Transmutable Explorations

Category: Quantified Self

  • Siphox Health Review

    Siphox Health Review

    If you’ve been following along for a bit, you might remember that January is one of the months that I always do bloodwork to track the impact of the various health related experiments I do over the year. This month, in addition to my normal work done by InsideTracker, I also tested out a new system from Siphox Health.  Read on for my Siphox Health Review and to see how it compares to using InsideTracker.

    Why Siphox?

    So why did I decide to give Siphox a try?  If you’ve read my review of InsideTracker, you know that I’ve been mostly satisfied and have been using this product for years.  That being said, InsideTracker is fairly expensive.  Because of this, I usually only test twice a year.  With the frequency of experiments that I do, it would be useful to be able to test far more often.  InsideTracker also requires you to go for a full blood draw for each test.

    Siphox’s mission statement is what caught my attention sometime last year: By leveraging silicon photonic biosensors, lower the cost of at-home health testing by 100x and provide results instantly.  Siphox’s system is unique because in theory, you can do everything from home. Instead of a traditional blood draw, it relies on blood spots from a finger prick. The provided special cards are designed to separate whole blood from serum.

    Siphox vs. Insidetracker Comparison

    So how does Siphox compare in practice?  I broke down my comparison into four sections.

    The Platform

    At the time of this writing, Siphox is exclusively a web app.  InsideTracker has both a web and mobile app, with mostly comparable functionality.  Both products provide an ‘action plan’ based on your results, but InsideTracker’s seems far more extensive.  One of the great things about InsideTracker’s mobile support is the regularly provided notifications about new things added to your action plan.

    Both platforms allow you to hookup wearables to supplement your biomarker information.  Siphox supports more wearables and having multiple connected simultaneously.  This is one area that always annoyed me about InsideTracker.  The wearable I use to track activity is not my preferred wearable for tracking sleep, so being able to support both at the same time would be fantastic.  This being said, Siphox seems to only look at the wearable data around when you take the test (and it’s not clear where it’s pulling some of this data from).  InsideTracker regularly looks at (and monitors) your wearable data and provides actionable results.

    Both platforms present your results initially in categories.  The both allow you to search or list individual biomarkers.  Siphox lets you set the ‘optimized’ range to biohacker mode which is more stringent than the normal mode.

    InsideTracker has an early AskAI feature.  I haven’t used this extensively, but it’s something that Siphox does not have yet.

    The Procedure

    Current Routine

    The procedure for obtaining results was what really drew me in to try Siphox.  My current InsideTracker routine requires me to wake up, hop in the car and drive in rush hour traffic to my nearest Quest lab location.  Then I need to fill up several vials of blood (and this number seems to go up each time InsideTracker adds additional biomarkers that they test).

    An Easier Routine

    The thought of waking up, walking downstairs and doing a few finger pricks, scheduling a FedEx pickup and then going on with my day is very appealing.  The reality though, was that it was definitely not this easy.  To test all the biomarkers that I wanted, I had to take several different classes of tests.  A test that only required filling up one card with blood was easy enough, but completing multiple on one day did not work out for me.  I had to use multiple lancets in almost all of my fingers in order to get close to enough blood.

    Worse still was the fact that my blood must coagulate fairly quickly.  It was extremely difficult for me to collect enough blood for one or two spots before I would stop bleeding.  This meant that it took a very long time to do all of these tests compared to the relatively quick blood draw at Quest.  Even more problematic, the design of the Siphox cards penalizes you if you cannot collect the blood spots quickly.  As the blood dries on the cards, additional drops cannot make it through and get separated into the whole blood and serum.  Because of this problem, the first multi test that I took failed and was unreadable.

    The EasyDraw Routine

    I explained these issues to Siphox and they sent me another test with an innovative product to combat this.  Siphox has an EasyDraw device which you painlessly attach to your upper arm (like a CGM).  This creates a vacuum and pumps blood into a vial that you then send back to Siphox bypassing the cards.  EasyDraw costs an additional $20 per test and for some reason ends up testing slightly different biomarkers than the card based tests do.  EasyDraw seems like a requirement for me to use Siphox.  The one drawback of using EasyDraw was that it is difficult to see the fill line on the device when it is attached to your arm.

    After my initial experience, I updated all possible tests to be EasyDraw.  Unfortunately, one of the tests requires two separate EasyDraws and one of them failed.  I tried collecting twice as much blood using a single EasyDraw but this also did not work.

    The Results

    The package that I tested from Siphox covered 35 biomarkers.  InsideTracker covers 47.  Many of the main ones that I’m interested in are covered in both but Siphox had one notable missing one… Insulin.  Also, for someone who specifically is actively testing blood iron implications, I was surprised to see that the only thing relevant tracked by Siphox is Ferritin.  Siphox had 3 biomarkers that I wish InsideTracker did – Free T4, Free T3 and Homocysteine.  It also had several biomarkers that better show kidney function that could come in handy.

    In terms of how the results compared,  I actually received my results in the InsideTracker app far faster than I did in Siphox.  This comparison is even more noticeable if you include the raw results from Quest as the results usually don’t show up in InsideTracker for a few days after the results start to trickle in from Quest.

    I really intended to do an accurate side by side comparison of all of the biomarkers covered by both platforms.  Unfortunately, because of all the issues with taking the tests that ultimately could not be processed by Siphox, only one of the tests were taken at exactly the same time.  This successful test included my kidney (which InsideTracker didn’t test) and liver function.  Albumin was comparable between both tests, but all other liver enzymes were significantly higher as tested by Siphox.  Additionally, Siphox reported my fasting glucose as being 10 mg/dL lower than InsideTracker.

    The Cost

    In terms of cost, at this point in time, Siphox is definitely not cheaper at the frequency that I do testing.  The program that I am on would cost at least $828 a year.  It would actually be significantly more than this because of the requirement to upgrade to the EasyDraw option for several of the tests at $20 for each one.  InsideTracker currently costs me less than $761 per year.  If I tested twice as often, InsideTracker would cost me another $578 for a total cost of $1331 per year.  Siphox is slightly more expensive at $1412 per year total (pre EasyDraw upgrade).

    Siphox Health Review

    At the time of this writing and with InsideTracker’s recent price decreases, Siphox isn’t really compelling from a cost perspective.  The issues with the collection procedure makes it more painful for me than InsideTracker.  The turnaround time to results is also significantly slower.  Being unable to compare more results side by side, I still have open questions about the accuracy of Siphox’s process.

    For me, Siphox would probably need to be half of its current cost in order for me to even begin to consider switching from InsideTracker.   I will likely give Siphox another try in the future to see if the collection procedures have improved and hope that I can do a more accurate results comparison.  If accuracy is comparable between those results and InsideTracker, I will consider using Siphox to supplemently test the biomarkers that InsideTracker doesn’t currently track.  Have you used Siphox? What was your experience? Let me know in the comments.

  • Tracking Health and Performance Metrics

    Tracking Health and Performance Metrics

    I remember reading about the Quantified Self movement in the early 2000s. Even though this was something that people were experimenting with for years, I felt that it was a revolutionary approach to understanding and improving our health and well-being.  In the early days, it was difficult to collect and analyze all of the data that would be useful to collect.  During this time, I’ve witnessed the incredible potential of wearable technology and mobile apps to revolutionize the way we track and optimize our health and performance.   In this article, I’ll share my insights on how I leverage the currently available tools in tracking health metrics.

    What is the Quantified Self Movement?

    The Quantified Self movement is a community of individuals who track and measure various aspects of their lives using wearable devices, apps, and other technologies.  By collecting data on their habits, behaviors, and physiological responses, they aim to improve their health, performance, and overall well-being.  The movement is rooted in the idea that self-knowledge through tracking health metrics leads to self-improvement.

    Early Challenges

    In the early days of the Quantified Self (QS) movement, there were several challenges that enthusiasts faced.  One of the main difficulties was the lack of user-friendly technology.  The limited availability of consumer products capable of tracking health metrics created a high barrier to entry for QS membership.  Many early adopters had to create their own sensors and devices to track the data they wanted.  This required a significant amount of technical knowledge and resources.

    Additionally, data privacy and security were major concerns. With the rise of digital tracking and data collection, individuals had to be cautious about what information they shared and with whom. There were also concerns about the potential misuse of personal data by companies and organizations.

    Both of these challenges created a ‘burden of tracking’, even before most interested individuals got to the ‘burden of analysis’.  This led to a general disinterest in the movement from many people.  Despite these challenges, early adopters of the Quantified Self movement were passionate about pushing the boundaries of self-tracking and exploring new ways to improve their lives using data. Their dedication and innovation laid the foundation for the thriving community we see today.

    Quantified Self Today

    Today, the QS movement can leverage a wide range of consumer grade technologies and tools that enable individuals to easily track various aspects of their lives. The community continues to grow, with more people embracing self-tracking as a means of optimizing their health and performance.

    One of the biggest changes in the Quantified Self movement is the increased accessibility of technology.  Gone are the days of building your own sensors and devices; now, there are numerous options available for consumers to choose from, making it easier than ever to get started with self-tracking.  Additionally, advancements in data privacy and security have made it possible for individuals to track their metrics with greater peace of mind.

    As the movement becomes more mainstream, the ‘burden of tracking’ is starting to go away.  The current challenge is now shifting to the ‘burden of analysis’ of sifting through the abundance of collected data.  The struggle for many is now with interpreting and using their metrics effectively.

    Why Track Health Metrics?

    There are several compelling reasons why someone might want to become involved with the Quantified Self movement:

    Increased Awareness/Self-Improvement

    By tracking and analyzing data related to your health, habits, and performance, you can gain valuable insights into your life and make informed decisions about how to optimize it.  Whether you’re an athlete, entrepreneur, or simply someone looking to optimize your daily life, the insights gained from self-tracking can help you identify areas for improvement and make changes accordingly.

    Improved Health/Performance

    Tracking health metrics can help you develop a greater understanding of your body and how it functions, leading to better overall health and well-being.  By monitoring your vital signs and other health metrics, you may be able to detect potential health issues early on, allowing for timely intervention and treatment.  Once a baseline is established, you can manage existing conditions or monitor how various interventions impact you directly.

    Community

    The Quantified Self movement is a thriving community of individuals who are passionate about self-improvement and innovation. By becoming involved, you can connect with like-minded people and learn from their experiences and insights.  The Quantified Self movement is at the forefront of innovation in health and technology, with new tools and solutions emerging regularly. By participating, you can be among the first to experience and benefit from these advancements.

    How To Quantify Your Self

    So how do you go about quantifying yourself?  I’ll enumerate the steps that I think are most important given the current state of things.

    Identify Goals

    The best first step in my opinion is to be clear on ‘why’ you’re doing this.  Are you managing an existing condition? Is there an area of your life that you are trying to improve?  Identifying clear goal(s) in the beginning will help ease both the ‘burden of tracking’ and the ‘burden of analysis’.

    Prioritize the Data Points

    The next step is to identify and prioritize the data that you want to track.  You should have a clear idea on how these datapoints tie into your goals.

    Develop a Storage Plan

    Next, you need to create a plan for how you are going to store your data.  You also need to think about how you are going to analyze this data after it’s collected and be sure that your storage plan supports this.  You should have an idea of how you can get all your data out if you’re relying on a 3rd party system.

    As someone who’s completely invested in the Android ecosystem, my choice has become Google Health Connect.  Google Health Connect is a platform that allows users to centralize and manage their health and fitness data from various apps and devices. It aims to streamline the process of tracking and monitoring personal health information, making it easier for individuals to gain insights into their well-being.  There is also a defined extension method.  This makes it easy for me to develop apps that integrate with Google Health Connect both for entering and analyzing data.

    Identify Collection Methods

    Now that you have an idea of what data you want to collect and how you want to store it, you can narrow down which devices/software support both of these decisions.  Because of its ubiquity in the Android/Google ecosystem, this is another reason why I leaned toward using Google Health Connect as my data storage mechanism.  Almost every device or app that I would conceivably use is already integrated.

    Start Collecting Data!

    It’s time to let the data start streaming in!  At this point, start playing around with your analytics mechanism(s) to make sure that everything looks good.  It’s important to establish a good looking baseline before trying to make decisions based on your data.

    Iterate/Experiment

    Chances are, the first pass through these steps, you’ll find something that doesn’t quite look right and/or isn’t working.  Go back through all these steps until you have everything working in a way that allows you to establish your baseline metrics.  Once you get to this point, it’s a great time to start focusing on improvement or add more datapoints!

    Tracking Health Metrics

    I track a lot of datapoints.  Despite this, there are a handful of areas that I feel are most important to keep regular tabs on because of how easy it is to influence them with everything that you do.  I’ll also discuss how I monitor each of these.

    Sleep

    I keep becoming more and more convinced that sleep is the cornerstone of our health and wellbeing.  It is essential for physical and mental restoration.  I’m mostly concerned with my sleep duration and the amount of time I spend in REM/Deep sleep.  Another good indicator is your resting heart rate while sleeping.  I use the Oura ring to monitor all of these things.

    Activity and Movement

    It’s important to regularly move your body.  I started just by tracking daily steps and trying to adhere to a goal every day.  Eventually, I created a more rigorous workout program to keep me progressing with my body weight workout routine.  Most recently, I’ve set more detailed goals around cardio, identifying the minimal amount of time per week that I want to spend in each heart rate zone.  For me, the FitBit works great for tracking all of these things.

    Blood Work

    I get a full blood panel done at least every 6 months.  There are a ton of biomarkers that I consider crucial and I use InsideTracker to manage this because they include almost all of them.  I would love to see better Google Health Connect integration here because I currently copy this data into MyQuest and SelfDecode in order to make the best use of the data.

    Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

    HRV is a measure of the variation in time between each heartbeat. It’s a powerful indicator of your body’s ability to adapt to stress and recover.  I use this as a measure of determining when I should ‘push’ myself during a workout, etc.  Several devices I use track HRV, but I use the data from the Oura ring most.

    Body Composition

    I tell people all the time that losing weight isn’t always a good thing.  While I definitely track my weight, more important to me is knowing the specifics of my actual body composition.  I want to always be losing mostly body fat while preserving lean mass/muscle.  The only way to guarantee that you’re doing this while losing weight is by keeping tabs on your body composition.  I use a Withings scale to do this.

    Nutrition

    This is an area where the ‘burden of tracking’ is still real.  I’d like to do much more here, but the tools just aren’t quite there yet.  I haven’t found an accurate caloric and macronutrient tracking solution that I feel is worth spending the time on.  The reliable data that I collect here consists of a few things:

    • Use the Zero app to track the time that I spend ‘fasting’.  This allows me to look at how fasting impacts bloodwork measures and body composition.
    • Use the Oura app to track when I take/stop taking supplements.  I use this to define experiment boundaries so I can see how everything else is impacted during that time.
    • Occasionally use a CGM and the Levels app to identify how foods/behaviors impact my glucose response.

    Mindfulness

    Another measurement that I’m looking to expand upon is in tracking my mindfulness state.  Currently, I use the Oura ring and app to track meditation and breathwork sessions.  This takes on a form of heart rate variability training, but anything that decreases my body temp, resting heart rate and breaths per minute is a win for me.  I’ve been investigating picking up a Muse headband to start tracking brain wave state while doing this.  Has anyone used the Muse device?  I’m interested in hearing about it if you have.

    Conclusion

    The Quantified Self movement has come a long way since its inception.  With the availability of more user-friendly technology and a growing community of enthusiasts, it’s easier than ever to get started with tracking health metrics.  As the movement continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more innovative ways to use data to optimize our lives and achieve our goals.  Remember, the key to success lies not in the technology itself, but in how you apply these tools to your daily life. Embrace the power of the Quantified Self and start optimizing your health and performance today!

  • Improving HRV

    Improving HRV

    I was introduced to heart rate variability (HRV) when I got serious about getting in shape.  Many people recommended monitoring HRV as a means of knowing when to push a workout further.  My HRV has always been low relative to others.  Despite this, it was clear that I always felt my best when it was at the higher end of my regular range.  Pretty much since this realization, I’ve been experimenting with various ways of improving HRV.

    What is HRV?

    Heart Rate Variability is a measure of the changes in the amount of time between beats of your heart.  It is often measured in milliseconds.  This number is highly individual.  It’s not something that can really be compared across individuals.  Its only use is in comparing your current value to your historical range of HRV values.

    How is HRV measured?

    HRV changes as a natural function of the autonomic nervous system.  The sympathetic nervous system decreases the amount of time between heartbeats due to a faster heartbeat.  The parasympathetic, which typically slows the heart beat, increases that time.  Many modern wearables are capable of measuring HRV.  There are different techniques for doing this, so always compare values using the same form of measurement.  HRV changes throughout the day and it’s best to measure while in a rested and relaxed state.

    What Does HRV Indicate?

    In general, a higher HRV is better than a lower value.  HRV is a good indicator of how ‘recovered’ someone is.  When you are in your higher range of values, you are likely to be in a state where you are more resilient to stressors.  Lower range values are a good sign that something is actively stressing your body.

    HRV provides an interesting way to evaluate lifestyle choices that can lead toward a healthier life.  Things that increase HRV tend to lead to overall healthier outcomes.  A downward trend in HRV over a few days is often a sign that it’s time to reevaluate what you are currently doing.  We can use this metric to identify opportunities for us to continue pushing ourselves as well as an indication that we need to take a break.

    How am I Improving HRV?

    The feedback loop that HRV provides is a great quantitative way to measure the effectiveness of health oriented interventions.  I’ve been using this as the basis for many experiments over the years on improving HRV.  Many ways of raising HRV involve dedication to a regular practice.  This is expected given that improving HRV is generally correlated with prioritizing good life choices.   Things that I’ve found that have improved my HRV include:

    Regular Exercise

    Obviously having a regular exercise routine is going to benefit your overall cardiovascular metrics.  HRV may take a hit while you’re exercising, but overtime, exercise (especially HIIT) results in an overall higher HRV.

    Circadian Rhythm Alignment

    Waking up, going to sleep and eating that aligns with the daily rhythms of the sun does wonders for improving HRV.

    Time in Nature

    I discovered this by accident.  I always noticed that my HRV was always higher for a few days after a backpacking trip.  Initially, I attributed this to the fact that backpacking is great exercise.  I’ve since done additional experiments that show that I have a positive HRV trend just from sleeping in nature without the actual exercise associated with backpacking.

    Breathwork

    A regular breathwork practice generally leads to less stress.  Less stress tends to translate into a higher HRV.  There are also certain forms of breathing that can directly raise HRV in the moment.  I describe some of these techniques in my intro to breathwork.

    Regular Mindfulness/Gratitude Practice

    Once again, practicing mindfulness and/or gratitude tends to lower your overall stress.  This also is noticeable at improving HRV.  Not all forms of mindfulness that I practice involves active breathwork or time in nature, so this deserves a section on its own.

    Photobiomodulation

    It’s not clear what the mechanism of action is here, but I’ve tried several variants of photobiomodulation that all seem to be effective at improving HRV.  It could be the fact that red light therapy is useful for combating Seasonal Affective Disorder, but maybe it’s something else?

    Gut Microbiome

    I recently participated in an Akkermansia trial.  During the trail, I tracked a consistent >10% increase in my HRV after the first few days of taking it. I’ve seen very few things that have such a profound positive effect.   After the trial ended, my HRV went back to my previous baseline.  I’m waiting for the product I was taking during the trial to be commercially available so I can purchase it.  Given recent studies that are identifying links between the gut microbiome and things like anxiety/depression, the mechanism of action for this impact creates some interesting hypotheses.  I look forward to trying additional experiments in this area.

    Wearables

    In addition to wearables for tracking HRV, I’ve tried one that was actually effective at improving HRV.  Regularly using the Apollo Neuro consistently raised my HRV.  This was most noticeable when I did something that would typically lower my HRV.  If you want to know the good, the bad and the ugly, read my Apollo Neuro Review.

    Things that Lower HRV

    All of these health improving practices are great for improving HRV.  It may be obvious that not adhering to these has the opposite effects, but there are even a few other things that negatively impact HRV.

    Aging

    In general, your HRV lowers with age.  Many of the practices that I’ve adopted for improving HRV have allowed me to move my baseline HRV higher even though I’ve been meticulously tracking these values for more than 7 years.

    Mental/Physical Stress

    A hard workout will lower HRV in the moment even though regular exercise will eventually move it in the opposite direction.  The same can be said for the hot temperatures of the sauna.  Maybe the not so obvious HRV lowerer is mental stress.  When I have a few days of anxiety inducing stress it is definitely reflected in a lower HRV score.

    Ongoing or Impending Illness

    An impending or ongoing illness will result in lower HRV scores.  I’ve participated in two separate wearable trials working on identifying impending illness before noticeable symptoms develop.  HRV fluctuation was one of the indicators used in both of these trials.

    Poor Sleep

    Circadian Rhythm misalignment and poor quality sleep in general immediately result in lower HRV the next day.  I’ve noticed that ‘shift work’ has a negative impact even if I get good quality sleep.

    Alcohol

    By far, the habit that I have that has had the worst impact on HRV is alcohol.  Even a drink or two close to bed will have a noticeable detrimental impact.

    Conclusion

    These are just a few of the things that I’ve noticed that have an impact on HRV for me.  There are so many other things that I plan to investigate and I will update this post with my findings.

    So what do you do to improve your HRV?  What have you noticed that has a negative effect?  What device do you use to measure HRV and how do you use it to drive the decisions that you make every day?

  • Improving NAD Levels

    Improving NAD Levels

    If you have spent any time in longevity circles or reading about health recently, you have likely come across mention of NAD.  What is NAD and why is everyone so focused on it as a means for improving healthspan?  I’ll dig into this and discuss ways of improving NAD levels.  I’ll also discuss what I currently do after all of the research I’ve conducted on myself.

    What is NAD?

    NAD is Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide.  It is a coenzyme that is found in all cells and involved in many processes within those cells.  It exists in two forms: the oxidized (NAD+) and reduced (NADH).  These forms contribute to cellular metabolic processes by either donating or gaining electrons.

    Why is NAD important?

    When we are discussing NAD’s role in maintaining healthspan, there are three main areas of focus that are often discussed:

    Improving NAD Levels

    NAD declines with age.  There have been several studies that correlated almost all of the diseases of aging with lowered levels of NAD.  Due to this, there is a lot of interest in improving NAD levels as we age.  Here are a few ways to do so.

    Increasing NAD+ with Its Precursors

    NAD is constantly being broken down and resynthesized in the body.  One approach to improving NAD levels has been to supplement with NAD precursors.  The theory here is that these substances will eventually be turned into NAD by the body.  There are many precursors that will do this.  The two most popular are nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) and nicotinamide riboside (NR).  There have been conflicting reports regarding the effectiveness of this.  Some claim that they are broken down to simpler compounds before crossing into the bloodstream.

    Lifestyle Changes

    There are many lifestyle choices that are responsible for improving NAD levels.  It’s great that many of these are ‘no brainers’ in terms of their other impacts on healthspan.  The most common lifestyle changes for improving NAD levels include:

    • Exercise – This continues to be the king for improving healthspan across the board.
    • Circadian Rhythm alignment – fix your sleep and fix everything including your NAD levels.
    • Caloric Restriction/Eating Habits – restricting your calories will increase your NAD levels.  A high fat and/or sugar diet will cause an imbalance in the NAD+/NADH ratio leading to downstream issues with NAD+.  Certain foods/supplements can be used to inhibit NAD+ consumers that may not be optimal given your situation.
    • Hot/Cold Shock – Using a sauna or cold plunge can raise NAD levels.  The mechanism is different with hot vs cold, but the outcome will be similar.
    • Limiting Alcohol Consumption – Alcohol consumption increases the ratio of NADH to NAD+.   When the ratio is skewed in this way, NAD+’s capacity to activate sirtuins is impeded.

    What Do I Do to Improve My NAD Levels?

    So given the existing studies, what do I do to improve my NAD Levels? Obviously, I exercise, try to eat healthy, follow time restricted feeding and value Circadian alignment.  If you’ve been reading my posts, you likely know I’m a fan of Hot/Cold environmental stress as well.  You might also know my views on limiting alcohol consumption as well.

    Precursors

    For a long time, I relied on the precursor supplements.  Initially I focused on NR but then switched to NMN.  I took a supplement containing several precursors, sirtuin activators and other B vitamins as part of a clinical trial.  This is where I was introduced to a mechanism for measuring NAD levels.  This product worked for me but was fairly expensive.  I have since been able to get similar results by following my current approach.

    I still occasionally supplement with NMN, but  recent studies that show potential for upregulating cancer growth have convinced me to dial that back.  Instead, my supplementation focus is now mainly in two separate areas.  Focus on optimizing the NAD+/NADH ratio and the NAD salvage pathway.

    Salvage Pathway

    The best way to generate NAD via the salvage pathway is to provide the precursors tryptophan, niacin and niacinamide.  I regularly supplement with essential amino acids which provides plenty of tryptophan.  I’ve written about how I use niacin as part of my sauna protocol.  On top of this, I take 50mg of niacinamide in water first thing in the morning and last thing before I go to bed.

    Optimizing NAD Ratio

    I feel that focusing on optimizing the salvage pathway already helps with maintaining the NAD+/NADH ratio, but I do one additional thing regarding this.  I take supplements to inhibit CD38.  Right now, I’ve been using apigenin and quercetin to do this.

    So what are your thoughts on NAD?  Are you doing anything to optimize your levels?  Let me know in the comments.

  • Bodyweight Workout Routine

    Bodyweight Workout Routine

    I’ve tried many workouts over the years.  Cardio, weightlifting, calisthenics, only playing sports, it’s always been something that kind of annoyed me.  Some would work… others, only for a time and then a plateau would reach and no more gains could be made.  Eventually, I settled on a bodyweight workout routine that I’ve been able to progress that continues to work for me.  Read on if you’re interested in learning more about why I choose and how I perform my bodyweight workout routine.

    Why a Bodyweight Workout Routine?

    So why a “bodyweight workout routine”?  After trying just about everything, I’ve concluded that the best workout for me must include the following:

    • require minimal equipment; I travel a good bit and don’t want lack of access to specialized equipment to make it easy for me to skip a workout.
    • a way to do a full body workout in a minimal amount of time
    • maximize a full range of natural motion to minimize injuries
    • prioritize building muscle without a complicated means of altering the routine when hitting plateaus.
    • emphasize Functional Strength training

    The Exercises

    The Bodyweight Workout Routine that I follow focuses on a few core exercises.  These are arranged in such a way as to hit most of the major muscle groups with the fewest number of exercises.

    Push

    The push exercises I use are mostly pushup variants.  I alternate with dips especially when my pushups have not been progressing in order to change things up.

    Pull

    My pull exercises include pull ups, chin ups and inverted rows.  I also incorporate my ‘pull’ muscles in some of my core exercises.

    Legs

    I exercise my legs with air squats and walking lunges.  Even though I do these with a weighted vest, I’ve been working on being able to do proper single leg squats to progress further.  I do these assisted or alternate with shrimp squats at this point in time.

    Core

    I try to incorporate core exercises in everything I do.  This occurs by always being mindful of the ‘Hollow Body Hold‘.  In addition to this, I incorporate planks, V-Ups and hanging knee raises.  Hanging Knee raises also hit my pull muscles at the same time.

    Cardio

    My cardio is mostly walking and hiking/rucking.  I do sprints one day a week.  On my active recovery days, I do at least one High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) session focused on the ‘Nitric Oxide Dump‘.  When I refer to ‘light cardio’, it’s either unweighted walking or rebounding.

    Mobility

    For mobility, I use both Yoga and the 5 Tibetan Rites.  If I’m stuck on a progression and I think it’s due to a mobility issue, I’ll often factor in something that I’ve learned from more in depth calisthenics programs.  This is the area where my routine changes the most frequently.

    Useful Equipment

    My core routine consists of bodyweight exercises that I can do anywhere.  This being said, there are certain pieces of equipment that make things easier when I am home.  Most of this equipment is focused on making the movements safer or allow me to increase the difficulty.  The equipment that I find useful (and alternatives if you don’t have them) include:
    • A Multi-Grip Pull-Up Bar – This is probably the most important piece of equipment.  Without it, you’ll need to find a branch or other outcropping to do your ‘pull’ exercises on.  Most of these alternatives won’t give you the variance in how you can pull yourself up (and you’ll probably want a pair of gloves to protect your hands🤣).
    • Wooden Gymnastic Rings – I prefer to use gymnastic Rings for my ‘rowing’ exercises.  You can also use them for progressing and varying your ‘push’ exercises.  Without rings, a Dip Station also works.  Without either of these options you can use a properly weighted table or two chairs.
    • An Extra Thick Yoga/Pilates Mat – This is especially useful for ‘core’ exercises but it’s pretty much required if you’re going to also incorporate Yoga.  It also helps with progressing single leg exercises like shrimp squats.
    • A means of making exercises more difficult with resistance and/or added weight – My favorite things in this area is to start out with a weighted vest and adjustable ankle weights.  To really build muscle, you’ll want to add an Adjustable Dumbbell and Barbell Set.  To make the most out of loading your full range of motion, nothing beats a Stackable Resistance Bands Set.
    • A High Density Foam Roller – Eventually, you’re going to go a bit too hard and need some help with recovery.  A foam roller is a good first place to start for this.

    Progressing Your Bodyweight Workout Routine

    Since I want to avoid injury and being constantly fatigued, I target rep ranges for each of these exercises in the high hypertrophy/endurance range.  My last strength day of the week is meant for attempting to break personal records.  More about all this below when I discuss my day to day routine.  Before deciding your own structure, you need to set a baseline for each of the main exercises.  If you can do 15 – 20 reps max for each one, that’s a great place to start.  If not, you’ll need to find an easier version of the exercise where you can do 15 – 20 clean reps and progress from there.  I use this basic guide to push progressions and have helped people do pull ups with this pull progression guide.  There’s no shame in doing these easier versions, it’s the only way that you’ll progress to the more difficult ones.  If you find yourself plateauing with one progression but still unable to move to the next one with the proper rep range there are a few additional things you can do.
    • Add more reps to the progression that you can do cleanly
    • Add some more weight to your current progression
    • Add resistance bands to the progression you’re trying to move to in an ‘assistive’ fashion
    • Sometimes, bouncing down to a lower progression with far more reps is necessary in order to correct form issues that you have that are preventing you from using the muscles necessary to progress
    I recently started using blood flow restriction (BFR) training with lighter weights to get more from my workouts.

    My Bodyweight Workout Routine Structure

    Now I’ll describe what I do each day of the week.  If something comes up, I’ll shuffle days if necessary, but I avoid having three of the same ‘types’ of days in a row.

    Every Day

    There are a few things that I strive to do every day.
    • Start every morning with the 5 Tibetan Rites.  This really gives me a burst of energy to start my day.  I’ve also been incorporating Pigeon Pose into this routine recently.
    • Walk a minimum of 11000 steps.  I do the bulk of this during three periods.  The first is after I’m done consuming my caffeine for the day.  The other two times is right after my meals for a bare minimum of 15 minutes.  I try to walk outside whenever possible.
    • Incorporate Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT);  I try to get as much ‘exercise’ that doesn’t look like exercise into my day as possible.  I’ll walk when I can drive, park at a distance, climb stairs, etc.
    • Bring glucose transporter type 4 to the surface of muscle cells before eating.  This is a ‘trick’ that I picked up from Tim Ferriss’ book The 4 Hour Body.  I mostly use air or isometric squats for this, but have played around with all the techniques that he mentions.

    Day 1

    • Warm up with 5 min of light cardio
    • 3 sets of straight pushups 70% of your maximum number of reps
    • 3 sets of rows 70% of your maximum number of reps
    • 2 sets of walking lunges 50 reps
    • 2 sets of hanging knee raises 15 reps (each side)
    • 2 sets of V-Ups 15 reps

    Day 2

    This is an endurance/recovery focused day. I do one HIIT session (often with BFR) for about 10 minutes I do an additional workout after recovered that consists of: I’ll do a short Yoga session on this day as well.

    Day 3

    • Warm up with 5 min of light cardio
    • 3 sets of most advanced pushup progression 75% of your maximum number of reps
    • 3 sets of most advanced rowing progression 75% of your maximum number of reps
    • 2 sets of chin-ups 75% of your maximum number of reps
    • 2 sets of walking lunges 50 reps
    • 2 sets of hanging knee raises 15 reps (each side)
    • plank for maximum hold time

    Day 4

    This is an Active Recovery day.  I do one HIIT session (often with BFR) for about 10 minutes.  Otherwise I focus on longer walks and/or rucks.  I’ll often do a short Yoga session as well.

    Day 5

    This is the day for setting new records.  Getting 90% of your maximum reps is the minimum. What we really want to do here is move to a more advanced progression or add clean reps to the maximum that we can do in our current progression.  We then use this to reevaluate our plan for the next week.
    • Warm up with 5 min of light cardio
    • 1 set of pullups to 90% of your maximum
    • 1 set of most advanced pushups to 90% of your maximum
    • 2 sets of straight pushups 70% of your maximum number of reps
    • 2 sets of rows 70% of your maximum number of reps
    • 2 sets of walking lunges 50 reps
    • 2 sets of hanging knee raises 15 reps (each side)
    • 2 sets of V-Ups 20 reps

    Day 6

    • Warm up with 5 min of light cardio
    • 5 sets of sprinting as fast as you can for 100 meters with no more than 2 minutes rest between sets
    Otherwise, this is an Active Recovery day.  Focus on longer walks and/or rucks.  Do a short HIIT session if recovery for the week has been good.  Do some Yoga otherwise.

    Day 7

    Active Recovery • Longer hikes and/or rucks • Yoga and mobility exercises