Anybody else practicing Biohacking?

Life Hacking
1

So I am doing:

  • Wim Hof breathing (4 rounds breath holds upto 3 minutes on 4th round)
  • Cold showers / cold swims
  • Intermittent fasting - just skipping breakfast, working upto OMAD (one meal a day), which could be considered a FIRE thingy, as it will save money on food
  • Eating whole, unprocessed food - low carb, medium protein, high fat.
  • Lots of exercise / movement
  • Quality sleep - weak area for me, bit of an insomniac!
  • Meditation / Mindfulness - Yoga Nidra deep rest no sleep (30 minutes is supposed to give same as 2 to 3 hours sleep - has really helped me get through the day at work if I haven`t slept well). Can recomend Ally Boothroyd youtube videos
3 Likes
2

I answer firstly because I want to know when someone reply on this topic.

I do:

  • 2x / week footing
  • 1-2x / week boxing training
  • nothing else (ok sometimes cold shower)

Voila

PS: before starting reading I tough you were speaking about NFC chip

3

I do kind of the same diet but hard to resist with all temptations on display in the office brought by colleagues.

  • similar exercise with 4-7-8 breathing technique from Dr. Andrew Weil.
  • Cold showers in The morning.
  • Intermittent fasting - just skipping breakfast and only take tea or infusion
  • Eating whole, unprocessed food - low carb, low protein. We tend to cook 90% of our meal.
  • need to do more exercise especially biking in the office from April to November or CrossFit activities in public park
  • Quality sleep - weak point as well if I geek on my computer after 10pm, I will wake up at 4am and cannot go back to sleep ! It happened 2-3 times a week. I wake up at 6am
4

Don’t neglect the importance of sleep! I can highly recommend the book “Why we sleep”, it really opened my eyes and I’m now consistently sleeping at least 7.5 hours a night. My physical and especially mental health got way better.

Sleep has so many effects on your brain and body that most people don’t know about.

6 Likes
5

Thanks Burningstone for the recomendation. I do know the importance and am working on it.
Forgot to mention I do meditation / Mindfulness - Yoga Nidra deep rest no sleep, can recomend Ally Boothroyd youtube videos. (added in to first post).

1 Like
6

Interesting topic!
It is good for me to read that I am not the only one struggeling with sleep. What helps me are sleepcasts from headspace or calm (also good for learning how to meditate in order to relax during a stressful day).
I am not really into sports, but I know I should do more. I try do have a 30 min walk every day and take the stairs instead of the elevator.
Intermittent fasting is not for me, even knowing how good it is.
Cold shower/swim. I did not know that it is good for health. Why is it good? and what for?

7

Any good points/tips from the book?
I sleep from 23pm to 7 am (occasional woken up by baby), so 8 hours but still feel that I need more.
I feel I could go to sleep much later, ie 1am, only if I could wake up 8ish. Sort of my cyrcadian rhythm, but not sure if this is right.

8

There’s loads of good points, but here’s a list from the end of the book for a good sleep hygiene:

  1. Stick to a sleep schedule. Set an alarm for bedtime, instead of an alarm for waking up.
  2. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day.
  3. Avoid caffeine and nicotine.
  4. Avoid alcoholic drinks before bed.
  5. Avoid large meals and beverages late at night.
  6. Avoid medicines that delay or disrupt sleep.
  7. Don’t take naps after 3 p.m.
  8. Relax before bed.
  9. Take a hot bath before bed.
  10. Dark bedroom, cool bedroom, gadget-free bedroom.
  11. Have the right sunlight exposure.
  12. Don’t lie in bed awake.
3 Likes
9

Same for me but I behave with 7 hours only.
If I skip my time (a.k.a 11pm), it’s a shitshow at 4am and nothing can keep my mind quiet.

2 Likes
10

You can find some of them in this youtube video. But i also recommend to read the book as it has many interesting topics like effects of caffeine, alcohol and THC on the brain/sleep quality and also… how do whales and dolphins sleep :grin:

11

If biohacking is the new term for working out I guess I’m a biohacker.

I have one sports-free day per week, on the other six I spent roughly equal amounts of time (at least during the winter) on rowing, rowerg and weights sessions.

Some of the things others list come semi-automatically. In particular: quality sleep (essential for recovery), eating well, and avoiding alcohol.

1 Like
12

I plan to buy a rower, as I think rowing is very good exercise for all muscles, etc. However, I don’t have a plan yet, so you could post some recommendations as regards the schedule, intensity, distance etc.?

13

Did you watch House of Cards by any chance? :wink:

I bought a Concept2 erg so I could do the long steady-state sessions at home (60-90 minutes, moderate heart rate, 1-2 short breaks). We also do higher-intensity shorter-interval sessions, pyramids etc. but I try to do those at the rowing club because they require a lot of discipline to do right and working through the pain is much easier in a group.

The main goal is to become faster on the water for the next regatta(s). Without that, there’s no chance I would get on a rowing machine “just for fun” because it really isn’t.

Rowing on water is amazing though, so my first recommendation would be to try it out in the spring/summer at a rowing club nearby. Many offer beginners’ sessions for adults.

If you’re still set on just getting a rowing machine, my recommendation would be to get a used Concept2 Model D (with a PM5 computer) and see how you like it. These are the standard machines used everywhere and have been around for a long time. They hold their value really well and can easily be resold (as opposed to most cheaper alternatives). Rowperfect RP3 ergs have been developing quite a following as well, but might be a bit pricy for a first try. Both work with air resistance so will make some noise.

I don’t know anything about WaterRower-type ergs.

1 Like
14

Perfect, many thanks for detailed answer! I haven’t seen House of Cards yet, even though I heard a lot good reviews about it.

I was also thinking about buying Concept2 Model D, as it appeared as the best one when I did some research :). And I don’t want to buy it for fun, because I know it won’t be :). However, I’m exercising at home 2 times per week, more or less without breaks since about 25 years, so I’m not afraid of buying expensive gear and then not using it.

Last question - for example these long steady-state sessions - with what frequency are you doing them? Do you do some other physical activities apart from rowing? I need to plan how to fit rowing into my 2x per week training routine.

1 Like
15

Good research, and I admire your discipline!

In that case all I would add is to focus on technique. Get a coach (or some guy online, doesn’t really matter) to have a look, too. It’s easy to train your way into a back injury! Ignore the 1-10 resistance scale and just set the drag factor (typical reference is 120 for women / 130 for men, but go as low as you like).

Rowerg steady state is usually done at around 18 strokes per minute, and without straps for better form.

Check out e.g. Eric Murray’s https://asensei.com for more rowerg-specific stuff. There are a lot of good resources online, this is just one of them.

Apart from rowing I enjoy road cycling in the summer (the steady state work over the winter helps a lot here), occasionally go for a run and I’m trying to figure out cross-country skiing. Hiking and snowboarding probably count too, but that’s only for a few days per year.

1 Like
16

OMG, so much useful advices, many thanks!

1 Like
17

It’s quite a long book, PACKED with interesting facts. Totally recommended.

18

I (try to) do all of your list, except Wim Hof which I never heard, the cold swims (cold showers yes, but only after the gym) and the limitation of carbs (what should be the benefit of that, besides weight loss?).

TBH when I read “hacking” I was expecting something more advanced like taking pills or the like. Apparently there’s lots of interests in startups promising longer and healthier lives with medications or other interventions, but I never looked into any, yet.

How about measuring what effects your “hacking” has on you?

I do regular blood tests, in particular to check cholesterol levels, but I’d ideally like do measure and log much more. For example the amount and type of sleep: I wonder if the sleep trackers out there (like the ring) work well? What else would be important/not too complicated to measure? Blood pressure perhaps.

19

I am planning to buy a rowing machine and I thought I would choose the First Degree Fitness Apollo Plus because of the water resistance feature. Would a Concept2 RowErg Standard PM5 a better option even if it does not have water resistance?

I am a noob btw, I mostly used rowing machines in fitness studios for warm up, but lately I started spending more and more time on them.

20

As I wrote above, I don’t know anything about WaterRower(-type) ergs, but let me write some more about the ones I do know :slight_smile:

Concept2 ergs are low maintenance and hold their value well. The post-covid selloff I was secretly hoping for never happened but some very lightly used 2020-2021 models have been popping up here and there. With a bit of luck you can pick one up for 800-900 CHF.

A lack of basic maintenance will leave some gym machines in pretty rough shape, but I have yet to see a broken one at a rowing club where they get used a lot and all we do (maintenance-wise) is to clean the rails after each use.

The only thing I’ve ever seen break is a metal wear part that’s (probably still) less than 3 CHF for a replacement from Concept2 Switzerland shipped to your home.

1 Like