Brock Armstrong: Testing Today’s Top Biohacks – What Are They, The Science, Potential Benefits, and Are They Worthwhile?

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Our friend Brock Armstrong is back on Endurance Planet (and also back doing EP’s audio editing) and he shares the experiences he’s had using some of the most sophisticated, advanced biohacks in existence. He runs through a handful of machines, supplements and more to tell us what they are, how they work, his experience, the science and his n=1 conclusions on their effectiveness. At the end, he gives us his biggest takeaways on utilizing biohacks vs. good old fashioned exercise and diet.

Brock is a busy guy these days: he is the host of the Get Fit Podcast and Workplace Hero Podcast, launching the Weightless Project, coaching athletes and much more.

The biohacks discussed on this episode with references mentioned in the show:

• Qualia
  • Nootropic (not a smart drug)
  • Helps brain function and cognition
  • Could it be the placebo effect?
  • Dr. Daniel Stickler of the Neurohacker Collective
• Human Charger
  • Blasts blue light into ears like light therapy (just 12 minute sessions)
  • Can help circadian rhythm, jet lag, SAD, etc.
  • Summary of published, peer-reviewed findings
• SARMS
  • Not legal for athletes to take in sanctioned competition
  • Why Brock was a bit freaked out by these
  • Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs) as Function Promoting Therapies
  • Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator Treatment Improves Muscle Strength and Body Composition and Prevents Bone Loss in Orchidectomized Rats
• Vasper
  • Similar to a recumbent bike
  • Takes you through 20min of HIIT
  • Occlusion therapy (blood flow restriction)
  • Recruits more muscle fibers
  • Enhanced muscle protein synthesis
  • Cold therapy: Also includes a cooling device directly on body
  • Ask The Muscle Prof: What’s The Deal With Occlusion Training?
• ARX Fit
  • Motorized resistance training
  • Utilizes a wench and puts you through extreme loads
  • Weights vs. ARX (video)
• LiveO2
  • Form of hypoxic training on an exercise machine
  • Levels of oxygen are adjusted
  • Hypoxic environment leads to desired adaptations for endurance exercise, e.g. increased RBCs, EPO response, and other desirable adaptations
  • Combined intermittent hypoxia and surface muscle electrostimulation as a method to increase peripheral blood progenitor cell concentration
• CVAC
  • Machine (pod) that you sit in and it goes through varying pressures, i.e. a hypobaric hypoxia chamber
  • May boost mitochondria and aerobic gains
  • Cyclic Hypobaric Hypoxia Improves Markers of Glucose Metabolism in Middle-Aged Men
  • Pilot study: rapidly cycling hypobaric pressure improves pain after 5 days in adiposis dolorosa
• Cryotherapy
  • A form of “extreme” cold therapy for enhanced recovery
  • how this compares to cold water immersion
  • Recovery From Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage: Cold-Water Immersion Versus Whole-Body Cryotherapy.
  • Recovery following a marathon: a comparison of cold water immersion, whole body cryotherapy and a placebo control.
  • The Effectiveness of Whole Body Cryotherapy Compared to Cold Water Immersion: Implications for Sport and Exercise Recovery
• Brock’s takeaways from utilizing biohacks…

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