What is Heart Rate Variability and Why Does It Matter To You?

Fit man working out

Heart rate variability (HRV) has stormed into the mainstream health and fitness world as one of the best indicators of daily and overall well-being. It’s an effective marker for sleep, recovery, performance, and health of the heart and autonomic system. 

Studies also show that a higher HRV has been linked to a lower risk of mortality, especially for sudden cardiac death. 

HRV might be one of the best tools to tracking acute and chronic health concerns. So what is HRV and why does it matter to you? 

What is heart rate variability? 

Heart rate variability (HRV) is the variation that occurs in the intervals between consecutive heartbeats. 

Okay, but what does that actually mean? 

Let’s start with understanding your heart rate, which is not the same as heart rate variability. Your heart rate (HR) is the amount of times your heart beats in a minute. If you take your pulse on your wrist, your heart rate is the number of pulses you feel in a 60-second timeframe. 

Heart rate variability is actually referring to the silent period in between those beats or pulses. Your heart doesn’t actually beat at a steady rate. If you have a heart rate of 60 beats per minute, your heart isn’t actually beating every second consistently. There are slight millisecond variations between each heartbeat. 

We’re not like the Tin Man. Our hearts aren’t machines that beat at the same rate consistently. Our hearts are gentle, sensitive organs that have slight (but healthy) irregularities.

Although measured in milliseconds, you can actually feel the difference in the “silent” intervals between your heartbeats. Right now, put your fingers on your wrist and search for your pulse. Take a few deep breaths in and out. You’ll probably notice that the time between beats gets longer while you’re exhaling—that’s because your heart rate is slowing down. You’ll notice the interval gets shorter when you’re inhaling because of an increase in heart rate. Referred to as sinus arrhythmia, this is the most basic way that our heart rate varies. 

I’ll reiterate that you actually want variation in your heart rate intervals, because that shows that you’re healthy! 

How does heart rate variability change? 

Your heart rate variability isn’t a static number. It’s constantly changing based on different events and scenarios, both internally and externally. 

Keep in mind that heart rate variability refers to the variation of the intervals between heartbeats. It’s not a number or time period itself. 

So a “low” HRV means that the intervals between your heartbeats are more consistent and steady. There is low or less variability. For example, if your heart rate were 60 beats per minute, the majority of your intervals might be precisely 1 second. 

A “high” HRV means that there is a lot more variation in the intervals between your heartbeats. With a 60 beats/minute HR, you might have one beat after 1.03 seconds, another after 1.06 seconds, then 1.05 seconds, then 1.01 seconds. There is more variation in the time between the beats. 

How does heart rate variability work? 

Heart rate variability is directly linked to, and controlled by, the autonomic nervous system. HRV actually is an indicator of how well your nervous system is functioning. 

There are two sides to the autonomic nervous system: the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. 

The sympathetic system is what triggers the stress-induced fight or flight response. It raises your adrenaline and cortisol, and it prepares your body to take action against some stressor. The sympathetic system should be activated as a short-term response to certain stressful events, but it can be seriously unhealthy for your mental and physical state to live in a high sympathetic state. 

The parasympathetic system is what helps restore homeostasis (balance) in your body by pulling down the response of the sympathetic system. This controls the rest, recovery, and digestion processes. 

When your body is stressed, the sympathetic system kicks into gear. This releases stress hormones and increases your cardiac output. Basically, it tells your heart to pump out more blood, so the blood can transport oxygen to the muscles and tissues—which will help you in the fight or flight response. When the sympathetic system is engaged, your heart rate variability decreases. Your heart is generally beating faster and more consistently. 

After the stressful situation is gone, the parasympathetic system activates to slow your heart rate back down to resting. This increases your heart rate variability to restore homeostasis. 

In general, you want a higher HRV. This is because a higher HRV, or more variability between heartbeats, indicates that your body has a strong ability to tolerate stress.

A high HRV indicates that your parasympathetic system is working. A low HRV indicates that your sympathetic system is engaged, which means you’re body is being stressed out (mentally or physically). 

Why is this important? Your body needs to be able to respond to stressors, so you don’t get eaten by a bear (for example). But you can’t live in that stressed state or it would do damage to your heart. Essentially, the autonomic system and heart rate variability enable your heart to respond to different needs and situations. 

Key point: If you have a low variation in heart rate variability compared to your baseline, something is likely stressing out your body. 

Why do we need to track heart rate variability? 

Heart rate variability is the biggest marker we have to the health and wellness of our autonomic nervous system. And the nervous system is tied to every automatic process in the body like regulation of blood sugar, blood pressure, body temperature, sweat, digestion, and more.

When we understand how our autonomic nervous system is functioning, we can better understand how almost every process in our body is operating. 

HRV is especially used as an indicator of fitness, our body’s ability to handle and recover after stress, and our heart health. A high HRV is an indication of a healthy cardiovascular system. A lower heart rate with a high HRV means that your parasympathetic system and heart are working effectively to bring your body back to homeostasis after stress or exercise. 

HRV is one of the most sensitive changes in the body. The interval between your heartbeats is one of the first indicators that something is wrong. Watching for these fluctuations can alert you to changes in your health well before other symptoms show up. 

What are some examples of when HRV might change? 

  • Stress or lack of sleep: Your HRV will likely drop when you’re stressed or sleep deprived, and you’ll need more time for recovery. 
  • Intense endurance exercise: Working out acutely lowers your HRV because your body is stressed out. But during recovery, your HRV will jump back up. If it doesn’t increase, you may be training too hard or too often. This is important to track if you’re on a fitness or training plan. 
  • Substances: Drugs, alcohol, and smoking all lower your HRV. You may notice that you’ll have a lower HRV after a night out because your body is stressed while trying to detox. 
  • Dehydration: Your HRV will lower quickly when dehydrated, because it doesn’t have the water it needs to function properly. When you re-hydrate, it should increase again. 

One of my favorites uses of the HRV is that you can use it to tell if you’re about to get sick. If your HRV goes down but you’re not stressed out in any way (mental or physical), you might be on your way to getting sick. In fact, HRV usually lowers even before you develop symptoms of sickness. So if you notice your HRV is lowering, you may want to take some time to rest and recover to combat any illness about to set in. 


What affects heart rate variability? 

Our heart rate variability actually changes every day based on activity, stress, and health. It’s constantly changing in response to different situations—and that’s a good thing! Heart rate variability can be affected by age, hormones, body functions, lifestyle, external events, and more. 

About 30% of our heart rate variability boils down to genetics. But the other 70% is completely controllable. You can actually improve your HRV based on your health, fitness, recovery skills, and stress resilience. 

In the last section, I’ll talk more about how you can direct your HRV to improve your overall health and wellness. 

How do you measure HRV? 

There are a few different methods to measure heart rate variability. One of the most popular ways is the ECG-based (electrocardiogram) method, which calculates the time between R waves in the QRS complex. These are referred to as R-R intervals. Some trackers use PPG, which measures interbeat intervals (IBI). 

Different trackers use different measurement methods. There isn’t really one “right” way to do it. So you can choose a wearable that’s best for your lifestyle and look. 

Which wearable trackers are best? Get all the info you need here: How Wearable Tech Is Revolutionizing and Personalizing Healthcare.  

How can I get started tracking HRV? 

Everyone has a unique heart rate variability based on genetics and lifestyle. There are also a lot of different ways to measure and track HRV, so it’s hard to compare different variations. So you’ll have to track your own HRV to understand what your baseline looks like in order to utilize HRV as an indicator of your personal health. 

First, you’ll want to find your HRV baseline. Note when you’re feeling “average”—not great, not bad— because that’s usually your baseline. You’ll want to keep track of this for a week or two to get a good idea of what your HRV is. If you have a tracker, it will usually help analyze your baseline for you. 

Once you have your baseline, it’s easier to see how your body is reacting. If your HRV goes down and you have a low HRV, your body might be stressed, overworked, or overwhelmed for some reason. You could have mental stress, you could be getting sick, or you might not be recovering effectively. If your HRV goes up with a high HRV, then you might be doing something healthy for you—like meditating or being creative. 

I recommend keeping a log of your HRV, whether or not you have a wearable that tracks it for you. This helps you understand all of the different variables going on in your life that could be affecting your HRV. For example, your HRV might decrease when you’re driving. If you log this several days in a row, you might start to notice that your HRV only drops in traffic—because traffic stresses you out! 

There’s a lot that can go into HRV tracking, so keeping a log is the best way to manage and analyze all of the factors at once. Learn more about how to keep a biohacking log here.  

How can I improve my HRV? 

Here’s what will decrease your HRV in the short term: 

  • Stress
  • Poor quality and quantity of sleep
  • Food intolerances, especially lactose
  • Alcohol and/or drugs
  • Sickness
  • Medications (antihistamines, antidepressants
  • Hot therapy 

Even exercise will decrease your HRV because you’re stressing out your body. Then, your HRV will start to increase as your body starts to recover. 

Here’s what will decrease your HRV long-term, which is a major indicator of poor health: 

  • Age (your HRV will likely change as you age)
  • Chronic stress or burnout
  • Poor diet 
  • Chronic inflammation 
  • Lack of fitness
  • Chronic disease
  • Lack of sleep
  • Overtraining
  • Unhealthy environment 

If your body is stressed out in any way for an extended period of time, it will show up in a decreased HRV. This means you’ll start to notice a downward trend in your HRV over time, and your “baseline” actually starts to get lower and lower. 

A low HRV over an extended period of time isn’t a problem on its own… It’s just an indicator that there’s something wrong. So if you notice this downward trend, it’s time to chat with a medical professional! 

But there are actually lifestyle changes you can make that will increase your heart rate variability by improving your recovery and improving your health. 

So what can you do to increase your HRV, in the short and long term? 

The awesome news is that these lifestyle changes also impact your epigenetics. Learn more about epigenetics and the impact on health with the following resources:

HRV is a tracker of your health, but not a health condition on its own. If you want to improve your health, it starts with hacking your genes. 

Are you ready to get your health on track? Want to know exactly how your body and heart rate variability will respond to certain situations based on your genes and lifestyle? Want greater control over your health and wellness? 

Then you need to check out my performance coaching. We’ll work together to unlock your genetic code and come up with a specific plan for your lifestyle choices and environmental factors so you can be on the path towards energy, health, vitality, and life! 

Take your life to the next level here. 

Want more tips to optimize your health and testosterone?

Listen to the latest podcasts. Click HERE

Tracy Gapin, MD, FACS  is a board-certified Urologist,  world renowned Men’s Health & Performance Expert, Author, and Professional Speaker. Using state-of-the-art biometric monitoring, nutrition and lifestyle intervention, Dr. Gapin coaches Fortune 500 executives and evolutionary leaders of business, sports medicine, and high performance. He specializes in cutting-edge precision medicine with an emphasis on epigenetics, providing men with a personalized path to optimizing health & performance. www.GapinInstitute.com  

How Wearable Tech is Revolutionizing and Personalizing Healthcare

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Wearable technology isn’t new to the medical field, but emerging advancements have revolutionized the way users can control and monitor their health. Daily heart monitors and pedometers have been helping users track their own health and fitness for almost a decade. Coming into 2019, though, we’ve seen an unprecedented influx of wearable medical devices and associated smartphone apps that are taking health to a new level. From sleep tracker apps to heart rate variability trackers to blood sugar monitors, tech companies are transforming annual physician visits into daily health habits.

Medicine is moving into the hands of the patient, ushering healthcare towards personalization and accessibility for all. Let’s take a look at the basics about what wearable health tech is and does, and then we’ll go through some of the popular and exciting technologies that are changing wellness, vitality, and longevity.

What is wearable health tech?

Wearable health technologies are, as the name suggests, tech advancements made to improve health—that you wear on your body. You put some sort of monitor around your wrist, finger, head, or chest. The monitor tracks your movement during the day or during your workout, and then it sends biofeedback (reports about your health) to a centralized system, like a phone app or cloud storage.

You have nearly instantaneous access to your health reports and biofeedback. You can refresh your phone app to see your heart rate up to a minute ago. And you can wake up in the morning and see exactly how you slept the night before, down to the minutes, movement, and quality.

Wearable health technology lets your body tell you what’s going on. As you grow accustomed to the equipment and feedback, you’ll be able to become more attuned to your health and wellness.

What are the benefits of wearable health tech?

  1. It makes you proactive about your health: Wearable tech allows users to keep up with their health before something goes wrong. You’re not thinking about your health once a year when it comes time for your annual physician visit (or less frequently, if you’re like some patients I know). You’re aware of and focused on your health every single day. This enhances understanding of health and makes people more proactive about their lifestyle decisions. Proactivity is the best way to keep disease away.
  2. It gives you control of your health: Wearable tech gives the user more control of their experience of health. These equipment increase understanding of different health measures, making users more mindful about their health every single day. For those individuals who want to live a healthy and vital life, this level of control over their own health can be relieving.
  3. It helps your doctor do their job. But you’re not alone in your health journey. Most technology will allow you to share health reports with family and doctors. This means your doctors can keep up with you and your health on a regular basis. More healthcare practitioners are moving to this one-on-one relationship-based approach to medicine, especially as healthcare gets more complex.
  4. It detects problems faster: You’re getting biofeedback down to the minute. This allows for earlier detection of concerns. Since the majority of diseases are progressive, swift detection can help minimize symptoms and treat the disease more fully and effectively. These techs can help kill the monster when it’s small.
  5. It provides more data for improved treatment: You’re tracking your health every single day. You’re creating a strong set of data about you and your body. If something does go wrong with your health, you already have weeks or months of data for your doctor to look at. This massive data set helps you and your doctor better understand your symptoms for more accurate and effective treatment—at a faster pace.
  6. It helps you live better, longer: You’re proactive about your health. You’re more aware of what’s going on with your body. You can catch things early, and you and your doctor have more data to better understand what’s going on. Altogether, you have a better hold on your health, so you can make better decisions for your life. This leads you to improved health, vitality, and longevity.
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What should my wearable technology track?

Different technologies offer different sorts of tracking and analysis options. Some of the monitoring capabilities of wearable tech includes:

  • Heart Rate Variability: the interval between heartbeats; a clue into health of autonomic nervous system (learn more about HRV here)
  • Heart rate: moving and resting rate determines overall health of body and heart
  • Blood oxygen saturation: amount of oxygen in blood, needed to keep organs and body healthy and energetic
  • Body temperature: tracks baseline versus temp due to disease, infection, or stress
  • Respiratory rate: how many breaths a person takes while at rest; abnormal can be clue into illness, infection, disease, or dehydration
  • Sleep stages: REM, light, deep to measure quality of sleep
  • Workout metrics: performance and endurance during activity
  • Step count: amount of steps taken during day, demonstrates basic level of activity
  • Calories burned: calories burned at rest and with activity

When selecting wearable tech, you also want to consider the usability of the software, the ease of wearing, and the different tracking and reporting features. Ideally, you want to be able to keep your doctor aligned with your health reports. Some tech equipment includes a community feature as well so you can include your friends and family to keep you accountable and healthy.

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What are some of the wearable tech options that are personalizing health?

1. Garmin Fenix Watch

The Fenix watch by Garmin was originally made for runners, athletes, and adventurers, but it’s become a staple for in the wearable tech world. It offers some of the clearest technology in an easy-to-use, unobtrusive way.

You just put your watch on (or keep it on all the time), and you have your health on you at all times. It has Elevate ™ wrist heart rate technology, so it can track your heart rate and heart rate variability down to the second. Your watch will count your steps, track your sleep, measure calories burned, and even quantify the intensity of your activities. The watch even shows biomechanical measurements like cadence, stride length, ground contact time, vertical oscillation, and vertical ratio while working out. It gives you insights into your anaerobic training metrics and tells you how to train productively based on your recent exercise history and performance.

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https://explore.garmin.com/en-US/fenix/

The watch also includes outdoor sensors with GPS and GLONASS satellite reception, so it can tell how far you’ve run/biked, your altitude changes, and even the barometric pressure you’re in. Wear it while swimming to track distance, pace, stroke, and count. Wear it skiing or snowboarding to track speed, distance, vertical drop, and run. Go into golf mode for yardage on your course, autoshot detection, and stat tracking.

Plus, it has a great design, especially for men. If you’re going to be wearing your health monitors all day, you want it to look cool. The Fenix has a rugged design with durable sport band and stainless steel fittings, so you’ll look as awesome as you feel. And you can even link your phone to your watch to get messages and calls, like you would with any other smart watch.

There’s also a community aspect. You can connect with friends and neighbors who also have the watch, so you can compare activity and goals. Push each other to live healthier. If you’re competitive, this feature is a must to take your life to the next level.

If you’re not a serious athlete, the Fenix might be an unnecessary cost. However, a lot of my patients love the daily performance metrics, smart notifications, and advanced tracking features. It really is the most comprehensive, adaptable, and usable watch on the market currently. As a doctor, I love the readability and breadth of reports to get an idea of how your workouts and daily movement is impacting your lifestyle.

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2. Biostrap

https://shop.biostrap.com/products/biostrap-set

Biostrap is similar to the Garmin watch, but it’s more for the every-man who doesn’t necessarily need GPS tracking for runs or cycling.

The Biostrap also helps you track your workouts by capturing your full body movement. The wristband and shoe-pod work together to understand how your body is moving, especially during workouts. It tracks blood oxygen saturation, heart rate variability, heart rate, respiratory rate, sleep analytics (sleep stages)—all day and night. During exercise, it tracks cadence, velocity, reps, and more. Not only does it track the data, but it also gives personalized insights to understand how you’re performing and how you can improve your health.

A unique aspect of the Biostrap is how it follows your heart. It doesn’t just check your pulse, but it captures specific waveforms that doctors use to monitor patients in-house. This gives more precise heartbeat data and analysis to ensure your heart is always beating strong.

The app is minimalistic and easy to use. You can set daily and long-term goals, look at your exercise library, and monitor your health with just a few taps. Biostrap is a great option to look into if you want in-depth tracking but you’re new to wearable tech or looking for a more approachable platform.

3. Oura Ring

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https://ouraring.com/

I can’t stress it enough: sleep is critical. A poor quality and quantity of sleep is directly linked to low testosterone, low energy, obesity, and increased risk of disease like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Poor sleep may even be linked to an increased rate of mortality (aka death)!

That’s where Oura Ring steps in. This is one of the best sleep trackers on the market (although there are a few). This ring is packed with sensors to help you understand different areas of your health, from sleep to workouts and beyond. It uses a body temperature sensor to get your temperature baselines and variations, infrared LEDs to measure blood volume pulse, and 3D accelerometers and gyroscopes to detect the amplitude and intensity of your body movement. It tracks you 24/7 so you can understand your movement and energy from wakefulness through sleep.

Some of its features include:

  • Bedtime guidance
  • Sleep quality measurements
  • Sleep stage tracking (REM, deep, light)
  • Quality and quantity sleep trends
  • Daily recovery optimization
  • Resting heart rate
  • Heart rate variability (HRV)
  • Body temperature trends
  • Respiratory rate
  • Steps and calories
  • Activity tracking and inactive alerts

Users also love the minimalistic design and integration with Apple Health app. You can import your workouts automatically to track your activity, calories, and fitness in your Health app.

So Oura isn’t just about sleep. It’s about understanding the basics of your health, so you can see just how your body is working to stay strong and vital. It also helps you set goals for your health and wellness, so you always feel incredible.

4. Heartmath Inner Balance

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https://store.heartmath.com/innerbalance

Training your emotional wellbeing is one of the best ways to handle your hormones, be more productive, and get the most out of life. Reducing stress is one of the best things you can do for your health to reduce your risk of diseases like cardiovascular disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and others. Stress is America’s silent epidemic, but HeartMath helps you take control of what you’re feeling.

The Heartmath Inner balance app and sensor actually focus on your mental wellbeing along with your physical. Its goal is to help you find balance, release stress, and reduce anxiety. Research shows that our heart rhythm actually reflects our inner state. Your heartbeat is erratic when you’re stressed or frustrated, but it’s consistent and even when you’re in a calm, collected state. So this tech actually helps you connect your emotions with your heart on a physiological level.

Research has shown that stress resiliency is a strong predictor of health. Being able to stay calm in periods of stress can help minimize the strain on your heart and head, while on the other hand getting anxious or stress drastically increases your risk of health complications. There’s a reason it’s called disease– because there is dis-ease in your body and brain.

It will observe your heart rhythm variability, which gives insights into your emotional state. It then offers HeartMath techniques to guide you to a more stress-free state. Coherence feedback can tell when you’ve made an emotional shift and then trains you to sustain that consistent heart-rate and mental state.

5. Halo headset

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https://www.haloneuro.com

The Halo Sport headsetstimulates your brain and increases neuroplasticity, which basically puts you into a state of hyper-learning. It uses small electrical currents to make the brain “pliable”, so it’s ready to learn and work harder. This can make you more productive, accelerate your recovery time, enhance your workouts, and improve your learning.

Throw on the headset for 20 minutes before working out or taking a piano lesson, and you’ll see marked improvements in how productive you are during the next hour. There are a number of studies proving that neuroplasticity works to put your brain into optimal over-drive. In fact, Olympians saw 45% faster results in training with Halo Sport than without!

The purpose of the Halo headset is to take your brain up a notch to make time-usage more efficient, whether working out, working at your desk, or learning something new. The headset connects to an app that tracks brain data, sends notification reminders, and provides tips to hack your brain and productivity.

Imagine what you could do if every hour was spent at peak capacity.

6. Apple Watch

Of course, we can’t forget the popular smart watch by Apple. Some of the newer watches are comparable to other tech wearables, offering a number of health and wellness components. Below are some of the uses of the Apple Watch:

  • It will constantly monitor your heart rate with the ECG app using just a fingerprint, giving a physician-worthy ECG waveform in 30 seconds.
  • The Breathe app keeps you calm and reminds you to relax throughout the day, putting your heart and mind back in alignment.
  • It can sense if you’ve fallen down, and the instant SOS alert sends help immediately.
  • It tracks your workouts and daily activity, and it will alert you when you need to get up and move.
  • You can pair your watch with compatible gym equipment to stay in sync with metrics like heart rate, speed, and calories burned. It can also automatically detect your workout, and you can input workouts based on type of activity.
  • It’s waterproof up to 50m, so you can take it in the water and work up a serious sweat.

People like using the Apple Watch because all of the information is centralized in your Health app, where it’s easy to find reports and share them with your doctor. Additionally, you can customize your watch completely to your needs. You can download different health apps for tracking and data input, like Dexcom G6 for diabetes glucose alerts or Lifesum to keep you moving with your food and workout goals. You can even see weather conditions, play your music, get messages, and other Apple app uses. Plus, there’s a strong community (and competition) aspect, so you can connect and share health data with friends.

The Apple Watch also offers many choices for customization, with https://mobilemob.com.au/ selling a variation of bands to accessorize your watch. It may not be as accurate as the other choices, but the customization that Mobile Mob makes up for it!

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Other interesting wearables

AlivCor KardiaMobile: This helps track heart health, especially irregular heartbeats. It links to the Apple’s heart rate sensor for continuous monitoring, and it has a small ECG pad on the watchband to determine irregularities.

Motiv: A smart ring that tracks sleep, activity, and heart rate. It’s one of the more simple designs and usage for the beginner tracker.

SleepScore Labs: SleepScore offers a non-contact sleep tracker using artificial intelligence. This sits on your bedside table to detect sleep movements as well as snoring, teeth grinding, and sleep apnea patterns.

L’Oreal UV sense: This battery-free sensor is so small it fits on the thumbnail for two weeks. It measures UV exposures to determine how to best protect your skin. After two weeks, you download the info into your smartphone and the sensor can be reused for ongoing data collection. This is usually used more for data collection purposes.

Air Louisville: Tracks the environment around you including the air quality and pollution of your city. It was made especially for patients who suffer from asthma. This collects data from individuals to assess long-term health risks for the overall public.

There are hundreds of health tech equipment on the market. Do your research to see which will best suit your health and lifestyle needs.

Conclusion

Technology is constantly changing, which in turn ushers in unprecedented advancements in the healthcare and medical world. Wearable tech is putting control in the hands of the individual to maintain their own health, wellness, and longevity.

It’s never been easier to stay healthy.

Wearable tech helps you understand the ins and outs of your own unique health. Each person has a unique blueprint and lifestyle that determines your wellness. That’s what The Edge Blueprint ebook dives into. You learn how to leverage your unique genetic blueprint to maximize your testosterone, boost energy, and climb to the next level of health– in a way that works best for you. Download The Edge Blueprint For Men

Are YOU ready to transform your health?

With my genetics coaching, I use testing and analysis to look at your genetic makeup and epigenetic expression to understand exactly how your body is working today. Together, we then create a personalized lifestyle plan, one variable at a time, to bring your body into its peak state.

Want to learn more? Download my FREE Edge Blueprint for Men eBook. You’ll learn how to leverage your genetics to maximize testosterone, optimize performance, and take your life to the next level!

Want more tips to optimize your health and testosterone?

Listen to the latest podcasts. Click HERE

Tracy Gapin, MD, FACS – Board Certified Urologist in Sarasota, Men’s Health Optimization Expert and Medical Director of Sarasota Apeiron Center for Human Potential. Founder of www.SmartMensHealth.com

Does Exercise Boost Testosterone?


Strap in, because I’m about to completely change your idea about what “healthy” workouts look like.

It’s true that working out can help raise your testosterone levels if you’re suffering from low testosterone. But not the workouts you might imagine.

You don’t need to workout every day to boost testosterone.

You don’t need to workout more than 30 minutes to boost testosterone.

You don’t need to run marathons to boost testosterone.

In fact, it’s not that you just don’t need to—you shouldn’t actually work out every day, workout too much, or run long distances.

Instead, you should be focusing on strong bursts of resistance training.

In this article, I’m going to give you the specifics about how to exercise to boost your testosterone levels and get back on track to ultimate sexual and overall health.

Does exercise boost T levels?

In short, the answer to this question is, yes. Exercise can boost testosterone levels—if you exercise correctly. Testosterone is the hormone that controls muscle synthesis and energy, and it also helps regulate weight. Since exercise is also important for muscle and weight, the two go hand-in-hand to lend towards overall health and wellness.  

Research shows two major impacts of exercise on testosterone levels: short-term and long-term.

Firstly, testosterone spikes 30 minutes after a training workout. However, testosterone returns to resting levels after about an hour. This means that there’s only a short-term spike in testosterone during the day.

But that doesn’t mean that short-term spike isn’t helping long-term. In fact, research shows that the more frequently men experience this quick T spike, the greater their resting testosterone level.

This means that exercising boosts testosterone levels most significantly in the short-term but most profoundly in the long-term. If you consistently workout to raise T levels, your resting T levels will start to raise methodically and permanently.

Working out also has an indirect relationship with testosterone due to the impacts of exercise on body fat, stress, and sleep.

Body fat

Working out helps reduce body fat, especially around the midsection. Maintaining a healthy body weight is important to healthy levels of testosterone. Visceral fat can actually raise cortisol and estrogen, which in turn lowers testosterone.

If you want high levels of testosterone, you need a healthy weight.

If you want to lose weight, you need to be moving and exercising consistently.

Stress

Exercise is a proven stress reducer. It releases endorphins that make you happier while reducing anxiety and depression.

When you’re stressed, your body releases cortisol (the “stress hormone”). Cortisol and testosterone have an inverse relationship. High cortisol equals low testosterone and vice versa.

This is because cortisol and testosterone are both made from the same “base” hormone called pregnenolone. If the body has to use more pregnenolone to make cortisol, it won’t have enough left over to make testosterone. This is called “cortisol steal” because it steals away the building blocks of necessary T production.

Sleep

Getting enough sleep is an important part of testosterone production. Studies show that sleeping too few hours can drastically lower testosterone by boosting cortisol to exorbitant levels.

Working out can help you sleep better. It uses up extra energy and trains your muscles, so you’re more likely to get a higher quantity and quality of sleep. Exercise also lowers cortisol, so you can have a more restful night’s sleep. and Plus, since working out reduces your stress, you’ll be in a better mental state to help fall asleep.

Still don’t believe that exercise boosts testosterone?
Check out the scientific proof:  

What kind of exercise boosts testosterone?

Not all exercise is created equal when it comes to raising testosterone levels.

Resistance training (lifting weights) is the best way to raise testosterone. Studies show that strength training can actually induce the release of growth hormone and testosterone regardless of age.

In reverse, research shows that long-distance running can actually lower testosterone levels. In fact, one study found that the long-distance runners had lower T levels than even the non-athletic group. This is because running for long distances over-stresses the body. This stress releases cortisol, aka the “stress hormone,” and leads to cortisol steal (as discussed above).

For the same reason, you want to avoid overtraining or over-exerting your body during workouts. Working out too hard can release cortisol that reduces the production of testosterone.

So yes, I’m telling you not to overdo it with your workouts if you want to see T-raising benefits!

When to workout

There are two schools of thought with regards to when you should work out to best boost testosterone.

The first is that you should work out in the late afternoons or early evenings.

Testosterone is naturally highest in the morning. Testosterone is actually one of the hormones that helps you wake up in the morning with energy and vigor. (That’s why men with low testosterone often feel fatigue, low energy, and low interest.)

T levels naturally fluctuate throughout the day, but they steadily decline as the day progresses. This is one of the reasons you might find that you start to lose some of your energy in the middle of the day.

The second school of thought is that you should work out in the mornings.

Studies show that working out on an empty stomach has the greatest fat burning benefits. Burning fat can help raise testosterone levels. Lifting weights on an empty stomach can also help increase metabolism and muscle synthesis, which can further boost testosterone.

My suggestion? Workout whenever it fits in your schedule! If you workout in the mornings, don’t eat beforehand and you’ll see greater fat burning benefits. If you workout in the evenings, drink a cup of coffee to improve your energy and performance.

How to workout

There are three things you need to focus on in your workout in order to boost testosterone levels:

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

Most experts refer to this kind of workout as “high intensity interval training (HIIT).” Basically, you’ll want to push more muscle groups, with heavier weights, for short intervals.

1. Compound exercises

Compound exercises work a number of muscle groups at one time. Research shows that testosterone levels are correlated with the amount of muscle tissue that’s stimulated during a workout. The more muscles you work, the greater the T boost. You want to avoid isolation exercises, which have no proven impact on testosterone.

The ideal workout would consist of three compound exercises. This includes one upper body pull, one upper body push, and one lower body exercise.

Examples of upper body pull include pull-ups, dumbbell rows, and chin-ups. Upper body push includes push-ups, chest presses, ring dips, and shoulder presses. Lower body compounds include body weight squats, weight squats, lunges, and reverse lunges.

Before you get into your compound movements, you want to warm up your muscles. I recommend 30 seconds of skipping rope and 30 seconds of jumping jacks. This gets your heart rate up while also moving the muscle groups you’ll need for your compound movements.

Do 30 seconds of rope skipping, 30 seconds of jumping jacks, and then rest for 30 seconds. Repeat three times, and you’ll be warm and ready!

2. Fewer reps, higher weight

Studies show that you’ll see the best results if you use a higher weight with fewer reps as opposed to more reps at a lower weight. This is because higher weights exert your body at a greater rate, which helps build muscle and set off testosterone production.

You want to get through 6 to 8 reps at a high weight. This ensures you don’t injure your muscles by overexerting, but you’re still pushing your body just enough.

Remember—you see the greatest results in the last rep that you “can’t do!” Power through it.

Repeat for six sets. By the end of the sixth set, you’ll be exhausted and ready for an extended rest period.

3. Longer rest periods

You want to rest at least one minute between sets and five minutes between exercises. This gives your body the chance to recuperate to take on the next set.

The five minutes between each exercise helps relieve your central nervous system so you don’t start to release cortisol (and end up with cortisol steal and lower testosterone levels).

You also want to rest 48 hours between each workout.

That’s right—you don’t want to workout like this every day! Doing so can actually overexert your body and damage your T levels.

You don’t want to be sitting on the couch and eating potato chips on your down days, though. You should still get up and get your body moving for at least 30 minutes each day. I recommend light cardio, like walking or swimming. This will help you burn calories and stay active without stressing your body.

When boosting your testosterone levels, recovery is especially important!

Pulling it together

Altogether, you want to train large muscle groups, lift heavy, and rest long.

You have three compound movements: 1 upper body pull, 1 upper body push, and 1 lower body compound. Do each movement with 6-8 reps for six sets. Rest one minute between sets and five minutes between each workout. This brings you to about a thirty-minute workout.

This kind of HIIT workout is what we call “explosive resistance training.”

I love this kind of training because it’s quick but mighty. You only need a half-hour to see amazing results in your testosterone levels, muscle growth, weight loss, energy levels, and overall health.

HIIT has even shown significant results in the bedroom. It can actually help boost your stamina and make you a better lover. Score!

Benefits of using exercise to boost testosterone

Working out:

Raises testosterone, which leads to higher libido, greater energy, and improved wellness.

Burns fat, which reduces the risk of disease and raises self-confidence.

Enhances stamina, which allows for improved workouts and sex sessions.

Reduces stress, which lowers the risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) and other serious diseases.

Improves sleep, which helps produce more testosterone and other hormones.

Overall, exercise creates a cycle of sexually invigorating testosterone production!

Conclusion

Does exercise boost testosterone? Heck yes, it does! Working out one of the most natural and effective ways to overcome low testosterone and bring back optimal health. Resistance training is one of the best ways to get your T level back to where you want it to be.

The benefits of exercise are immense. But we all have our excuses. We don’t have time. We don’t have a gym nearby. We’re too busy.

It’s time to stop making excuses. There’s no better time to take control of your health than RIGHT NOW!

You can find thirty minutes every other day to improve your health, can’t you?

You just need to start. You need someone to help you.

That’s what I’m here for.

Do you want specific, in-depth exercise plans that can help you raise testosterone this month?

Are you looking for more ways to boost your testosterone?

Then it’s time to sign up for The Male 90X program!

This genetic-based report and analysis will give you everything you need to know about low testosterone levels and any sexual health concerns. You’ll also get a private consultation to address an individually-tailored plan that will put you on the track to success.

It’s time to invigorate your sexuality and enliven your vitality! 

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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.