Meet YG team - Martin
Hello YOGAGANG!
Have you ever thought of the reasons why you practice yoga, eat healthily, take of your body and skin? The answers will vary. However, I bet that the main purpose we would all agree on is to stay fit and feel amazing with our body and soul. If we look at how to achieve this in general, we would find a very complex field called biohacking- our today’s topic.
As we still find ourselves in quite an unusual situation, spend more time at home and easily have more space to work on ourselves, adjust our daily routines and be more present and mindful, we are bringing you a very special interview with Martin, so-called the YG biohacking guru!
If you’d like to improve your sleep habits, get some info about cold showers, 100 days no alcohol challenge, fighting procrastination, and many more aspects of living happier and cleaner life, keep reading!
1. What is Biohacking described shortly?
There isn't one established definition of what Biohacking is. I see it as a way to keep my biology and environment under control. One of the goals of Biohacking is to optimize your life to feel the best, perform the best, be healthy and happy and promote longevity. Because we live in an artificial environment, it can sometimes be quite challenging, and Biohacking is an excellent approach to achieve that.
2. Was it always a part of your life to live the “clean life”?
No, it wasn't. Like everyone, I needed to face few obstacles to realize that it is essential to take care of my body and mind to do all the things that I love as long as possible. If you are young you don't think that much about your future health because your body works great even when you don't live that much healthy. If we want to avoid lifestyle diseases and stay young, we have to remake this mindset in several ways- even though I haven’t always thought of this, I’m glad to know it now!
3. What was the breaking point, when you changed your life and started with Biohacking?
I was forced to start because I had an injury that turned into a chronic one and no doctor could help me to fix it. I realized that the best thing I can do is get myself into the best shape possible and help the body deal with the injury by itself. Then, even though I wasn't overweight or didn't have any illness, I found out how many things I can improve—starting with sleep, microbiome, food intolerances and so on.
4. Which biohacks do you practice daily or regularly?
It is very complex, and it is one part of the lifestyle, so I always think about my day in terms of making it the best. In general best bio hacks are to move a lot, sleep well, eat real food and take care of your mind. Unfortunately, most of us live exactly the opposite. People sit most of their day, their quality of sleep is bad, they eat processed food and read toxic stuff.
5. What is your tip to start?
The first and most important thing for me is to have a good quality sleep. Most people's sleep is terrible, and it is not that hard to fix it. Exposure to artificial light at night, eating late, drinking too much caffeine, sleeping in not completely dark room, etc. These things have a significant impact on your sleep quality, and they cost almost zero to fix. Other areas are mentioned above - move more, sit less, eat real food, cut sugars, and take care of your mental health. You can find endless information on how to achieve it.
6. What is your motivation?
My primary motivation is to do all things that I like to do and feel great. I do a lot of sports, and I want to keep doing them long-term, so it means I need to be healthy and injury-free. I keep habits that lead to this goal and trying to cut the ones that don't.
7. How often do you practice ice baths/ showers, and why?
I take a cold shower every day and an ice bath, usually once a week. It depends on the time of the year. During the winter, it is much easier to get ice.
And the reason why I do so is that cold exposure has many benefits. It helps to reduce inflammation, strengthens the immune system, and reduces stress levels, plus it helps you increase your willpower because you are usually not feeling like doing it.
I always read about these benefits but it wasn’t easy to start because it is not comfortable.
I highly recommend going super slowly from the start. In the beginning, you can just finish your regular shower with 5 sec of cold and then slowly build-up to the minute or whatever your goal is. It is worth it and you will definitely go out of your comfort zone.
8. How long already do you keep the no alcohol challenge, and is it still a challenge or a part of your lifestyle?
It started in 2019 as a 100 day no alcohol challenge and turned into a massive lifestyle change. It is no challenge anymore. I can't imagine going back. I am not against drinking, but excessive drinking has enormous adverse effects on your health, and it doesn't promote my life goals, so I haven't started drinking again. In the beginning, you need to deal with the social pressure because everyone is pushing you to have a drink with them, but after some time, you don't care anymore.
9. Do you find yourself effective? And how do you fight procrastination?
It is not always 100%, and I also procrastinate sometimes, but most of the time, I am effective. To beat procrastination, the number one thing, you can do for yourself, is to find or define your purpose. Not so many people think of their purpose, and this is a great thing to start. Ask yourself a question why are you doing what you are doing. Then work on your habits. We become what we do every day, so if you watch youtube every morning instead of doing stuff that you want or need to do, you are building your habit of watching youtube. It is not so hard to change it. I write down my goals and agenda for the next day, and then I am trying to do the maximum possible to achieve it. Most of these things are free. They just need discipline.
10. If you should choose just one thing from the biohacking field (maybe one from the listed above) that you would recommend to our readers, which one would it be?
Improve your sleep quality. It has such a significant impact on your health, well-being, and performance. Listen to the podcast of Matthew Walker and Joe Rogan [WATCH HERE] or buy his book Why we sleep [AMAZON ENG, MELVIL CZ] . It is worth everything.
Few of the improvements you can make right now:
Sleep in a completely dark room
Prefer colder temperature
Avoid blue light at night - mostly cellphone and computer screen. Use blue light blocking glasses if you need to
Wind down before you go to bed- meditate, hot bath, etc.
Don't eat a heavy meal before bedtime
11. Where do you find trends or exercise that you will implement in your routine next?
I read books, listen to podcasts, read academic studies and follow scientists and biohackers on social media - Instagram and Twitter. It is necessary to use critical thinking because the internet has an unlimited amount of information and also science is a never-ending process, so the knowledge we have now can change in the future. Being a good student and keep learning is very important.
12. Share with us your favorite apps that help you on your way.
Streaks [ Website ] - to build new habits
Zero [ Website ] - to count my fasts
Castbox [ Website ] - podcast player where you can search inside the podcasts - not only by title but also in the voice. It is excellent when you want to find a specific topic
Calm [ Website ] - meditations, white noise and sleep stories
Headspace [ Website ] - probably the best meditation app
Oura Ring [ Website ] - my most favorite sleep tracker. Read more about it HERE