Behaviors

Avoid pure carnivore or very pure vegan diets in teens and early 20s; both were described as likely to significantly decrease free androgens. In the late 20s, these approaches were described as potentially more reasonable.

A sustainable pattern was described as vigorous exercise around 3 to 4 times per week, plus 3 to 4 additional sessions of less vigorous exercise such as Zone 2 cardio where you can hold a conversation. Vigorous examples included weight training and HIIT.

Regular vigorous exercise sessions longer than 60 minutes were described as not hormonally helpful.

Topical spironolactone was said to be systemically absorbed; males were specifically warned not to use it unless prescribed by a doctor.

For intentional weight loss, weigh yourself every day first thing in the morning, ideally after urination and bowel movement, then use the weekly average and compare it to the next week's average rather than reacting to single-day fluctuations.

When filming movement for assessment, perform 3 to 10 repetitions per angle, slow and controlled; bodyweight only is sufficient.

Look for symmetry front-to-back, left-to-right, and between limbs when reviewing movement video.

Look for stability by seeing whether you can control the movement slowly and hold positions without shaking or shifting. Use pauses at the bottom for 3, 5, or 10 seconds to evaluate control.

Determine whether flaws are due to lack of awareness rather than true movement limitations.

Stand still and jump forward as far as possible; measure from the start line to the back of the heel on landing. A crude benchmark is being able to broad jump approximately your body height; for females, reduce that benchmark by about 15%.

Use either a hand-grip dynamometer or a dead hang from a bar thin enough to wrap the whole hand around. For men, minimum grip strength target is about 40 kg and ideally above 60 kg; for women, about 35 kg minimum and above 50 kg is strong. Left-right difference should not exceed about 10%. For dead hang, minimum target is 30 seconds, 30–50 seconds is decent but improvable, and above 60 seconds is generally good.

Use a leg extension test as a standardized, lower-skill alternative to a back squat. A simple benchmark is a bilateral one-rep max equal to body weight; after age 40, the target can decline about 10% per decade. If uncomfortable testing a true one-rep max, use a near-max load for as many reps as possible, keeping total reps under five, then use an online calculator to estimate one-rep max; accuracy declines once repetitions exceed about five.

Hold a kettlebell or dumbbell in front of the chest and sit in the bottom of a squat to assess position, core strength, and low-back stability. Intro benchmark: one-third body weight for 30 seconds. Stronger benchmark: about half body weight for about 45 seconds.

Avoid maximal testing when technical proficiency is inadequate or injury risk is high.

Use fat-free mass index from body composition data to determine whether muscle mass is sufficient for health. For men, target about 20 or higher, with below 17 indicating severe insufficiency; for women, target about 18 or higher, with below 15 indicating severe insufficiency. Interpretation assumes body fat is probably below 30% for men and below 35% for women.

Use a front plank, side plank, and push-ups as muscular endurance tests. Targets: front plank 60 seconds, side plank 45 seconds, and if capable of doing push-ups, 25+ consecutive full-range push-ups for men or 15+ for women. For push-up testing, use full elbow lockout at the top and chest touch or close to the ground at the bottom, and do not pause; any break counts as a failed test.

After reaching maximal exhaustion, measure heart rate recovery as a better metric than peak heart rate itself. Target about a 30 bpm drop in the first 60 seconds and about 60 bpm by two minutes.

Gold-standard aerobic capacity assessment is a laboratory VO2 max test using a mask and gas analysis. Field options include a 12-minute Cooper run test, entering distance into an online calculator, or a Rockport one-mile walk test if hard running is not feasible, recording both time and end heart rate.

Run the full battery at least annually, and every six months if possible. Complete it within a week rather than in one day; a three-day split is described as probably best.

Perform movement assessments when fresh rather than when sore or fatigued.

Place skill, max strength, and power testing early in the day before fatigue accumulates.

Use the same protocol each time you test so that changes reflect progress rather than procedural differences.

When you wake up, write dreams down; doing so can help more of the dream return even if it does not yet make sense.

For 30 seconds, pay attention to one object such as the breath, your hand, or a clock without getting lost in thought; used to reveal distractibility.

Notice the thought stream and physiology fueling anger or other negative states; this creates freedom to get off the ride and decide whether staying in the state is useful and for how long.

Men should get a sperm analysis to assess sperm number, motility, morphology, and fertility potential; it is relatively inexpensive and worth doing. Refrain from ejaculation for 48–72 hours before the test, and consider having sperm analyzed at least once every five years.

If sleep is interrupted, make it up the next morning, the next night, or by going to bed a little earlier, if your lifestyle allows. Avoid intentionally depriving yourself of sleep for rewarding or exciting activities.

Try to enter sleep as calm as possible. Helpful options mentioned include meditation, deep breathing, a warm bath, prayer, or reading a comforting book. Avoid going to sleep anxious or hyped up, and avoid highly exciting or novelty-heavy content such as stress-inducing video games; choose material that is calming and not too exciting or too boring.

If you want to increase heart rate for physical work output, make inhales longer and more vigorous relative to exhales.

Ask mother, grandmother, and even great-grandmother about puberty timing, pregnancy, perimenopause/menopause timing, and family history of conditions such as endometriosis, fibroids, and PCOS.