Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha

and sex drive.
    A requirement should then be to get at least six hours of sleep per night, and when you think about it, that’s not a big request. If you struggle sleeping, here are a few tricks that might help:

    1. Make your room colder. This improves your ability to fall asleep.
    2. Eat more carbs late at night. We already told you that you should be having carbs at night because it’s good for your body and your workouts, but the carbs will also help you pass out. Need proof? Think about every Thanksgiving after you eat approximately two pounds of stuffing and sweet potatoes. We’ll show you how many carbs to eat at night, but in general, you’ll be splitting all your carbs between two meals: after your workout and before bed. If you work out late at night, then prepare yourself for an evening carb party!
    3. Eat protein before bed. When you’re throwing down your carbs, make sure you’re combining them with some protein. It can be a chicken breast or just a scoop of protein powder. Protein contains amino acids, one of which is L-tryptophan. If you love Seinfeld, you already know this as the secret sauce in turkey that makes people tired. Your brain uses tryptophan to produce melatonin and serotonin, both of which improve your sleep.
    4. Have a cheat day. That’s right. Here’s another reason why cheat days are so great—low leptin levels can hurt your sleep. So by going higher carb, you’ll bump up your leptin and improve your quality of sleep.
    5. Sleep in a dark room. This might seem obvious, but your sleep cycle is dependent on circadian rhythms. In other words, when it’s light your body “knows” to be awake, and when it’s dark it makes you want to sleep. The light decreases melatonin production, which makes it harder for you to go to sleep.
    6. Avoid caffeine before you sleep. Another no-brainer, but even if you don’t feel that caffeine has an impact on you, it’s still a stimulant. Since the half-life of caffeine can be a while, depending on the individual, we recommend that you avoid caffeine after four p.m. if possible. *

    Take More Vacations
    We’ve already made it perfectly clear that stress harms your hormones in a way that is frighteningly dangerous for your sex drive. And while it’d be great to live a life that’s free of stress (in fact, it’s one of our primary goals for this book), we know it might take some time to progress to that level. So as you learn the ropes, your easiest solution is to take a vacation.
    A nine-year study found that vacations are one of the best stress relievers. They’re so powerful that men who take vacations have lower levels of cortisol and are 30 percent less likely to die from heart disease. The key wasn’t the length of the vacation, but rather the frequency. It’s a good reminder that if you play and work hard, you need consistent tune-ups to keep you performing at a high level. In that way, your body is like a car. If you drive it all the time and only bring it in once per year, your car will die on you sooner than you want.
    We know that vacations are a luxury, but a getaway can occur in many forms. And because price shouldn’t be a limiting factor that prevents you from getting away, we recommend the Alpha vacation. Go camping, hiking, or kayaking or spend a night sleeping in a tent somewhere. The idea is that you unplug, get away, and include some sort of exercise. (Bonus points if you do pull-ups in the trees.) Bring your guy friends and enjoy a weekend. The stress that will be removed by this type of approach will shock you. A few days every few months can literally make a difference that could help you live longer.

    CONFIDENCE
    We don’t need to tell you that sex feels good. But there’s another psychological benefit of sex that plays an important role in your development as a man. Sex allows you to feel that you have fulfilled a biological imperative in that you’ve taken steps toward procreation; this satisfies the ego on a deeply subconscious level.
    When you fulfill your ego on a subconscious level, it bubbles up to the conscious level. We probably don’t have to explain this to you. Any time you start having more sex—especially with someone new—you walk with a little more spring in your step. Of course this is partially due to the fact that sex is fucking awesome. But, more than anything else, sex has reaffirmed—or created—an unwavering belief that you can accomplish anything. It is acceptance and approval at