Category Archives: Hormones-optimization

Ashwagandha and Tongkat Ali for Testosterone: What the Real Numbers Look Like (Based on 12 Years of Client Bloodwork)

The testosterone booster aisle is, with very few exceptions, a parade of garbage. Tribulus does very little for most men. D-aspartic acid does almost nothing past three weeks. Most of the “blends” sold under aggressive masculine branding contain underdosed versions of compounds that don’t even work at full dose. The fake-studies trick I’ve written about […]

How I Use Training Protocols to Trigger HGH in Clients Over 40 – Without Injections

After 40, baseline GH production has declined by 15–20% from its peak. That doesn’t mean GH optimization is off the table — it means the training stimulus for it needs to be more precise, not more aggressive. Eccentric training and extended time under tension drive training-induced GH more reliably in men over 40 than maximal […]

The 6-12-25 Method Explained: Rep Ranges, Rest Periods, and the HGH Science Behind It

The 6-12-25 Method is a tri-set protocol I have built around the principle that strength, hypertrophy, and metabolic stress each trigger different hormonal responses – and combining all three within a single working set produces a hormonal stimulus that pure strength work, pure hypertrophy work, or pure conditioning cannot match. Six reps of a heavy […]

The Lactate-HGH Connection Nobody in Commercial Fitness Talks About

The middle rep range in structured training — 10 to 15 reps with moderate load — is where lactate accumulates fastest. That’s not a coincidence. It’s where the GH stimulus lives. Commercial fitness programming almost never deliberately targets the lactate threshold for GH. Most programs are either too heavy (strength) or too light (pump work). […]

Eating 200g Protein Daily for 90 Days – Body Composition, Testosterone, and IGF-1 Compared

TL;DR: I ate 200 grams of protein daily for 90 days while keeping training, sleep, and everything else constant. IGF-1 went from 168 to 194 ng/mL. Total T climbed from 652 to 674 ng/dL. I added approximately 4.5 lbs of lean mass and lost about 2 lbs of fat simultaneously — eating at maintenance. The […]

Overtraining Is a Hormonal Event – Here’s What Happens to T, Cortisol, and IGF-1 When You Don’t Recover

Overtraining isn’t a training problem — it’s a hormonal problem. T drops, cortisol climbs, IGF-1 crashes, and the bloodwork change is measurable before you ever feel “overtrained.” The earliest reliable signal isn’t joint pain or performance decline. It’s HRV dropping consistently for 10 or more days. By the time a client feels overtrained, they’ve been […]

MK-677 (Ibutamoren): Honest Assessment of Who It’s For and Who Should Skip It

Quick Review: MK-677 (Ibutamoren) A legitimate GH secretagogue that works — and that comes with real tradeoffs most people glossed over when Huberman put it on the map. Conditional yes for men over 45 with documented low IGF-1 who’ve already run a full lifestyle optimization protocol. A clear no for men with insulin resistance, men […]

Sauna + Cold Plunge on HGH: I Tested My IGF-1 Before and After a 30-Day Protocol

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 […]