TL;DR: I ran a 90-day natural testosterone optimization experiment tracking every variable I could measure – sleep, HRV, glucose, bloodwork every 8 weeks. Total T went from 488 to 638 ng/dL. The variables that moved the needle most were not what I expected going in. Sleep quality beat training. Glucose variability beat supplements. The data […]
Author Archives: Jason Reeves
TL;DR: I removed all screens until 9 AM for 30 days. My Oura readiness score went from a 7-day average of 64 to 79. HRV climbed 11 ms. Deep sleep added 14 minutes on average. Morning cortisol proxy markers improved measurably. The experiment I thought would be about willpower turned out to be mostly about […]
My first instinct was to optimize testosterone. Buy the supplements, read the protocol, run the bloodwork and target the number. Ron Males’ first question was: “What does your Oura say about your deep sleep?” I almost dismissed it. I came to him with a T question. He answered with a sleep question. It took me […]
TL;DR: Six months of Tongkat ali cycling (5 days on, 2 days off) at 200mg daily of a Physta-standardized extract. Total T went from 658 to 718 ng/dL. Free T: 18.2 to 22.1 pg/mL. SHBG dropped from 38 to 31 nmol/L. LH increased from 4.8 to 6.1 mIU/mL. Morning cortisol dropped modestly. The gains are […]
My SHBG was 58 nmol/L. My total testosterone was 484 ng/dL. My calculated free testosterone was 10.4 pg/mL – technically inside the reference range, but barely, and nowhere near where I needed it to feel like myself. I’d had D3 and magnesium dialed in for over a year. I was sleeping well. I was training […]
Everyone talks about getting eight hours of sleep. Nobody talks about what’s happening inside those eight hours. I wore an Oura ring and got IGF-1 blood draws every eight weeks for six months straight. What I found changed how I think about sleep, aging, and growth hormone permanently. TL;DR: My deep sleep minutes predicted my […]
My IGF-1 went from 224 to 248 ng/mL over 30 days of structured sauna and cold plunge protocol. My Oura HRV average improved from 58ms to 67ms. My deep sleep minutes, which I’ve been tracking obsessively since my first article, ticked from 102 to 108. Is that a lot? No, not compared to my first […]