Tommy's Take by Tommy Pomatico 2/2

How to Increase Natural Testosterone (Without Chasing Supplements)

If you Google “how to increase testosterone,” you’ll get hit with ads for pills, powders, and herbs promising insane results.

Most of them are useless.

Not because testosterone isn’t important—but because testosterone is primarily a lifestyle outcome, not a supplement problem.

If your sleep sucks, stress is high, diet is inconsistent, and training is all over the place, no pill is fixing that.

Here’s what actually moves the needle.

1. Sleep Is the Biggest Testosterone Lever You’re Ignoring

If you do nothing else, fix your sleep.

Testosterone is largely produced during deep sleep. Cut sleep short and your levels drop fast. Studies show even one week of sleeping 5–6 hours per night can reduce testosterone by 10–15%.

What matters:

  • 7–9 hours per night

  • Consistent bedtime and wake time

  • Dark, cool room

  • No screens right before bed

You don’t need magnesium, ZMA, or melatonin stacks if you’re sleeping 4–5 hours and doom-scrolling until midnight.

Sleep first.

2. Chronic Stress Is a Testosterone Killer

Testosterone and cortisol have an inverse relationship.

High stress → high cortisol

High cortisol → suppressed testosterone

This isn’t about avoiding stress completely (that’s impossible). It’s about chronic, unmanaged stress:

  • Constant work pressure

  • Poor recovery

  • Under-eating

  • Overtraining

  • No downtime

If your nervous system is always in fight-or-flight, your body isn’t prioritizing reproduction, muscle, or hormones. It’s prioritizing survival.

Practical fixes:

  • Stop training hard every single day

  • Walk outside daily

  • Schedule actual rest days

  • Eat enough food (especially carbs)

  • Have something in your life that isn’t work or training

Stress management isn’t soft—it’s hormonal hygiene.

3. Eat Like an Adult, Not a Diet Robot

Extreme dieting crushes testosterone.

Very low calories, zero fat diets, and long stretches of under eating all signal to the body that resources are scarce. When that happens, testosterone drops.

Key nutrition principles:

  • Eat enough total calories

  • Don’t eliminate fat (dietary fat matters for hormone production)

  • Don’t fear carbs—especially if you train hard

  • Prioritize whole foods over ultra-processed junk

This doesn’t mean you need a “testosterone diet.”

It means stop eating like you’re permanently cutting weight.

If you’re lean, exhausted, cold all the time, and irritable your hormones are probably paying the price.

4. Lift Heavy Things (But Recover From It)

Resistance training increases testosterone but only when paired with recovery.

What works:

  • Compound lifts

  • Progressive overload

  • Training with intent

What backfires:

  • Excessive volume with no rest

  • Endless HIIT

  • Training hard while under-fed and under-slept

Training should be a stimulus, not a punishment.

More isn’t better. Better is better.

5. Body Fat Extremes Hurt Testosterone

Too much body fat increases aromatization (conversion of testosterone into estrogen).

Too little body fat signals starvation.

Both are problems.

The sweet spot for most men is being:

  • Lean enough to be healthy

  • Fed enough to recover

  • Strong enough to perform

Chasing shredded year-round leanness often backfires hormonally.

6. Alcohol Is Quietly Wrecking Your Hormones

Alcohol directly suppresses testosterone production and increases estrogen.

Occasional drinks won’t destroy you but regular, heavy intake absolutely matters.

If you’re drinking:

  • Most nights

  • On weekends every week

  • To “wind down” from stress

Don’t be surprised if energy, libido, and recovery feel off.

This is one of the easiest wins most people refuse to take.

So… What About Supplements?

Here’s the truth:

If you fix sleep, stress, training, nutrition, and alcohol intake and your testosterone is still low then supplements might help at the margins.

But supplements don’t override lifestyle dysfunction.

Most “test boosters” work only if you’re deficient in something to begin with. If you’re not, they do almost nothing.

Lifestyle sets the ceiling. Supplements tweak the last 5%.

The Bottom Line

If you want higher natural testosterone:

  • Sleep more

  • Eat enough

  • Train intelligently

  • Manage stress

  • Stop abusing alcohol

  • Recover like it matters (because it does)

Testosterone isn’t built in a supplement aisle.

It’s built in how you live your life—every single day.

Fix the foundation first. Everything else is noise.

brian mazzaComment