The New Way Forward in Fitness—Biohacking

You may have run across this term, “biohacking,” recently. You may even be aware of the annual Biohacking Conference, or a nearby gym that features “biohacks” for clients.

But what exactly is “biohacking,” why does it matter, and why should you care?

The short answer is that biohacking is a movement being utilized in the “gym” of the future, combining multiple health and fitness modalities all in one place.

After all, why should I have to go to one place for a red light therapy session, drive to another place for my sauna and cold plunge, and then go to yet another place for my workout?

What if I could just have all of that under one roof?

What is Biohacking?

In general, “biohacking” can be thought of in the same way that a “life hack” works.

Instead of living your life with the same processes and assumptions you were taught as a child, you think of newer, more efficient ways of doing things. Whether it’s making ice cubes out of coffee for your cold brew so it doesn’t get watered down as the ice melts, spinning your room-temperature can of beer in a bowl full of ice to quickly turn it cold without a refrigerator, or tying a brightly-colored handkerchief to your checked luggage so it’s easier to spot in the baggage claim.

Same thing here, except for your body instead of your life. The normal processes and assumptions we’re given for health, fitness, and longevity looks something like this:

• Eat right (the food pyramid, for instance)
• Hours of “cardio” each week
• Industrially-farmed foods with toxic ingredients are standard
• Diet clubs, businesses, and similar “eat less move more” promoters
• Take pharmaceutical products if you experience any negative symptoms
• You are at the mercy of your genes
• Cancer, diabetes, and heart disease are things that “just happen”
• Have surgeries throughout your life to fix problems with your body

Well how’s that going? I’ll tell you how: Not well.

We’re sicker than ever, fatter than ever, more inflamed and stressed than ever, and those we regard as authority figures in the field of human health are—rather than changing course or recommending something different—doubling down on the same strategies and therapies that have proven to be counterproductive for decades.

Surely there’s a better way…

What Is a Biohacking Gym?

A biohacking gym is simply a place where you can go to get access, all in one location, to new technologies, therapies, and solutions for the problems I just mentioned.

Over the past decade or more, new innovations have been introduced that offer variety, time efficacy, and a new focus on longevity when it comes to fitness and health. Each thing we used to do for these purposes now has a safer, more effective, more efficient counterpart:

Weight Lifting: instead of three weekly weight room sessions lasting an hour or more, you can use something like ARX to get better results, more rapidly, and with a smaller risk of injury. Our two models can fit in a 200 square-foot space rather than the giant weight rooms in the big box gyms of the 20th century. For example, you can now complete a full-body workout in less than twenty minutes instead of spending half an hour on just one muscle group.

Metabolic Conditioning: instead of endless hours of “cardio,” you can now get greater metabolic benefits from a technology like the CAR.OL. bike, LiveO2 oxygen trainer, or Vasper in less than a half hour per week. So the great big “cardio theaters” of the 20th century can also go into the dustbin of history.

Circulatory and Heart Health: instead of pharmaceutical drugs to lower blood pressure, enhance circulation, reduce heart attacks, or lower your cholesterol, we now have technologies like SaunaSpace. Using red light and sauna therapy can accomplish greater cardiopulmonary improvements than are possible through the use of pharmaceuticals.

Recovery: instead of taking NSAIDS, painkillers, and sleeping pills, we now have access to technology that works with your body to enhance recovery and reduce inflammatory stress. Things like  Pulse PEMF, the Morozko Forge cold tubs, Ra Optics blue-blocking glasses, The Biocharger, or NeuFit can eliminate pain, speed up the healing process, and reassert your natural circadian cycles without any side effects or toxicity.

The list goes on, but you get the idea. What if there were a place where you could go that has a combination of these types of technologies? What if one or two weekly visits could completely replace your time-consuming “gym schedule?”

Now that sounds like one of the best life hacks ever.

Benefits of Biohacking Gyms

You walk in a bit early for your 9am session and are directed by the receptionist to join a fellow client over by The BioCharger. You sit down and are slowly revitalized by this subtle energy device as it increases the charges along your cellular membranes and activates your internal healing process using your own natural sympathetic resonance.

Then it’s time. You start at the cold tub. Just 120 seconds is all it takes to have your mind and body completely focused on the here and now. There’s something about thirty-four degree water that makes you forget about the petty troubles of your daily life, giving you mental ease and heightened awareness. The body’s hormonal response to the cold is also potently preparing you for your upcoming workout.

You dry off and head over to the ARX machines (sometimes called “Cheat Machines” in various facilities). All your settings are saved from previous workouts, so over the course of four movements—total workout time today: ten minutes and twenty-six seconds—you’re able to efficiently deliver a full-body strength training stimulus equal to hours spent lifting weights. You pause for a moment as you review the workout summary screen that granularly compares today to your previous performance.

Next you’re off to the CAR.O.L. bike—as if your legs have anything left! Two twenty-second Wingate sprints over the course of an eight-minute protocol empty out the last remaining glycogen you thought you had in your legs. Your heart rate was elevated from the ARX workout and is now at a challenging “cruising altitude.” You feel pride as the software displays your increased Octane Score, a composite of several objective performance measurements.

It’s been a half hour, and the workout portion of your visit is over. Many clients leave at this point, seeking only an efficient “gym” experience, but this biohacking facility has another side to it: the serene recovery side.

Over the next half hour you spend some time on the pulsed electromagnetic therapy bed and take a quick pass in between the double-sided red light therapy panels. Next time you may go for a full sauna session or even use the float tank. You leave feeling simultaneously like you’ve had the best workout of your life, and like you’ve just been on a little mini-vacation, ready to tackle the rest of your day head-on.

Turmoil and serenity. Tear yourself down and build yourself back up. This is the magic of the biohacking gym. It can be a quick workout session, it can be a recovery day to help you cope with the stresses of life, or it can be a full-on “spa day” of exactly what your body needs to perform at its best, maintain its health, and increase its longevity.

The Bottom Line

The philosopher Eric Hoffer once wrote, “In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”

The times are definitely changing. There are no 20th-century solutions for our population’s 21st-century health problems.

The gym of the future is so much more than just a gym. It’s a focused, modern, quantifiable upgrade to anyone who has human muscles, a human immune system, and a functioning human organism adapting to its environment.

We are very proud to be a central, integral part of many of the most successful biohacking gyms that have opened over the years. Here is a brief list of some of our customers who fit this description:

The Smart Fit Method in Cardiff by the Sea, CA and Koloa, HI

Upgrade Labs in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills

Abbey Neuropsychology Clinic in the Bay Area

Fitness Genome in Carlsbad, CA

PRTL in New York, NY

Quantify Fitness in Nashville, TN

Super Human Lifestyle Studios in Nashua, NH

BioFit STL in St. Louis, MO

Biohackers Health & Fitness in Westin, FL

Biohack Studios in St. Petersburg, FL

The Vibe Lounge in Vancouver, BC

Leo’s Fitness Lab in San Diego, CA

Top Tyr Training in Torrance, CA

Fit 2-20 in Frisco, TX

Jekel Strength Club in Seattle, WA

ReGenesis 360 in Pismo Beach, CA

Healthy Body Solutions in Spokane, WA

Lumen in Albuquerque, NM

Club Tan Napa in Napa, CA

The Pilates & Yoga Loft in New Orleans, LA

Banas Sports Therapy in Gilbert, AZ

Restore Hyper Wellness and Physical Therapy in Austin, TX

KalQlate in Hendersonville, TN

Essential Strength SmartGym in Portland, OR

Revolutionary Fitness Cali in Fresno, CA

Rocket Science Fitness in Costa Mesa, CA

Health Cellutions in Scottsdale, AZ

Catalyst Fitness Labs in Lebanon, IL

Aeon Future Health in Calgary, AB

If you or someone you know have read this and we have your wheels spinning about the possibility of opening your own biohacking gym, please don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know how we can help. We have been immersed in this world for a long time and have helped many entrepreneurs get started to bring these essential, modern therapies to their communities.

Welcome to the 21st century!