchers concluded that the reason for the de-methylation was due to muscle contraction. The muscle cells were contracting and releasing at high intensity during the cardio, which was likely what removed the methyl group.

I like to think of it that your muscle flexes “shook loose” the methyl groups from the DNA.

Thus, both cardio and lifting are important. Cardio contracts muscles throughout your body, while lifting concentrates the muscle contractions. These contracts lead to intense de-methylation in your genes.

Pairing cardio and lifting in an intense, sweaty workout may be able to improve your genes in just one session!

  1. You need to workout frequently.

We don’t yet know how or why DNA methylation occurs.

We know from this study that genetic expression can change quickly. This means that it’s possible that even one fatty, fried meal could add a methyl group back to your genes after an intense workout.

Just as quickly as exercise can de-methylate your genes, other lifestyle factors can reapply methyl groups to your genes.


We don’t yet have a clear understanding of what does and doesn’t impact methylation. All we know is that exercise can help de-methylate important genes. Thus, if you want to prevent harmful methylation, you need to workout often.

The more frequently you workout, the more opportunities you have to remove methyl groups from your genes—no matter where those methyl groups are coming from.

This frequent de-methylation can help speed up healthy, disease-preventing genetic expressions.

A note about caffeine…

If you read the study, you’ll find that the researchers found that caffeine has a similar effect as exercise.

They gave a culture of muscle cells a dose of caffeine. Caffeine releases calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, which mimics a muscle contraction.

This is how they realized that muscle contraction are the basis for de-methylation.

They were then able to conclude that calcium might create a cellular trigger that activates de-methylation.

But hold on for a second. Don’t start glugging coffee in place of your workout. You’d need about 50 cups a day to have the same de-methylation effect that one intense workout would have. (Yes, 50 cups of caffeine could be lethal. Don’t try that at home.)

However, you may want to try drinking a cup of black coffee before you workout.

Caffeine is a stimulant that can give your muscles a jolt of energy, pushing you further in your workout. With this added energy, you can lift more at a higher intensity—which encourages de-methylation.

Caffeine hits its peak stimulation between 30 and 75 minutes of consumption. So try drinking a cup about one hour before your workout.


Plus, research found that drinking caffeine before a workout can help keep cravings in check while reducing caloric intake for the day. This can help boost your weight loss efforts. Two-for-one!

Why black coffee? Milk and sugar create a temporary sugar high. When your body starts falling from this high, it will lose all its energy and start to crash. This creates low energy that can kill your workout.

If you need to cut the bitterness of your coffee, try almond or cashew milk. This helps you avoid dairy while giving you healthy fats that can help improve your workout.

Other benefits of working out:

Exercise makes you healthier, stronger, and trimmer.

I think it’s time to start working out.

Conclusion

You know that exercising is important for your health. But it goes beyond just body fat, calories, muscle, and even organ health. Working out has a direct impact on the health of your genes—which is the foundation of your overall wellbeing.

You could be a professional athlete if you wanted to—as long as you altered your genes appropriately.

But even if you have no interest in a Super Bowl ring, exercise can improve your genetic makeup to help resist disease and illness.

Healthy genes make a healthy person. And exercise makes for healthy genes.

Not sure how to workout for optimal health? Or how to impact your genes towards overall wellness?

No worries.

That’s why I’m here.

Check out our Male 90X program, a genetic-based report and analysis that will help you unlock and achieve your maximum potential.

You can change your health, your genes, and your life right now.

Learn How To Leverage Your Genetics with the MALE 90X program.

In this eBook, Dr. Tracy Gapin unlocks the secrets to naturally increase testosterone and how to optimize your performance in the bedroom, the boardroom and beyond – by leveraging YOUR unique genetic blueprint.