BioHacking in Midlife Smarter NOT Harder with Dave Asprey
Dave Asprey is known as the godfather of biohacking (if you don’t know what the means you will learn here shortly). His latest book, Smarter NOT Harder, is something we all need to read and learn ASAP to learn how to GET RESULTS without wasting our time. By living this, he is 50 by calendar years, but 39 by lab tests — and he has more energy than he had at 25. As someone who used to be 300 lbs, he is now only 8% body fat and only works out 20 minutes per week. I can’t wait to dive in with him!
What is Biohacking?
Dave was the one who coined this theory and term. Biohacking is a movement with millions of people doing it that started 11 years ago. It’s the art and science of changing the environment around you so you have full control of your own biology (in the smallest amount of time possible). It’s making your body do what you want it to do, instead of what IT wants to do.
“Only do what works, and stop doing everything else.”
“Be curious, but measure.”
The easiest way to track your health is to take measurements. In fact, one of the most important metrics for overall health and aging you can measure yourself at home with a device, is your sleep score and your heart rate variability (HRV). There are a ton of other measurements that can be taken that show how our cells, bones, and organs are working. Once you know what is happening, and know what your goals are, you can make changes. In Smarter NOT Harder, you can identify where you are, what is the most important goal to you, and only do what is important to you in regard to that specific goal, and ignore the rest!
Where Do I Even Start With Biohacking?
It’s true, there is a lot that can be done, and it can become overwhelming. Here are the most important starting points:
- Get a sleep tracker.
- Choose the things that move you closer to your goal in the shortest possible time.
Taking cardio as an example. We all know working hard is important. But when it comes to cardio, we hate working hard. BUT there is a biological reason you don’t like cardio! Thanks to 2 billion years of evolution, your body has been wired to NOT waste calories. Therefore, cardio appears to us as very hard and unappealing. If you have a choice between a couch and Netflix and the gym, the couch looks really sexy and the gym looks like a torture chamber. We know it’s not true, but that is what we believe, because we are “lazy”. However, we WILL love saying “I will save 45 minutes on my cardio today!”
This is proven by years of Dave’s neuroscience data: There is a system in your body that is not you, but it influences and controls everything you can see — it filters reality. It’s in charge of moving things around in your body, making valves open, things squeeze, etc. It constantly has notifications going off like your cell phone: text from here, message from here, etc. If you don’t turn some of these things off, you can’t even use your phone. We have the type of meat operating system. We hear it as angry voices in our head — I could have, I should have, Have to, Need to, I don’t like, I’m too old, etc. These are all just dumb alerts from our operating system being worried about our survival. We, too, can go in and edit the notification settings of our own operating systems, so we don’t get so triggered by your environment all the time. This editing, though, takes energy. And since a lot of us already have a lot less energy than we want (and need), we have to figure out how to find the energy somehow! Enter biohacking!
This and SO MUCH more on this episode!
Get the book on www.DaveAsprey.com
About Dave Asprey
Dave Asprey is the founder of Upgrade Labs & known as the ‘Father of Biohacking.’ He Is a four-time New York Times bestselling science author, host of the Webby award-winning podcast The Human Upgrade, and has been featured on the Today Show, CNN, The New York Times, Dr. Oz, and more. Over the last two decades, Dave has worked with world-renowned doctors, researchers, scientists, and global mavericks to uncover the latest, most innovative methods, techniques, and products for enhancing mental and physical performance. Dave has personally spent over $2 million taking control of his own biology – pushing the bounds of human possibility all in the name of science evolution, and revolution. The creator of the Bulletproof Diet, and innovator of Bulletproof Coffee, Collagen Protein supplements, and many more advances in commercial wellness products, Dave’s mission is to empower the entire globe with information and knowledge that unlocks the Super Human in everyone at any age. These advancements prove better sleep, energy, and expanded capacity for all.
In this episode, you will learn:
- How to hack your mind and body to feel amazing and age gracefully
- The best exercises to lose weight are actually the SHORTEST ones
- Being lazy doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s your body’s way of protecting you
[00:00:35] What is biohacking? Dave Asprey basically coined the term, which is a movement with millions of people doing it that started 11 years ago. The definition has made its way into the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, which is the art and science of changing the environment around you so that you have full control of your own biology. Dave says, “It’s basically making your body do what you want instead of what it wants to do.”
[00:03:29] Dave lives by the belief that there isn’t a good correlation between working hard and getting results. In his 20s, weighing 300 lbs, Dave pursued exercising long hours. He found that wasn’t the right way to go about it.
[00:06:46] The human upgrade center. Dave shares the science behind Upgrade Labs, and more facilities should be open for people to experience. “We measure thousands of data points without having to go to the doctor’s office. It’s an electrical scan. We’ll tell you how dense are your bones? Do you have fat in your liver? How are your cells doing? Are you inflamed? Are you dehydrated? And we know in 2 minutes when you walk in the door, and based on that, we tell you what you want to do based on your goals.”
[00:13:11] Optimizing the body’s operating system and how it works. Okay, so get this: Dave explains a system in our brain that works to sort out what we’re receiving. It decides if something is negative or positive and if it’s even worth your attention. This system also affects things happening inside the body. Dave calls it the “meat operating system.”
[00:16:06] You only need to spare 15 minutes per week for your cardio, and you’ll be six times ahead of your pals hitting the gym and sweating buckets. An easy-peasy biohacking tip by Dave with no sweating yet brings about a 12% improvement in cardiovascular fitness.
[00:22:55] Biohacking your energy levels and metabolism as Dave recommends zone 2 and re-HIIT training. Save so much time with exercises that help you lose weight.
[00:25:01] The healthiest people sleep 6 hours and a half a night. Dave cites three different in-depth studies that have been conducted involving over a million participants over the years. They found that people who slept a full 8 hours per night had a higher risk of health issues, even potentially fatal ones. This may be because those who need more shuteye could have an underlying problem they’re unaware of.
