Test, Don’t Guess: Superpower’s Max Marchione on Labs, Testosterone & HRV
Description
If your energy crashes after meals, your HRV is low, or you suspect low T, this episode is your blueprint.
Max Marchione—Founder/CEO of Superpower—breaks down the health “foundations” that actually move the needle: lab testing, gut & metabolic health, endocrine disruptors, HRV, and micro‑habits you can stack into a busy life. We also get into risk, culture, and modern masculinity.
What you’ll learn
- Why testing beats guessing (labs, ApoB/Lp(a), vitamin D, prediabetes)
- How gut health and metabolism drive mood, energy, and stress
- HRV 101: what it is, why high performers often have high HRV, and how to raise it
- Micro‑habits that compound (elevator meditations, 5.5/5.5 breathing, “micro‑moments”)
- Testosterone & today’s environment: behavior, toxins, and practical fixes
- Building teams & culture where fun is a performance input
- Risk math for founders: “price risk right” and move faster
Chapters (approx.)
00:00 Cold open
07:05 Teenage Max: rule‑breaking, early ventures, health struggles
09:43 DIY diagnostics: CGMs, gut tests, mercury, pushing doctors
11:31 Stress & anxiety: fix sleep, gut, hormones first
12:57 Small levers: breathing, supplements, “micro” stress management
15:08 Why lab testing changes behavior
16:26 Common 2025 patterns: vitamin D, ApoB/Lp(a), prediabetes
18:04 Why Superpower now; consumer health turning point
21:19 Focus > doing everything; killing v1 & dropping price
23:46 Risk math: “I don’t take much risk—I price it better”
25:57 Culture, failure, parenting & school conditioning
28:39 Testosterone & modern behavior
32:49 Endocrine disruptors, BPA, mold, air quality
36:39 The Superpower protocol: from data to action
37:51 Transformation story
40:12 Social health & community
43:26 Burnout: find the “why”
44:08 HRV explained; why high performers often have high HRV
47:16 Passive optimization: elevator meditations
50:09 Micro‑moments that compound
51:58 Building a healthy office; fun as a performance input
54:17 Banking vs ideal culture
57:07 What it means to be a man today
59:45 2026 goal: do 5 years in 1




