Book review: “Smarter not harder-The biohacker's guide to getting the body and mind you want” by Dave Asprey

What is ‘Smarter Not Harder’ and who is Dave Asprey?

Dave Asprey is a prominent figure in health optimization and people know him as the “father of biohacking”. He was born in 1973 and built his reputation by adopting technology to improve health and creating innovative work in biohacking. This book shows his latest work in a field he’s been learning about for more than two decades.

He founded Bulletproof 360, Inc. in 2013 and Bulletproof Nutrition Inc. in 2017. His podcast, Bulletproof Radio (now called The Human Upgrade), has reached over 75 million downloads as of January 2019. Beyond his media presence, he makes bold claims about his health experience and says he’ll live to 180 years.

“Smarter Not Harder: The Biohacker’s Guide to Getting the Body and Mind You Want” shows Asprey’s belief that you need to do less, not more, to reach peak wellness. The main idea focuses on working with your body’s natural drive to save energy, which makes laziness work in your favor.

Understanding the MeatOS concept

The book centers around “MeatOS” – his term for the body’s operating system. It explains this system works behind the scenes like a computer’s operating system. It handles basic functions like breathing, blinking, and dealing with toxins.

Your MeatOS exists to help you survive and save energy. Asprey puts it simply: “every cell in your body is programmed to do as little as possible”. This natural tendency toward laziness explains why regular fitness and diet approaches often don’t work well.

The key to biohacking lies in working with this operating system instead of fighting it. Just like computer hackers change code to get what they want, we can “hack” our biological code to get healthier without much effort.

How this book is different from traditional health guides

“Smarter Not Harder” takes a new path compared to regular health books. Most health guides promote heavy exercise and strict diets, but Asprey promotes quick, targeted changes.

The book goes beyond diet and fitness. It’s a complete system of biohacks that target three main systems:

• Metabolic systems
• Neurological systems
• Epigenetic systems

Asprey’s take on exercise challenges what most fitness experts say. He works out just 20 minutes each week, with two focused 10-minute sessions that he claims build enough muscle and strength. This is quite different from the usual advice to work out long and often.

The book teaches readers to make use of laziness by exercising smartly and efficiently. Research shows walking 7,000 steps daily can cut premature death risk by 50-70% for people aged 38-50, proving more isn’t always better.

Library Journal calls it “a refreshing approach on how to succeed in living a healthier lifestyle”. Unlike typical guides promising quick results, Asprey tells readers to “stop looking for quick-fix solutions and play the long game instead”.

The book helps you pick what matters most from five areas: strength, cardiovascular fitness, energy/metabolism, brain function, and stress reduction/recovery. This individual-specific approach lets you focus on your personal health goals without extra work.

Asprey spent over two million dollars “hacking his own biology”. Now readers can benefit from his findings without spending as much or taking extreme measures.

Biohacks for energy and metabolism

Smarter not harder teaches us that energy is life’s true currency. Your body performs all maintenance tasks with sufficient energy, yet simple activities become challenging without it.

Vibration therapy and mitochondrial health

Side alternating vibration training (SAVT) stands out as a powerful biohack in Asprey’s toolkit to optimize mitochondria. This technique uses a vibrating platform that mimics exercise through mechanical oscillation. Research shows SAVT can boost muscle power substantially in patients with mitochondrial myopathies. The average improvement reached +2.8 ± 0.6 W/kg over 12 weeks.

High-frequency muscle activation from the platform’s high-amplitude oscillation makes SAVT work. These quick subconscious muscle contractions boost EMG activity and recruit more muscle fibers than regular voluntary contractions. SAVT can also strengthen the trunk, improve muscle function, and reduce aging effects on skeletal muscle.

The frequency plays a crucial role – studies reveal that vibration affects mitochondrial numbers and activity differently at various frequencies, especially near resonance. The Dave Asprey approach makes use of this science to target optimal mitochondrial function.

Breath control and hypoxia training

Breathing techniques are the life-blood to boost energy. Controlled breathwork gets more oxygen to your brain, cuts stress, and balances your nervous system.

Cyclic sighing with long exhalations works better than mindfulness meditation to improve mood and reduce breathing rate. You need just 5 minutes daily of this practice to manage stress effectively. Different breathing patterns create unique effects:

• Bellows Breath gets more oxygen to your brain and stimulates your nervous system
• Breath of Fire clears brain fog and raises energy
• Deep Abdominal Breathing increases oxygen intake and fights fatigue

Intermittent hypoxia training (IHT) goes beyond simple breathwork. This technique alternates between low and normal oxygen exposure. IHT substantially raises VO2max and hemoglobin levels, which improves oxygen transport and tolerance to low oxygen.

Supplements for energy optimization

The book shows Asprey’s smart use of supplements for cellular energy. NAD+ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) emerges as a key coenzyme that drives cellular energy production and DNA repair. NAD+ precursors like NMN and NR help restore youthful levels of this vital molecule and improve physical exercise in older adults.

CoQ10 works as the main energy catalyst in cells – like a spark plug in your cellular engine. This critical component in the electron transport chain turns nutrients into ATP while acting as one of nature’s strongest antioxidants.

Magnesium conducts over 300 enzymatic reactions in your body. Asprey points out that magnesium can reverse stress effects on the brain and boost memory and cognitive function. This mineral proves vital for ATP production and energy metabolism.

Brain and sensory function hacks

Asprey’s book dives into state-of-the-art brain optimization techniques that target neural pathways directly. These sophisticated approaches help reprogram brain function and improve performance with minimal effort, going beyond traditional methods.

Neurofeedback devices and EEG training

Electroencephalography neurofeedback (EEG-NF) emerges as a powerful biohack. This self-regulatory technique gives you live feedback on brain activity patterns that relate to specific behaviors. Meta-analysis research shows EEG-NF creates a small but positive effect on episodic memory performance (g = 0.31). The results vary based on memory modality and self-regulation success.

EEG-NF measures electrical activity through scalp electrodes and sends signals back to users through visual or auditory cues. Users can modify their brain function and structure over time through this feedback loop. Professional-grade devices analyze brainwave frequencies, especially alpha waves (8-13 Hz) that relate substantially to cognitive performance. Your thalamus processes information more efficiently with a faster Peak Alpha Frequency.

Vagus nerve stimulation for calm

The book shows vagus nerve activation as the life-blood of stress management. This vital nerve connects your brain and body while controlling automatic functions like breathing and heart rate. Your sympathetic nervous system’s fight-or-flight response decreases when you stimulate this pathway.

You can stimulate your vagus nerve through:

• Deep diaphragmatic breathing with extended exhalations
• Cold exposure through ice packs or cold showers
• Physical exercise, especially interval training
• Sound vibrations through humming, singing or gargling
• Massage focused on head and neck areas

These activities boost heart rate variability—a key indicator of vagal tone. Higher variability shows balanced nervous system function and better adaptation to environmental changes that reduce stress and anxiety.

Binaural beats and vision exercises

The book gets into binaural beats as an auditory phenomenon that happens when each ear receives slightly different frequency tones. This creates a third tone sensation that oscillates at the difference frequency. You can hear these beats in the 1-30 Hz range, matching main EEG frequency bands.

Research shows mixed results about their effectiveness. Some studies show entrainment effects, particularly in delta (1-4 Hz) and theta (4-8 Hz) bands. Other research suggests that frequent home use might decrease cognitive performance.

Vision exercises improve sensory processing through visual tracking, fixation activities, and visual-motor integration training. These techniques boost eye coordination, depth perception, and visual discrimination. The dave asprey book uses these methods as foundations of sensory optimization.

Strength and cardio

Dave Asprey takes a fresh look at physical training. It uses evidence-based methods that give you better results in less time.

Isometric and resistance band training

The dave asprey smarter not harder approach makes isometric exercises the life-blood of efficient workouts. These exercises work by contracting muscles without moving joints – you just hold a position to keep muscle length constant. Isometrics work best to maintain strength and they’re great at stabilizing joints. You’ll get the best strength gains by holding isometric contractions at 80-100% of maximum effort for 1-5 seconds. Research shows these exercises build stronger joints than regular strength training.

Resistance bands work perfectly with isometrics in this system. Research proves bands can build strength, endurance, and muscle mass just like weights. Bands stretch in many directions and target muscles that weights can’t reach. This makes them perfect for sports movements like swimming or tennis. The resistance increases as you stretch the band, which makes your muscles work harder through each movement.

REHIT and High-Intensity intervals

The book introduces REHIT (Reduced Exertion High-Intensity Interval Training) as a game-changing cardio approach. This quick method packs more cardiovascular benefits into just 2-3 intense 10-20 second sprints during a short 9-15 minute workout. Three REHIT sessions each week can boost your VO2max by 12.3% – that’s almost twice the improvement you’d get from moderate training.

REHIT works because of how it affects glycogen. Your body’s energy needs skyrocket during maximum effort, forcing it to use stored glycogen. Your muscles can’t tell the sprint will be short, so they release more glycogen than needed, which gives you a huge metabolic boost.

Why traditional cardio falls short

Asprey supports quick, targeted training instead of traditional methods. One study showed steady cardio and HIIT both improved VO2max similarly after eight weeks, but HIIT took much less time. People also tend to enjoy traditional cardio less over time, which makes it harder to stick with.

Too much cardio can raise stress hormones like cortisol, which might make you hold onto weight. Asprey suggests amateur athletes should do HIIT just once a week, with each session lasting only 15 minutes.

Stress reduction and recovery tools

Sleep hygiene and light management

Good sleep habits are the foundations of stress reduction. Asprey suggests sticking to a regular sleep schedule with fixed bedtime and wake times. Adults need 7-9 hours of sleep each night, but sleep quality matters just as much as the hours you get. The best sleep environment should be cool (around 65°F), dark, and quiet.

The way we handle light makes a big difference in our sleep. Screen’s blue light blocks melatonin and makes falling asleep harder. Taking a 30-60 minute break from devices before bed tells your body it’s time to rest. You can also dim your lights a few hours before bedtime to help your body make more melatonin naturally.

Sunlight, sauna, and herbal adaptogens

Getting morning sunlight helps set your body’s circadian rhythm by controlling serotonin and melatonin levels. Sunlight boosts energy levels, cuts down anxiety, and improves brain function.

Saunas are a great way to reduce stress. Studies show regular sauna use lowers anxiety and improves heart rate variability—which shows how well you handle stress. Sauna heat makes your body release endorphins while calming your nervous system.

Adaptogens help manage stress by bringing your body back to balance (homeostasis). Here are some common options:

• Ashwagandha, which reduces anxiety and depression
• Rhodiola, which fights fatigue and helps you perform better in stressful times
• Holy basil, which lowers anxiety and helps your immune system work better

Daily practices for mental reset

Quick mental resets help keep your mind clear throughout the day. Even a 10-minute break can reduce stress by a lot. Breathing exercises work well to calm your nervous system and lower anxiety.

On top of that, changing your environment—by stepping outside or moving to another room—gives you a fresh viewpoint and mental clarity. Taking time to write in a journal or sit quietly helps you spot stress triggers before they become too much.

Conclusion

Dave Asprey’s “Smarter Not Harder” ended up redefining how we optimize health through strategic biohacking instead of brute-force methods. The book challenges conventional wisdom that links more effort with better results. Asprey presents a compelling case to work with our body’s natural tendencies—the MeatOS—rather than fighting against them.

The time efficiency of these methods solves one of the biggest obstacles people face—lack of time. Research shows that brief, targeted interventions like REHIT or vibration therapy can deliver similar or better results than traditional time-consuming approaches. These techniques become available to people with packed schedules.

Some skeptics might question this minimal-effort approach. However, the scientific basis shows these methods work by targeting the body’s adaptive response mechanisms. They maximize results while reducing unnecessary strain and recovery needs.

The book definitely serves as a valuable resource for anyone looking to improve their physical and mental performance without the burnout from conventional approaches. It shows that working smarter can work better than working harder to optimize health and performance.