Test, Don’t Guess: Superpower’s Max Marchione on Labs, Testosterone & HRV

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