By Dr. Andreas Boettcher, D.C., Functional Medicine, B.S. Health/Exercise Science

3x Ironman Triathlete, Master's Men's Physique Competitor & Medication FREE at 55

www.ItsOnlyHalftime.com

HRV: The Most Important Hormone and Longevity Signal Men Over 40 Aren’t Tracking

How I, at 55-years young, am using HRV to reverse biological aging, optimize testosterone naturally, and train harder than men half my age

For decades, men measured their fitness and vitality by:

• Body weight

• Bench press max

• Blood pressure

• Or how they looked in the mirror

But today, if you want a true snapshot of your hormonal health, recovery capacity, and long-term vitality, one number tells the full story: Heart Rate Variability (HRV).

And if you want to know how well your body is actually producing testosterone — or suppressing it — HRV gives you that answer faster than any blood test.

Why HRV Predicts Testosterone and Hormonal Health

HRV measures how quickly your nervous system shifts between:

• Sympathetic drive (stress, go, push, grind)
  and

• Parasympathetic recovery (heal, regenerate, rebuild)

Testosterone production only thrives when the parasympathetic system has room to operate.

Here’s why:

1. HRV Tracks Cortisol in Real Time

High cortisol = low testosterone.
These hormones sit in tension with one another.

• When HRV drops, cortisol is rising

• When HRV rises, cortisol falls — freeing the endocrine system to do its job

This is why I call HRV the new cortisol test.

2. HRV Predicts LH and GnRH Signaling

Testosterone requires:

• GnRH from the hypothalamus

• LH from the pituitary

• Leydig cell activation in the testes

Stress blunts these signals.
High HRV indicates the opposite —hormonal signaling is turned on, not suppressed.

3. HRV Mirrors Inflammatory Load

Inflammation:

• Lowers testosterone

• Weakens receptor sensitivity

• Damages mitochondrial ATP production

High HRV strongly correlates with low inflammation, the foundation of youthful hormonal output.

4. HRV is a Biomarker for Metabolic Flexibility

When HRV is high, the body:

• Utilizes carbs and fats efficiently

• Maintains stable blood sugar

• Stores glycogen optimally

• Preserves insulin sensitivity

Low HRV correlates to:

• Insulin resistance

• Fatigue

• Weight gain

• Low T

• Metabolic slowdown

The Summary

When your HRV rises, we can reasonably conclude:

• Testosterone signal is stronger

• Cortisol is controlled

• Inflammation is low

• Metabolic health is high

• Recovery is exceeding stress

• Biological age is trending younger

This is the internal physiology most men believe is lost after 40.
It’s not — it just requires disciplined inputs.

Proof in Real Time: My HRV The Week of This Article

At 55 years young, with no hormone replacement, no pharmaceuticals, and single-digit body fat, my HRV this week ranged from:

• Low to mid-40s after SIX consecutive lifting days
  to

• 96 ms on Apple Watch

• Over 100 ms on my HUME BAND

HRV 96–100+ for a Highly Trained 55-Year-Old

This is considered elite parasympathetic dominance for your age group and conditioning.

Most men in their 50s sit between:

• 20–40 ms= average

• 40–50 ms= good

• 50–65 ms= excellent

• 65+ ms= exceptional

• 80+ ms= elite, top 1–3%

• 90–100+ ms= physiological outlier territory

I'm essentially hitting young-athlete autonomic performance numbers.

Best part, I'm nothing special. You can too when you know how to dial things in.

What That Means Physiologically

A spike that high almost always indicates a period of:

• Strong parasympathetic rebound

• Reduced systemic stress

• High-quality sleep architecture

• Low inflammatory load

• Balanced cortisol rhythm

• Excellent fuel utilization (especially glycogen replenishment)

• Nervous system readiness to train

• Minimal sympathetic “hangover” from prior sessions

My body is saying:
“I am fully recovered and ready to perform.”

They are not genetic luck.
They are earned physiology, driven by choices.

HRV Benchmarks by Age Group

General guidance for well-trained, health-focused adults
(Note: HRV is individual — trends matter more than one number.)

Ages 30–40

This is typically the highest baseline window for healthy HRV.

Average population range:
25–55 ms

Well-trained, low-inflammation, metabolically healthy:
45–75 ms

Elite / highly conditioned:
70–100 ms

Targets & goals for this decade

• Build metabolic flexibility

• Establish strong sleep routines

• Train consistently and recover fully

• Develop habits you’ll want later

• HRV should be high — and stable

If HRV is already sliding below 40 at this age, it’s an early warning sign of:

• Chronic stress

• Poor sleep architecture

• Alcohol overload

• Blood sugar instability

Ages 40–50

This is the decade where most men lose ground— if they don’t take control.

Average population range:
20–45 ms

Well-trained, low-stress, health-focused:
40–65 ms

Elite / high performers:
65–90 ms

Targets & goals for this decade

• Preserve insulin sensitivity

• Reduce chronic inflammation

• Strength train with intention

• Protect and prioritize sleep

• Shift recovery from optional → required

If HRV is consistently above50in this decade, you’re already outperforming 80–90% of your peers.

If it’s in the 60s or higher — you’re biologically trending younger.

Ages 50–60+

This is where HRV becomes a preview of the second half of your life.

Average population range:
15–35 ms

Well-trained & metabolically healthy:
35–55 ms

Elite / high-performance lifestyle:
55–85+ ms

Targets & goals for this decade

• Reduce sympathetic burden

• Strength-train to preserve lean mass

• Keep inflammation low

• Maintain aerobic & VO2 base

• Treat stress management as a skill

• Treat sleep as recovery medicine

• Make nutrition strategic, not casual

If you are posting HRV scores above 60 consistently at this age, you are operating in the top 5–10% of men worldwide.

If you’re hitting 80+ or 100+, you are in rare air — your aging curve is bending backward.

The Most Important Point

Wherever you start doesn’t matter — the trend is the real scorecard.

If HRV is:
📈 trending up → you’re healing, adapting, recovering
📉 trending down → your nervous system is drowning in stress

That’s the signal telling you:

• When to push

• When to fuel

• When to recover

• And when to make a lifestyle change

So How Do You Move HRV Into Optimum Range?

Here are the levers I pull — and the exact habits I teach inside my community.

The IOH HRV-Optimization Framework

1. Precision Nutrition

I fuel based on what my physiology demands, not food fads.

• Carnivore-leaning ketogenic structure

• Grass-fed and pasture-raised protein

• Zero seed oils

• Low inflammatory load

• Carbohydrates added strategically to support performance and sleep

• Electrolytes daily

As metabolic flexibility strengthens, carbohydrate tolerance and hormonal output follow.

2. Strength + Cardio Training Done Intelligently

I train 4-6 days per week — but never blindly.

• HRV determines when to push and when to pull back

• Compound lifts for testosterone stimulation

• VO2 & conditioning for mitochondrial health

• Mobility to protect joints

• Flex days when recovery dictates

Effort without awareness breaks you down.
Effort guided by HRV builds you up.

3. Radical Sleep Consistency

Sleep is where testosterone becomes testosterone.

• Same bedtime and wake time

• Cold, dark environment

• No late caffeine

• Evening carbohydrates to lower cortisol

• Electronics out of the bedroom

Most men lose testosterone at night — because they lose restoration, not age.

4. Nervous System Management

Breath work, cold exposure, parasympathetic rebound — this is where recovery becomes a weapon.

• Cold exposure to stimulate parasympathetic tone

• Sauna for vascular expansion

• Stress reduction practices that promote vagal activation

High HRV is earned outside the gym.

5. Weekly Chiropractic Adjustments (The Overlooked Tool)

This is not pain relief — this is nervous system enhancement.

Chiropractic adjustments:

• Reduce sympathetic overload

• Stimulate mechanoreceptors that suppress nociception

• Activate vagal pathways and parasympathetic tone

• Improve motor control and proprioception

• Support sleep quality

• Reinforce autonomic balance

Research confirms HRV typically rises post-adjustment, validating chiropractic as a performance-level recovery strategy — not a last resort intervention.

For me, this is part of the stack — alongside nutrition, breath, cold, sleep, and strength.

6. Data-Driven Self-Tracking

• HRV

• Resting heart rate

• Sleep cycles

• Glucose stability

• Strength output

• Labs every 90 days

• Genetic markers

Because you cannot optimize what you refuse to measure.

And I document it daily in the IOH community — meals, sleep, HRV screenshots, workouts — to show what consistent execution builds.

How Chiropractic Adjustments Influence HRV

1. Nervous System Regulation

HRV is fundamentally a measure of:

• Parasympathetic (rest/digest)
  vs.

• Sympathetic (fight/flight)

Chiropractic adjustments — particularly to the upper cervical, thoracic spine, and sacrum — influence autonomic tone through the spinal cord and vagal nerve pathways.

A proper adjustment can:

• Reduce sympathetic drive

• Increase parasympathetic activity

• Improve vagal tone

This shift often produces a short-term rise in HRV.

2. Reduced Mechanical Stress Inputs

Subluxation / joint dysfunction creates:

• Constant nociceptive signaling

• Low-grade neural irritation

• Increased muscle guarding

• Micro-inflammatory load

• Elevated sympathetic tone

An adjustment removes that “noise,” which:

• Lowers stress inputs to the brainstem

• Unloads the system

• Improves CNS efficiency

HRV reflects that reduction in stress immediately or over the next sleep cycle.

3. Neuroplastic Reset Mechanism

Adjustments deliver a high-velocity, low-amplitude (HVLA) stimulus that influences:

• Proprioceptive feedback loops

• Motor control

• Cerebellar processing

• Prefrontal integration

This is the same pathway targeted by:

• Breath work

• Meditation

• Cold immersion

• Cranial nerve stimulation

All are known HRV boosters.

The adjustment literally “updates” the brain’s body map — clearing interference.

4. Vagal Input Areas Matter

Regions most likely to influence HRV include:

• C1/C2 (upper cervical)
  Closely linked to brainstem autonomic nuclei

• T1–T5 (sympathetic cardiac outflow)
  Balances parasympathetic/sympathetic tone

• T6–L2 (splanchnic sympathetic outflow)
  Impacts gut-driven HRV variables

• Sacral segments (S2–S4)
  Parasympathetic outflow to pelvic organs

This is why some patients see a spike from one adjustment and others from another — different stress inputs, different autonomic hot spots.

5. Research Evidence

Studies show:

• Acute HRV increases post-adjustment

• VA/military chiropractic trials demonstrated reductions in sympathetic tone

• Functional neurology offices use HRV as an outcome metric

• Patients with chronic pain see the largest HRV jumps

• Trained/healthy individuals sometimes show more subtle shifts (because baseline is already optimized)

In short:
Chiropractic is one of the few mechanical interventions with measurable autonomic impact.

Why This Matters for You

Most men don’t start with high HRV.

They start with:

• Belly fat

• Low energy

• Poor sleep

• Low motivation

• Rising inflammation

• Insulin resistance

• Hormonal decline

But HRV shows you exactly where you are — and gives you the map to climb out.

It reveals:

• When to push

• When to rest

• When to fuel harder

• When to recover deeper

No guessing.
No hoping.
Just data, clarity, and direction.

The Invitation

I did not achieve elite HRV or bio-age reversal by accident.

I earned it through:

• Daily habits

• Hard training

• Clean eating

• Controlled stress

• Nervous system alignment

• Recovery discipline

• Rigorous testing

• And a willingness to lead by example — publicly

And now, I teach others how to do the same through the
Peak Performance Protocol

If you’re ready to:

• Regain metabolic control

• Restore testosterone naturally

• Increase HRV

• Drop inflammation

• Build muscle after 40

• And feel ten years younger

Then a single conversation may change your trajectory of your life and health dramatically!

⚡️ Ready To Declare It's Only Halftime® With the Most Comprehensive Natural Approach to Mens Health?

If you’d like to go deeper — to uncover the root causes behind your energy, hormones, metabolism, and performance — I invite you to book a complimentary consultation.

Together, we’ll review your health history and goals and determine if our Peak Performance Protocol based on your lab analysis, genetics, and lifestyle data is right for you!

👉Click here to schedule your complimentary consultation.

To learn more about our approach and success stories, visit www.ItsOnlyHalftime.com where we help men like you turn your second half into your best half naturally!

Finish Strong,

Dr. Andreas

Still Kickin' A** Medication Free at 55 Despite What the "Narrative" and what traditional doctors wanted me to believe!

Medical Disclaimer:

The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. It should not replace professional consultation, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before making any changes to your health regimen or lifestyle.

References

Chiropractic + HRV Effects

• Welch, A. & Boone, W.R. (2008).Heart rate variability following spinal manipulation. JMPT.

• Roy RA et al. (2018).Autonomic effects of spinal manipulation. J Electromyography Kinesiology.

• Haavik, H., & Murphy, B. (2012).Spinal manipulation & sensorimotor integration. Brain Sciences.

Autonomic Function

• Thayer JF et al. (2010).Autonomic imbalance and inflammation. Biological Psychology.

• Driscoll (2020).Spinal manipulation and cortical activation. Frontiers in Neuroscience.

HRV & Hormones

• Muezzinoglu et al. (2019).HRV and endocrine status. Eur J Endocrinology.

• Hayes et al. (2016).Sympathetic drive and testosterone suppression. J Clin Endocrinol Metab.

• LASA Longitudinal Study (1992–2015).

Metabolic Flexibility

• Singh et al. (2018).HRV as metabolic biomarker. Metabolism Clinical & Experimental.

• Sloan et al. (2017).HRV monitoring & allostatic load. Psychosomatic Medicine.