How today's world is robbing men of their vigor.

In today's fast-paced world, the challenges of maintaining masculine vigor are more daunting than ever. As someone who has navigated these obstacles firsthand, I understand the toll that stress, adversity, and unhealthy habits can take on our well-being.

Before embarking on the journey with Thomas to create UnyieldingVigor, I found myself in a state of constant stress and lethargy. The loss of my prior engineering business due to the COVID lockdowns left me feeling devastated, grappling with feelings of defeat and uncertainty about the future.

But through resilience and determination, I overcame those challenges, including unhealthy addictions that had taken hold amidst the chaos. My journey taught me invaluable lessons about the impact of stress in today's world and the importance of reclaiming our vitality in the face of adversity.

In this blog post, I'll delve into the factors contributing to the modern struggle for masculine vigor and share insights on how we can triumph over adversity.

20-40 Years Ago: A Different World

Back then, our access to information was limited, relying on newspapers, television, and libraries, as we were just entering the infant stages of the internet. Face-to-face interactions and phone conversations were the norm, fostering essential social skills. Back then ¹here was less to be stressed about you could say. In fact, in a study of adults, it was found that the stress levels were much less in 1990 as compared to 2010 ¹.

The modern world

The internet has made our world more hyper-connected than ever, with information literally being disseminated at the speed of light. While this has undoubtedly given rise to many more opportunities, it has also given rise to addictive behavior if we are not able to control our usage. For example, social media is meticulously designed to leverage our dopamine systems to keep us engaged and scrolling in constant feeds of distractions, with people fighting for our attention online all day.

The mainstream media is now like a blitzkrieg, constantly in our face, spewing words that seek to divide us. We are involved in multiple wars, facing pandemics, and dealing with increasing government regulations and high inflation. In fact, my previous business is one that has fallen victim to the shutdowns from the response to COVID.

The uncertainties of the future, coupled with people working harder just to keep up, have led to a high level of stress in today's world. A study in adults showed much higher concerns for the future and their finances as of 2010 compared to 1990, as mentioned earlier. And this is even prior to the wars and pandemics we are facing today ¹.

Stress in the modern world

This increase in stress levels can lower our testosterone and increase the amounts of depression, anxiety, and an inability to focus, making every day feel like an uphill battle. In fact, there has been an increase in the number of antidepressant medications ² ³ ⁴ and ADHD medications ⁵ being prescribed in recent years, with an alarming number of adults having considered suicide in the USA as of 2021.

Source ⁶

These antidepressant and stimulant medications, while meant to help us, can leave us worse off.

SSRI’s, the most common antidepressants, are associated with apathy ⁷, lowered testosterone levels ⁸ ⁹, lowered libido ¹⁰ and reduced bone strength ¹¹.

While most ADHD medications are associated with reduced bone strength ¹² dependence ¹³ (due to d2 receptor downregulation) and reduced testosterone ¹⁴.

This is NOT good (unless you are Big Pharma)! In fact, having high testosterone levels will raise dopamine levels ¹⁵  and have antidepressant effects of its own ¹⁶, plus antidepressant effects through dopamine ¹⁷ and testosterone is unsurprisingly associated with an improvement in ADHD symptoms in a case series ¹⁸.

This will also have positive effects on bone strength ¹⁹, muscle growth ²⁰, and sexual function ²¹.

In other words, what you need is a comprehensive and holistic strategy for increasing testosterone and dopamine levels and combatting stress and bad habits. This will also make you more resilient to the stressors in today's world.

But it is not just uncontrollable internet usage habits, stress, fast food, and medications that are causing problems. We are being hit with new addictions left and right and we must stand up to them.

Vaping, for instance, has been on the rise ²² and it can lead to more potent nicotine addictions than tobacco, since the nicotine concentrations are much higher. Nicotine can decrease testosterone through reducing cAMP in Leydig cells ²³.

Fast food’s convenience and temptation, especially during the rushed modern ways of life, contributes to reduced testosterone ²⁴, further reducing our resilience.

So, what can we do? 

I am sure there are many people reading this who have bad habits, perhaps they want to break them, but they are struggling.

If you have faced the struggles in today's world and have grappled with chronic stress, depression, anxiety, or defeat, you are not alone. It is to be expected, in fact, and I would say if you haven't felt the pressure of these things at some point in your life, you are a rare exception.

As someone who has personally spiraled into a deep depression with unhealthy weed and alcohol habits when COVID hit and the lockdowns wiped out my last business, and has even considered suicide at one point, I can say that I know what it is like.

And as someone who has overcome all of those bad habits and now has a much higher quality of life, I can share what I have learned to help you do the same.

In conclusion

In a world that constantly evolves, our habits need to adapt for us to thrive. Making the right tweaks to our lifestyles and incorporating cutting-edge supplements that enhance, rather than harm, aspects of our well-being, allows us to navigate challenges and ensure a higher quality of life. My commitment to helping you become a Peak Male in today's world drives me to relentlessly stay updated with the latest research and enhancements to our courses. I aim not to rehash mediocre information available elsewhere but to lead with cutting-edge insights, supporting you on your journey to evolve every day and unleash your inner vigor. Because it's not just about surviving; it's about thriving.

Unleash your vigor and conquer your limits,

-Brenden Henry