[You can follow me on Twitter @creatorvilla.] Today I want to share the results of a study conducted several decades ago that has forever changed the way we view the relationship between sunlight, testosterone, and athletic performance. In the study, Doctors Abraham Myerson and Rudolph Neustadt exposed men to UV light and measured the excretion of various sex hormones. The study revealed that exposure to UV light triggered huge increases in testosterone levels which did not return to baseline levels for over a week. This increase was dependent on the location of the body and the amount of skin exposed to the UV light. The researchers found that men’s baseline testosterone increased by 120% (more than double!) when the participants’ chest and back were exposed to UV light. However, the biggest increase in testosterone came when the participants’ testicles were exposed to UV light. The latter resulted in a massive 200% increase (triple) in baseline testosterone levels. This study has enormous implications for guys attempting to optimize testosterone levels and for athletes who want to maximize performance naturally and legally. It is a wonder why the sporting and fitness industries haven’t gone mainstream with this knowledge. Then again, there is little money to be made by advising people to get more sunlight. Companies would rather sell you expensive supplements. Athletes who have this knowledge may also wish to maintain a competitive advantage over their rivals.

The main takeaway of the study is that exposure to UV light anywhere on the body drives a huge increase in testosterone levels. I, however, wanted to test out the particulars of the study. Bluntly put, I wanted to see what would happen when I directly exposed the balls to UV light. I did this through an open window during the heat of day when the UV Index was high. I noticed they immediately began to grow upon first exposure. I knew this is the area where the body produces the vast majority of testosterone, so it made sense that local exposure to sunlight would trigger a disproportionate increase. The physical changes I observed coupled with the increases in energy and motivation to work out convinced me not only that the study was accurate, but that it was a major game-changer for the sports and fitness industries.

Exposing one’s nether parts to sunlight is neither practical nor desirable for obvious reasons. This has led some guys aware of the benefits to use UV red light therapy to achieve the same outcome in the privacy of their own home (link). I don’t doubt this works, but since it’s not something I’ve personally experimented with, I won’t say much about it. What I do know is that red light technology can be quiet pricey. However, I did discover a cheap and natural method that arguably worked even better for me than expensive alternatives.

Disclaimer: Don’t try this at home. You should consult your doctor about Vitamin D and testosterone optimization given that they are very powerful hormones and a lot could go wrong.

Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin for good reason. The human body has a Vitamin D receptor in nearly ever cell of the body and is highly evolved to generate Vitamin D upon exposure to the sun. After I first read the study a few years ago, I wondered whether the increase in testosterone was triggered by the local production of Vitamin D directly on the skin in response to the UV light exposure. That in mind, I experimented with different doses of Vitamin D topical applied directly to the balls. Lo and behold, I noticed the same enlarging effect as when I had gotten direct UV light exposure. In this process of trial and error, I came to the conclusion that less is more. When the skin is exposed to UV light, it naturally generates Vitamin D in a uniform fashion. Small exposed areas of skin naturally produce small amounts of Vitamin D, and applying to much Vitamin D to any one region can interfere with its natural synthesis by the body. I found that less than 1,000 IU was enough for me to achieve the desired effect and that higher doses were wholly ineffective. Whenever I apply Vitamin D anywhere directly to my skin I prefer to crack open the Vitamin D softgels rather than purchase a topical product. My method is cheaper and it enables me to control the dosing better than prepared formulations. I would apply about half of a 1000 IU softgel every few days and could notice a major difference within a few hours.

Today I make sure I get adequate sun exposure as part of a healthy lifestyle, but I have not experimented with UV light or Vitamin D in this fashion in years. Currently, I have no reason to maintain peak testosterone levels. However, if I ever found myself training for an athletic competition or was experiencing symptoms of low testosterone, the power of the sun would be my first recourse. Nowadays people are quick to take supplements, inject steroids, or go on testosterone replacement therapy, giving up on their body’s natural ability to produce what they need. Meanwhile, nature offers a cheaper (if not free) solution that is arguably more effective than artificial alternatives.

See my article on the The Most Natural Way To Optimize Vitamin D Levels for more pro tips on harnessing the power of the sun.

Hard work doesn’t end when you leave the gym. The hardest part is often the next 72 hours after a workout. Your muscles are sore. You don’t feel like moving. And you’re itching to get back in the gym so you can do it all over again. Fortunately, there are a number of steps anyone can take to accelerate the time it takes to get back to 100% after a workout. And, in fact, you’ll actually be at more than 100% since your body will have adapted to your last workout.

1. Do Cardio

My high school soccer coach always used to prescribe cardio for muscle soreness. I know a lot of people today who swear by cardio for faster recovery. They do cardio whether the initial workout responsible for muscle soreness was aerobic or anaerobic. The logic is that cardio gets blood and nutrients flowing to the muscles thereby decreasing the time it takes to heal. And it might be dead on.

Researchers at California State University ran a study on 26 women and found that those who performed moderate-intensity cardio immediately after a strength workout returned to greater than full strength a day sooner than those who did light cardio or no cardio at all. Moderate activity may ironically help you recover faster than passively waiting for your body to recover (Don’t just sit there, do something!)

2. Get Better Sleep

Sleep is when the body does the majority of its recovery. Sleep is the best way to optimize hormone levels and give the body adequate time to recover from exercise. And sleep is about depth as well as length. If you’ve worked out for any length of time, you’ve probably already noticed that quality of sleep correlates with recovery time and athletic performance.

A study of 10,125 Chinese universities students found that men who slept at least 7-8 hours had more muscle strength than those who slept less than 6 hours (this same difference was not observed in women). Another study detected a 10-15% decline in daytime testosterone levels in test subjects whose sleep was restricted to no more than 5 hours. This decline was after just one week of sleep deprivation.

Check out my article on 8 Natural Ways to Get a Better Night’s Sleep. They are 1) exercise; 2) reduce stress; 3) get light exposure during the day; 4) eliminate blue light exposure at night; 5) install blackout shades; 6) use white noise to drown out sound pollution; 7) practice meditation before bed; 8) take a Zinc or Magnesium supplement.

3. Optimize Vitamin D Levels

Vitamin D is the king of testosterone. I like to call Vitamin D steroids from God owing to research that discovered double and triple increases in testosterone upon male exposure to UV light. Another study observed a 20% decrease in stress fractures in female Navy recruits who supplemented Vitamin D.

Vitamin D plays a vital role in overall health in both males and females. It is important for mood, energy, protein synthesis, and muscle recovery. It follows that optimizing Vitamin D levels may be the easiest and most powerful way to accelerate workout recovery time and maximize gains. Some things in life are free, and energy from the sun is chief among them.

4. Supplement Zinc or Magnesium

Researchers have observed increases in testosterone after Zinc and Magnesium supplementation. In a study conducted on ZMA supplementation (Zinc, Magnesium, and Vitamin B-6), men who took 30 mg of Zinc and 450 mg of Magnesium over an 8-week period observed a 25% increase in free testosterone levels. More testosterone=faster recovery. This is why bodybuilders on steroids can workout 4 hours a day and be ready to go the next morning. Unlike steroids, which can absolutely wreck health and lead to premature disease and death, Zinc and Magnesium are natural alternatives.

Another 12-week study on elderly women found that 12-weeks of Magnesium supplementation increased physical performance. Magnesium supplementation is commonly recommended to reduce recovery time in both men and women.

For more on Zinc, Magnesium, and ZMA, check out 4 Researched Benefits of Supplementing Zinc and 4 Researched Benefits of Supplementing Magnesium.

5. Take a Cold Shower

Researchers conducted a study in which they discovered that cold hydrotherapy reduced delayed onset muscle soreness after a workout. (Note: Caution is advised due to the possible safety risks of cold water exposure.)

The authors included 17 small trials involving 366 people in their review. Participants were asked to get into a bath or container of cold water after running, cycling or resistance training. In most trials, participants spent five to 24 minutes in water that was between 10ºC and 15ºC, although in some cases lower temperatures were used or participants were asked to get in and out of the water at set times. In the studies that compared cold water immersion to resting or no intervention, there was a significant reduction in soreness one to four days after exercise.

Source: ScienceDaily

Cold showers are a personal favorite. I have taken cold showers for almost two years now. In another article, I documented 7 benefits of the discipline. One benefit that I didn’t document is decreased muscle soreness. As soon as I enter the cold water, the last thing on my mind is how sore my muscle’s feel from yesterday’s workout. And, based on research and personal experience, cold showers can have a more lasting effect on muscle recovery.

Conclusion:

A hard workout is not a sentence to multiple days of pain and inactivity. In addition to getting in better overall shape, there are simple steps anyone can take to reduce muscle recovery time.

In the picture on your right, I have selected New York City as an example. The figures in purple are peak UV radiation for each individual day. We are in mid-July hence why this value is so high at 11. The UV index (UVI) in the top right displays current UV radiation. I took this picture during the mid-day when the sun was emitting close to peak UV radiation hence why this figure was also very high at 10. Underneath current angle, the app displays the length of time during which UV radiation is high enough to generate Vitamin D. For New York City on the day pictured, the window was from 8:28 AM until 5:33 PM. The app also tracks the solar noon, or the time of day when UV radiation peaks. For New York City on the day pictured, that time was 1:00 PM sharp. As you will see when you use the app, the UVI is low in the morning when Vitamin D (and hence tanning) first become available and slowly builds until it reaches the solar noon. At this peak point, the strength of the sun begins to trends downward until UVI is so low that Vitamin D is no longer available.

How much sunlight you need to generate enough Vitamin D and tan depends on two factors: the UVI at the moment of exposure and your skin type. Darker tones need much more sun exposure for Vitamin D generation and tanning due to their skin being better adapted for climates with high UV radiation. Annual UV radiation globally corresponds to skin color in populations across the globe (low UV climate = lighter-skinned races, high UV climate = darker-skinned races). Where UV radiation is relatively abundant, human skin evolved by darkening as protection against excessive exposure. Where UV radiation is relatively low, human skin evolved by lightening (or remaining light) to maximize Vitamin D production.

Fortunately, the app simplifies the equation by including a skin type assessment. In the app, I had entered skin type IV, which means I burn minimally and tan easily. The graph on the right relates how much sun exposure I need depending on the strength of the sun. For example, when the UVI is between 8-10, I need 20-25 minutes of sun exposure to get my daily dose of Vitamin D. This time of year, a New Yorker with my skin type who is out in the sun from 11:30AM-12 PM would exceed his daily requirement. Another factor to take into account is clouds. Clouds, like windows, have the ability to block UV Radiation. On a cloudy day very little Vitamin D and tanning will take place regardless of how high the UVI is.

I have included a second graphic below for people with skin type II (refer back to the skin type graphic above). As you can see, the time to recommended dose is much less across the UVI spectrum. During the heat of day in New York City, just 5-10 minutes of sun is enough to satisfy the recommended daily dose! People with lighter tones generate Vitamin D very rapidly and are best advised to avoid excess sun exposure to prevent burning.

The app has a cool feature for optimizing Vitamin D where you input your location, skin type, sun exposure, and amount of skin exposed to the sun. The app will then estimate your Vitamin D levels based on these parameters so you can develop a strategy for staying in the optimal range. I make sure I am Vitamin D-optimal year round through adequate sun exposure and supplementation. As you will discover when you use the app, in states like New York with true winters no Vitamin D generation can take place during the winter months. Many people also work during the daylight hours and do not get enough natural exposure or have fears of sun-induced damage to the skin. As a result, you will likely need to supplement for at least a few months of the year, if not year-round.

Check out my post on my favorite way to optimize Vitamin D levels without direct sun exposure (hint: it involves a topical application).

Don’t let the name fool you–Vitamin D is not your ordinary vitamin. Termed the sunshine vitamin for the human body’s incredible capacity to create it upon direct exposure to ultraviolet rays, Vitamin D is a powerful hormone that has a receptor in nearly every human cell. Vitamin D is involved in highly complex bodily processes from wound healing to calcium regulation to hormonal balance (study). In the scientific literature, low Vitamin D levels have been associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer, heart disease, hypertension, bone fractures, depressive symptoms, autoimmune diseases, and a number of chronic conditions (link). Vitamin D status has also been positively correlated with wound healing and circulating testosterone levels in men, impacting athletic performance in a major way. Science is in agreement that optimizing Vitamin D levels is one of the most sensible health choices any human being can make.

The Vitamin D Council recommends 50 ng/ml of Vitamin D. Unfortunately, a large number of people around the world are Vitamin D-deficient due to lifestyle and seasonal changes. Take the American Midwest, for example. During the summer months the body can generate Vitamin D from about 9 AM to 6 PM, with peak production taking place from 11 to 3 PM when ultraviolet radiation is elevated. Since most Americans work during this time, they generate very little, if any, Vitamin D naturally from the sun. During the winter months where I live, no Vitamin D production is possible. Natural and lifestyle factors have contributed to an epidemic of Vitamin D deficiency.

I am of the belief that there is no better substitute than direct sunlight exposure for optimizing Vitamin D. Our species evolved over thousands of years to harness life-giving energy from the sun, and we do not know for certain whether something is lost in the process of supplementation. With that said, due to work schedules, winter weather, and health concerns over skin damage induced by sun exposure, many doctors prescribe supplementation. Oral Vitamin D supplementation is the traditional route, but recent studies demonstrate that topical delivery (applying Vitamin D on the skin) is also effective at raising Vitamin D levels in the blood (study).

The first thing you want to do is get blood work done at your clinic in order to diagnose your current Vitamin D levels (easy to do and typically covered by insurance). For Vitamin D-deficient patients, your doctor will usually prescribe either Vitamin D3 50,000 or Vitamin D3 100,000 IU to be taken orally once per week. Your doctor may also advise you to purchase smaller doses of Vitamin D3 over-the-counter and supplement more regularly.

My preferred method of optimizing Vitamin D levels is with a Vitamin D3 transdermal cream. This method best resembles the way our bodies are naturally designed to generate Vitamin D. I take the same dose I would normally ingest orally and rub it on my skin using a lotion or cream applicator. I personally like to cut open my Vitamin D3 softgels with a toothpick. I’ve found this method to be much more cost-efficient method than purchasing Vitamin D3 topical from a retailer. My favorite Vitamin D3 supplement in softgel form is NatureWise Vitamin D3 5,000 IU. I get the most bang for my buck using the higher 5,000 IU dosage and the company is large enough to sell the product for a low price.

When applying Vitamin D3 from the softgel directly to my skin, I use a cream or lotion carrier so that I can easily spread it around. My favorite product for this purpose is Viva Naturals Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. I like to use enough carrier cream so that I can evenly apply the product imitating how the body naturally produces Vitamin D from sunlight. If you do not want to mix your own Vitamin D3 cream, Vitamin D3 pre-mixed and ready for direct transdermal application is available on Amazon. The only topical Vitamin D I have ever purchased is AnuMed Vitamin D3 Cream 10,000 IU. It works as advertised and requires no preparation, but I personally enjoy mixing the Vitamin D3 and the cost savings of doing it myself.

Two pro tips for topical Vitamin D delivery.

1. Apply Vitamin D Topical in the Morning or Early Afternoon

Vitamin D generation signals to our body that the sun is out. Circulating levels of melatonin, a hormone that helps us sleep, decreases during the daylight hours. I apply the cream early in the day to give my body time to absorb the Vitamin D and so it doesn’t interfere with my sleep quality.

2. Apply Vitamin D Topical After the Shower

Studies evidence that Vitamin D precursors can be washed off due to water/soap exposure (See Helmer AC, Jensen CH: Vitamin D precursors removed from the skin by washing. Studies Inst Divi Thomae 1937, 1:207-216). Since Vitamin D on the skin can take more than a day to fully metabolize, I apply it after a shower to lengthen the window for absorption prior to the next administration.

Conclusion

Ancient religions worshiped the sun, modern countries wear it on their flag, and contemporary science evidences how critical the sun is to human health and well-being. The recent capacity of scientists to extract Vitamin D3 from plants and animals has made it possible to enjoy many of the health benefits of the sun without direct sun exposure. It stands to reason that everyone should get their Vitamin D levels clinically evaluated and assess whether supplementation can be a meaningful step toward better health.