The Powerhouse Protocol is the mother of all biohacks. It utlizes three distinct biohacking modalities: PEMF/grounding, EWOT (oxygen multistep training) and red-light therapy in a precise sequence that creates an overall benefit that is greater than using each of the biohacks independently– the whole is greater than the some of the parts. This biohack is a cheat– a crutch, so to speak, that provides a window of opportunity for rapid growth and payoff
The name is a pun — this protocol enhances the activity of your mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell, and midway through the protocol you actually start to feel like a powerhouse. But make no mistake, this protocol is HARD WORK– you earn every gain you make. The magic really happens in the gym or dojo, on your run or walk.
STEP 1: get grounded-
disperse a static charge and maximize your blood’s ability to receive oxygen.
This disperses a static charge in your body. When you have a static charge or static buildup your red blood cells clump together, not unlike taking laundry out of the dryer and having your socks stuck together via static cling. By dispersing the static charge, the blood cells stop clinging to each other and this allows maximal surface area for each red blood cell to absorb its maximum amount of oxygen.
STEP 2: become super-oxygenated-
adaptive-contrast training is the next generation of EWOT:
The session lasts approximately 15 minutes in which you wear a mask attached to a reservoir with two pouches, one containing 95% pure oxygen and one containing high altitude air. We have you perform moderate exercise while monitoring heart rate and blood oxygen levels while switching back and forth between very low intensity exercise and some more intense challenge intervals. Switching between these two modes saturates your oxygen binding capacity of your red blood cells, but more importantly allows your plasma to absorb up to 433% more oxygen into the water portion of the blood. This is where the magic happens. Depending on your level of conditioning or training goals, we direct you through either an introductory session, Whole Body O2 Flush, Performance Training or Brain O2 protocol.
What’s happening?
Something amazing is happening in the ends of the vascular tree. Think of your small blood vessels like a tree, with branches getting smaller and smaller as the vessel goes further away from the trunk. Imagine zooming-in on the smallest tips of the vascular tree- the shape is replicated the more you zoom in- ultimately to the level of the capillaries. Areas of the body that have been subjected to inflammation or injury often have poor movement of the red blood cells (RBCs) through the tips of the smallest arterioles. Cappillary action then becomes poor. Inflammation causes fibrosis, or micro-scarring in the walls of the microvasculature, causing the pipe to become rigid, and not “stretchy” and elastic the way it should be. RBCs may be stuck in micro-clogs, but during the adaptive contrast session, the oxygen-saturated plasma still makes it through the “clogged pipes” and is now able to provide ogygen to areas that have been oxygen-starved. The tips of the vascular tree expereince decreased inflammation and increased healing. The heat of your body is also doing something wonderful for your red blood cells, which are like little Amazon delivery trucks. The heat makes it easier for the delivery truck to drop off its oxygen packages to the cells and quickly load up again for the next delivery. This phenomena is now happening throughout the enitre body. Playing this out over time:
significantly shortens inflammatory process
increases oxygen levels in tissues lasting up to several days, assuming you keep breathing
significantly reduces swelling
speeds up the metabolic process and results in a loss of 200 to 250 calories per session
increases the production of collagen
significantly accelerates metabolic detoxification
promotes greater tissue strength
improves mental focus
balances the body’s response to stress
enhances the growth of new blood vessels
increases oxygen perfusion in and around wounded tissue
stimulates new capillary growth
improves the survival of tissue in the gray area of a crush injury
improves bone regeneration
helps prevent infection
reduces pain
relaxes tired muscles
Oxygen is energy. Think of a how a candle burns: using the wick and the oxygen to create the flame. More oxygen means more flame — stop the oxygen and the flame snuffs out. During the session your muscles begin to work. They begin receiving oxygen beyond what the heart and lungs can normally deliver (ambient room O2 concentration is around 21%, our LiveO2 system delivers 85-95% O2 to the lungs) and you begin to get warm. As you switch from altitude concetration (around 18% O2) to 85-95% O2, your muscles and connective tissue become floded with oxygen you begin to break a sweat. You begin to notice that you can exert greater power in your muscles and during certain intervals of the protocol, sprinting may feel effortless. More oxygen means more power. You have just increased your body’s ability to produce power, also known as VO2 Max. An incresing body of data is showing that adaptive contrast training can increase your VO2 Max by 30 in several weeks.
The session concludes with a cool-down interval and post-session breathwork, followed by a very satisfying water break. Most people report feeling amazingly calm and surprisingly refreshed after this session.
STEP 3: Turn up the furnace: Whole-body Red Light Therapy
photo-biomodulation (PBM) repairs and activates your mitochondria and cranks up the power of your muscles and brain.
In this step you get to relax and continue focusing on slow, relaxing belly-breathing. You expose over 50% of your skin as you would, say, on a beach and then lie in the enclosed table for 20 minutes, bathed in warm, comforting red light. Our whole body red light PBM table safely delivers concentrated 630 nm VRS light equivalent to several hours of sunshine in only 20 minutes with no UV light exposure. During the session you will gradually get warmer and likely start to sweat again– but the heat is coming from inside your body. Heat is being generated in your body as you mitochondria activate, increasing your metabolism and speeding up cellular activity.
Step 2 drove additional energy into your body in the form of oxygen. The effectiveness of the Powerhouse Protocol lies in the addition of two powerful energy sources together into your body –– Step 2 maximizes the body’s ability to hold and saturate oxygen in our muscles, organs, brain, skin and connective tissue. In Step 3 we supply the cells of the entire body with an abundance of ATP, nitric oxide and heat. In this step, you are literally putting energy into your body in the form of visible red light spectrum (VRS) wavelegth 630 nm.
WHAT’S HAPPENING:
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Mitochondria are the “powerhouses” of the cell. They are little furnaces that produce the energy “currency” used by the body, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and give off heat. NASA scientist recently learned that mitochondria are photosensitive to VRS light of a certain wavelength. The VRS light repairs the mitochondria and stimulates them to produce more ATP. The VRS also stimulates the mitochondria to release nitric oxide which causes increased vasodilation throughout the body. This causes an increase in your body’s ability to deliver and uptake the oxygen into the cells for metabolic use. Used as a stand alone treatment outside of the Powerhouse Protocol, PBM/red light therapy decreases oxidative stress, induces angiogenesis, stimulates stem cell production for wound healing, decreases inflammation, protects healthy tissue and accelerates recovery. Used in conjunction with the other steps of the Powerhouse Protocol these health benefits are multiplied by the abundance of oxygen throught the entire body, used by every metabolic process in every organ system. Red light therapy improves the outcomes of exercise with oxygen/adaptive contrast training, and the exercise wth oxygen improves the outcome of red light therapy. To do a deeper dive in photobiomodulation/red light therapy click here.
The takeaway: Bridging the gap to your next level of health:
“One who lacks stamina and endurance loses confidence in themself and develops a defeatist complex.”
Grand Master Robert A. Trias, “The Hand is My Sword, a Karate HAndbook.”
- Powerhouse Protocol training is not intended as a stand-alone therapy, but as a powerful addition to new or existing strength training or cardiovascular exercise to help you achieve your goals in a greater way and establish new thresholds of physiologic conditioning. The real magic is happening outside of our clinic, at the gym or dojo, or on your run or walk.
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People who benefit the most from this biohack:
- 1. Deconditioned people who wish to initiate cardiovascular conditioning
- 2. People stuggling with or recovering from chronic illness
- 3. People struggling with neuro conditions: recovering from concussion, TBI, experiencing cognitive decline or brain fog
- 4. Conditioned athletes looking to increase their VO2 Max, power, strength, conditioning and endurance.
What to expect:
Initially, most people feel refrshed and clear-headed after the session. It is not unusual to for this refreshed feeling to linger for several days. Athletes typically report increased power and stamina after the first session. Significant sweating and fluid exchange takes place as the body detoxifies. Generally, the Powerhouse Protocol increases your awareness of and ability to control your breathing.
After several sessions an enhanced sense of general vitality seems to be reported by users as an increased willingness to undertake physical challenges or heavier training. It is typical for users to report improved sleep quality and heightened energy levels.
After 4 weeks of use, athletes report that they are beginning to feel “like a powerhouse” as their VO2 max is increasing. Most users of all conditioning levels report improved cognition and mental clarity.
Just like any biohack, the payoff occurs with consistency played out over time. Though we refer to this as a “protocol,” there are actually many protocols- depending on fitness level and desired outcomes. An average protocol duration is 12 sessions, 1-2 times a week.
Tags: Adaptive Contrast Training, Biohacking, EWOT, Exercise with Oxygen, Inflammation, PEMF