Ben Greenfield is one of the first names you think of when you hear the words “biohacking” and “human performance.” He’s a former competitive athlete turned longevity expert, author, and coach, and he’s spent decades testing different human performance techniques on his own body.
He recently returned to the show for his third appearance, and the conversation was seriously inspiring. He talked to Lauryn and Michael about things like draining and filtering your blood to why faith and family ended up mattering more than any protocol ever could. Here’s the thing though: Ben Greenfield’s methods are extreme. Rather than using this conversation as a rulebook, consider it an inside look at what works for him.
You can find everything about this bio-hacking legend below, from who Ben Greenfield is, where he came from, and what he’s known for. We’re also pulling points from the episode that help explain the surprisingly grounded philosophy he’s landed on after years at the far edge of optimization
For the full conversation, you can watch it below as you read along.
Who Is Ben Greenfield?
Ben Greenfield has been in the wellness world for a long time. He’s a biohacker, fitness expert, former triathlete, bestselling author, and someone who’s spent years seeing just how far you can take human performance. And when it comes to biohacking, he was trying a lot of this stuff before most people had even heard of it. Things that sounded pretty out-there years ago have since become a lot more mainstream.
But if you’ve followed Ben for a while, you might notice that he talks about all of it a little differently now. He’s still fascinated by longevity, fitness, and health optimization. That hasn’t gone anywhere. But faith and family come up just as much. One minute he’s talking about stem cells, and the next he’s explaining the morning huddle he does with his family.
A big part of that shift came from realizing that you can optimize everything, your health, your body, your performance, and still not feel fulfilled. There’s always another protocol to try or another way to improve something. But for Ben, none of that replaces the things that actually make life feel meaningful, especially his faith, his family, and his relationships with other people.
So yes, he’s still very much a biohacker. He just doesn’t seem interested in biohacking for the sake of biohacking anymore.
Ben Greenfield’s Background
Ben Greenfield’s background is rooted in sport and science. Before he became a household name in biohacking, he was a serious endurance athlete. He raced the Ironman triathlon and competed in professional obstacle course racing. If you were to look at his life as an outsider, he was totally crushing it. But his home life was a wreck because he wasn’t a present father or husband. That tension, high performance on the outside but rocky home life, became a turning point we’ll get to later.
What Ben is formally trained in is exercise science. He has his master’s degree in exercise physiology and biomechanics, which is why he admits he’s a little biased toward exercise. But that foundation is a part of why he’s able to go so deep on the mechanisms behind what he tries.
A career as a coach and triathlete evolved into full-time biohacking, longevity research, and the self-experimentation he’s known for now.
What Is Ben Greenfield Known For?
Ben Greenfield made his name by going first and going further. Here’s what he’s best known for:
Biohacking and Longevity Work
Like we said earlier, Ben Greenfield is easily one of the recognizable faces in biohacking and longevity. He described the whole “oil change for the body” idea and full body blood filtration as the big new thing in the space. (You have to watch the episode to hear all the ins and outs of that one.) He tells Lauryn and Michael that he’s done the full body blood filtration himself. Not because he’s sick, but because he experiments with it, writes about it, and talks about it on his show.
His Bestselling Book, Boundless
If you want an idea of just how deep Ben goes into all of this, look at his bestseller, Boundless. He brought up the newly updated and revised edition during the episode and joked that there’s so much packed into it, you could spend half your life reading it.
And honestly, that tracks. Ben has spent years going down rabbit holes on fitness, recovery, brain health, performance, and pretty much every other piece of feeling and performing better. Boundless is where a LOT of that knowledge ends up in one place. So if something he mentioned during the episode had you wishing he’d gone into more detail, there’s a chance he has.
His Show and Platform
Ben hosts his own show and writes extensively about health, biohacking, and longevity. It’s where the high-level conversations actually happen. When asked who he even talks to like this, he said he covers it all on his podcast and with his friends who are into health. He (kind of) joked that he and his wife don’t talk about health on date nights.
Extreme Self-Experimentation
This is the part that makes people really wonder who Ben Greenfield is. During a med spa stretch in Austin, he and a friend were doing IVs every day, hitting the clinics, doing hyperbaric, and they both did blood filtration and stem cells. He treats his body as the test lab, which is exactly why his takeaways carry weight. He’s not just talking about methods, he’s lived them and is sharing his experiences.
Ben Greenfield’s Approach to Health and Longevity
Ben Greenfield’s approach to health and longevity has shifted. Now, his philosophy is about optimizing the body, mind, and spirit, and blending cutting-edge biohacking with ancient and faith-based practices.He broke the “why” behind biohacking into a few different categories.
Ben said that one reason people do it is because their identity is wrapped up in how they look and perform. People honestly just never want to get old. The second is wanting to prepare the body to be as impactful as possible, for as long as possible. He framed it as putting more life in your years, not necessarily years in your life.
He’s also pretty clear that the more extreme stuff isn’t something everyone needs to run out and try. Take blood filtration, for example. Ben said he wouldn’t recommend doing something that intensive just for the sake of optimizing yourself. He’s talking about it in the context of people dealing with things like Lyme, mold, mycotoxins, or long COVID.
And when it comes to living forever, he’s skeptical. He pointed out that people spend so much time chasing extra years and living longer that it just sucks the joy out of them. His own routine stays reasonable, including an hour and a half maximum dedicated to self-care, a hyperbaric session, or a workout.
Lauryn and Michael aren’t doctors, and this is Ben Greenfield’s personal approach, not medical advice. Much of what he describes is advanced, and some of it isn’t available or legal everywhere. Talk to your own doctor before trying anything that touches your health, medications, or hormones.
A Look at His Daily Routine
Ben Greenfield’s daily routine looks extreme, but it’s actually really integrated into his actual life. Here’s the short version:
- He started a big morning family huddle to bring everyone together, beginning with meditation, breath work, prayer, and journaling.
- He likes to work out fasted in the morning because he doesn’t feel good training on a full stomach. He eats all his carbs at night, usually 200 to 300 grams, with things like sweet potato and dark chocolate.
- He keeps a walking treadmill in his office and gets 12 to 15,000 steps a day while working.
- Around 1:30 or 2 PM, he takes a half hour “siesta,” usually in a hyperbaric chamber, on a PEMF mat, or using a red light bed.
- In the afternoon or early evening, he does thermal stress, a sauna session, and jumps, usually with his sons.
- He’s moved from strict keto to cyclic low carb, staying in a fat burning zone most of the day.
For the complete breakdown, check out the full guide to Ben Greenfield’s daily routine.
Faith and Family
This is the side of Ben Greenfield that tends to surprise people. For all the talk of blood filtration and peptides, faith and family are what he puts first. But he admits that shifting to that mindset wasn’t something that just came to him.
In his episode, Ben said that about eleven years ago he thought he was going to get divorced. Saving his marriage involved rebuilding honesty and showing his wife he really wanted to be a family man instead of putting business or health first.
He eventually quit racing and competing, because even though it was fun, it wasn’t as fulfilling as leading the family and being there for his kids and wife. Now, those family routines are the backbone of his day.
The family meets at 7 p.m. for father-son book club, he plays a song on the guitar, they eat and play games for an hour or so, and then they do the dishes together. He described wanting to be the thermostat in the home, setting the tone and bringing the family together at the beginning and end of the day.
He ties the bigger picture to his faith directly. More specifically, he talked about thought leaders like C.S. Lewis and Augustine, describing an “eternal hole in the soul.” Finite things, like fitness, money, and the rest, can’t fill that hole.
Where to Find Ben Greenfield
If this conversation pulled you in, there’s plenty more of Ben Greenfield to explore. His bestselling book Boundless is out now, and he pointed people to his show and for the deep, high-level health discussions. He also has a new documentary, The Man Who Became Human, with executive producer Zac Efron and director Caleb Applegate.
Want to go even deeper? Check out our breakdown of The Science of Longevity. And for another wide-ranging take on health optimization and human performance, the episode with Gary Brecka on biohacking pairs perfectly with this one.
Don’t forget to watch the full episode on The Bossticks YouTube and hit subscribe! Ben Greenfield is one of many guests who will encourage you to open your mind and rethink everything you thought you knew.
Lauryn and Michael are not doctors, dermatologists, or medical professionals, and nothing in this post is medical advice. They’re sharing what came up in a conversation and what works for them and their guests, based on first hand experience. Ben Greenfield’s protocols are his own and are often advanced. Please consult your own doctor before making changes to your health, supplements, hormones, or medications.