The Masculine Rhythm, Addiction, and the Battle for Your Body
There’s a biological rhythm inside every man, a daily arc of energy, drive, sexual fire, focus, and recovery. Most men never learn to track it. Even fewer learn to honor it. And almost none realize how easily that rhythm gets hijacked by addiction, overstimulation, and unresolved relational wounds.
In a recent conversation with Mike from Adaptive Men, we went deep into how modern life derails the masculine physiology… and why so many men feel like they’re constantly fighting themselves.
This is a conversation about biology, psychology, sovereignty, and the quiet war happening inside every man’s nervous system.
Thank you for reading Sovereign Submission. Subscribe for more explorations of sovereignty and submission.
🔥 Men Have a Cycle , but It’s Daily, Not Monthly
We often talk about women having biological cycles, but men have one too. It’s just compressed into 24 hours instead of 28 days.
Most healthy men experience:
High energy and libido in the morning
A gradual decline throughout the day
A natural need for recovery by evening
When our sleep, nutrition, and habits are aligned, this rhythm produces clarity, purpose, potency, and consistent drive.
But when the rhythm breaks… the man breaks with it.
The Modern Sabotage of Masculine Biology
Whether you’re scrolling your phone at midnight, skipping meals, living on sugar, numbing with porn, drowning in noise, or suppressing your emotional life—your physiology is paying the price.
Mike named the core loop many men fall into:
poor sleep →
irritability and dysregulation →
junk food and low energy →
skipped exercise →
porn, weed, games, or escapism →
more dysregulation →
repeat.
A man in this loop becomes a stranger to his own biology.
Rewriting the Masculine Physiological Pattern
Breaking addiction is not a matter of “just stop.” It’s a process of rewiring your body’s entire reward system.
Mike lays out the core steps:
1. Identify the Origin
Where did the pattern start?
What wound, environment, or relational lack shaped your habits?
2. Map the Ritual
Addiction always has a ritual:
the boredom,
the fight with your partner,
the moment you sit on the bed,
the phone in your hand,
the lights dimming.
Interrupt the ritual and the addiction loses power.
3. Replace the Dopamine Loop
Not with abstinence alone…
But with connection, movement, meaning, presence, and touch.
Your biology needs input—not deprivation.
4. Build Oxytocin Tolerance
Men who never learned closeness must relearn it:
Cuddling
Eye contact
Longer hugs
Genuine presence
At first, it feels uncomfortable.
That discomfort is the detox.
5. Take It Gradually if Needed
For many men, tapering works better than going cold turkey.
Adaptation is the goal—not punishment.
Bio: Michael Read is a licensed massage therapist with over 10 years of experience, practicing previously in New York and now serving Bluffton and Hilton Head, SC. He specializes in therapeutic, sports, and medical massage, helping clients recover, relax, and improve overall well-being. Michael is also the founder of Adaptive Men, a coaching platform guiding men to overcome personal and relationship challenges, fostering emotional resilience, clarity, and authentic life direction utilizing science, data, and research where possible to help men who are less spiritual and more science based in trying to understand themselves and the world.
When you’re ready to Step into Sovereignty, here are ways we can work together:
The Crucible - A one time 90-minute session- Get the support you need right now, when you can’t figure this out alone. ($300, sliding scale available).
The Initiation - 12 session packages where I guide you into your sovereign expression of your desires and transitional moments such as divorce or marriage, where you don’t want to be the same man on the other side.
Private Retreats & Intensives - Personalized immersive experiences crafted around your exact moment and desired transformation.
