MB #016: Testosterone, Bed Time, & Fatherly Responsibility

Read time: ~6 Minutes

Hey friends,

If you missed the announcement, The Mission Briefing will have a changed format for the foreseeable future. There will be 4 main sections:

1. Food for thought

2. Quote of the month

3. Health and Fitness Tips

4. Book recommendations

5. Social Media Favorites

6. Article To Read

🧠 Food For Thought:

Responsibility doesn't automatically mean fault, but it means you'll have to give an account.

Fathers, you're responsible for your home, the actions of your wife and children, your health and theirs, how your kids act in public, at school, etc. Not fault...responsibility. This is covenant theology in a nutshell.

It’s only appropriate that today, Easter, we remember that Jesus wasn't at fault for any of the pain, suffering, and separation from God that he experienced - but he was chosen by the Father to be responsible for it.

Think about it.

✍️ Quote Of The Month:

Our children learn most from watching us. Watching us exercise, watching us read, journaling, and work. They watch how we treat their mother, how we respond in traffic, what we eat, how we eat, etc.

My boys always find ways to remind me that their perspective is "do as I do".

💪 Health & Fitness Tips:

1. Don't go to bed late.

Sleep scientists at UCLA discovered that going to sleep 1-2 hours later than usual causes a massive decrease in growth hormone during the night regardless of sleeping in.

This means that having the same sleep & wake times is as important as how long you sleep.

If this is happening every 3rd or 4th night, quick math can help us understand the impact on our hormones.

2. The fountain of youth is boring - according to these guys.

A more recent body of research is showing that those who live the longest and healthiest aren't doing rocket science. They're doing the basics:

1. Never smoking

2. Staying in the “normal” BMI range

3. Getting at least 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity per day

4. Low-risk alcohol consumption (i.e., low-to-moderate intake)

5. High diet quality score (quantified using the Alternate Healthy Eating Index score)

3. My favorite testosterone-boosting supplements.

About 5 months ago I had some routine bloodwork done and found that my testosterone had dropped significantly from my last test 18 months prior. There can be a lot of different reasons for something like this in men, so the next step is to avoid panic and simply try to make small adjustments.

Since many of the suggestions for how to improve this were things I was already doing, I took the supplement advice of Dr. Kyle Gillett from his interview on Andrew Huberman's show and opted to give it a try.

I found a company that combined many of the recommended supplements into one product (I added some additional Tongkat from other sources, but I don't think you need to.)

The results? I increased my testosterone by 180%+ on my next blood test 75 days later!

So if you're considering TRT (Testosterone replacement therapy) because of low testosterone numbers - I highly recommend reserving that as an absolute last resort after you've expended all available options and done so with diligence and consistency. Once you go TRT, there's really no going back, and it will likely take you down the road of sterility.

4. Beware of your smartphone and wifi.

Carrying your smartphone in your pocket or keeping it nearby you all day has negative health implications, ESPECIALLY for fathers.

It can affect your sperm quality and thus the ability for your wife to conceive, and negatively impact a man's testosterone levels.

Additionally, EMF (radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation) exposure in general has been shown to have potentially negative health effects. The worst culprit can often be your wifi router.

Not a lot of research has been done specifically on sleep in relation to EMF, but anecdotally it seems to hold up nearly 100% of the time that people who limit exposure to EMF at night will sleep better and longer. I’ve been sleeping with wifi off and my phone on airplane mode for years and it has helped our whole family sleep much better.

I’ve also gotten the same feedback from many clients and friends who have started turning everything off before bed as well.

📚Book Recommendations:

Becoming a King - The Path To Restoring The Heart Of Man.

This and the next book both deal with identity which is a big topic for men who aim to be healthy. Our daily actions are often rooted in wounding, lies we believe, the stories we tell ourselves about our experiences, and more. God made man to rule in a God-glorifying and mission-oriented way - so let’s recover that.

Living Fearless - Exchanging The Lies Of The World For The Liberating Truth Of God.

Few things I have found more powerful for my own personal transformation than learning to pray in the way that Jamie talks about. There are many prominent voices today discussing a similar approach and it’s powerful.

Manliness of Christ - How The Masculinity of Christ Eradicates Effeminite Christianity.

The Church has been increasingly lacking in its understanding as well as teaching and defending Biblical masculinity. This short read (about 65 pages) can be tackled on a weekend afternoon while your kids are napping and will map out some key thoughts on the topic of masculinity as the Bible defines it, not as culture (and often the Church) has been defining it.

Outlive - The Science & Art of Longevity (This is a 400-page book that I have not yet finished, but I enjoy Dr. Peter Attia and his methodologies, and the book has been great so far)

This book is for those who are a bit more science-nerd types like me. If you don’t love science this might not be a great purchase because it will help you learn things like why you should forget about diets and focus instead on nutritional biochemistry, using technology and data to personalize your eating patterns.

One big takeaway from Dr. Attia’s work that is applicable to everyone, however, is that he believes the most potent pro-longevity “drug” is exercise.

📱 Social Media Favorites:

"The health of a Christian father physically as much as spiritually, as well as his impact inside and out of the home, hinge on his prayer life." Check out my post on prayer as it pertains to the health of a father.

"Secular research as well as religious research both show that where the man goes, the family goes, where the family goes, the community goes, where the community goes society goes." It's an official wrap at Leadr and on to exciting things here at Mission-Fit.

📰 Articles To Read:

I'm gonna go full-blown hippie on y'all today and recommend this article on "Earthing" by the father of biohacking, Dave Asprey. The good news for Christians is this isn't voodoo or occult. It's the way God hardwired the earth and humans to function, and there's now over 20 peer-reviewed research studies showing the health benefits of grounding/earthing.

In support of my long-standing preference to exercise in the AM instead of the PM, I found some newer research in this article that highlights morning workouts being potentially more beneficial for fat loss than afternoon/evening workouts.

That’s a wrap - Please drop your comments and questions and we’ll keep the conversation going!

-Chris

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