The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance

The Strangest Thing I Do Every Morning for 15 Minutes | Brad Pitzele : 1458

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Apr 30, 2026

Brad Pitzele, founder of One Thousand Roads who rebuilt his health using oxygen and red light therapies. He explains 15-minute Exercise With Oxygen Therapy, how oxygen plus red/infrared light supercharges mitochondria, and the idea of tissue-level oxygen starvation called pseudo-hypoxia. They discuss timing, stacking the therapies, nitric oxide, circulation and practical at-home setups.

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ANECDOTE

Dave's First EWOT Experiment In The Gym

Dave Asprey recounts trying EWOT in his weight‑loss phase using a gym oxygen tank and feeling clearer brain function despite awkward logistics.
His early experiment motivated later interest in EWOT and sourcing oxygen devices for personal use.

ANECDOTE

Dave's Racehorse Laser Fixed A Chronic Knot

Dave used an early red/infrared laser meant for racehorses to relieve a chronic interscapular knot and restored blood flow, which convinced him red light worked.
That experience led him to found a consumer red light company and evangelize light therapy.

INSIGHT

Red Light Is The Signal, EWOT Is The Fuel

Red and infrared light increase mitochondrial oxygen demand and nitric oxide signaling, so pairing with EWOT multiplies benefits.
Brad notes users who paired both saw much larger effects than either modality alone because light revs the engine while EWOT supplies fuel.

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Your cells are starving for oxygen, and it's silently driving inflammation, fatigue, brain fog, and accelerated aging. This episode reveals how pairing Exercise with Oxygen Therapy (EWOT) and red light therapy supercharges your mitochondria, reverses pseudo-hypoxia, and unlocks a level of human performance most people never experience.

-Save up to $500 (through 5/17) at One Thousand Roads: https://www.onethousandroads.com/Dave

-Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience: https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR

Host Dave Asprey sits down with Brad Pitzele, founder of One Thousand Roads and one of the most credible voices in oxygen therapy and red light therapy. Brad didn't come to this work through a lab. He came to it through desperation. After battling autoimmune arthritis, melanoma, and Lyme disease, he rebuilt his health from the ground up starting in 2016 by targeting mitochondrial function when he could barely walk. Eighteen months later, he founded One Thousand Roads to bring these tools to everyone still searching for a way out.

Together, Dave and Brad break down the unified theory behind oxygen therapy and red light therapy, two of the most powerful and underrated tools in biohacking. They go deep on pseudo-hypoxia, the condition where your blood oxygen looks fine but your tissues are starving, and explain why this hidden dysfunction sits at the root of chronic fatigue, inflammaging, fibromyalgia, long COVID, and poor sleep optimization. They also cover the endothelium, nitric oxide, arterial stiffness, pulse wave velocity, and why your morning biology might be the most honest readout of your metabolic health.

This is essential listening for anyone serious about longevity, anti-aging, brain optimization, functional medicine, mitochondria, metabolism, and smarter not harder approaches to human performance.

You'll Learn:

What EWOT is and why elite athletes and biohackers use it to flood tissues with oxygen in 15 minutes
How pseudo-hypoxia silently blocks energy production and drives chronic illness
Why stacking red light therapy immediately after EWOT multiplies results for both
How mitochondrial dysfunction connects to endothelial aging, microcirculation failure, and systemic inflammation
The role of nitric oxide in arterial flexibility, vasodilation, and real anti-aging markers like pulse wave velocity
Why your lungs are your biggest detox organ and how oxygen therapy supports that process
How ketosis, fasting, and cellular energy interact with EWOT and red light for maximum benefit
What LED lighting is doing to your mitochondria every single day and how to fix it
How to build an affordable at-home EWOT setup for around $2,500

Thank you to our sponsors!

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Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade brings you the knowledge to take control of your biology, extend your longevity, and optimize every system in your body and mind. Each episode delivers cutting-edge insights inhealth, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, biohacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living.

New episodes are released every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (BONUS). Dave asks the questions no one else will and gives you real tools to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient.

Keywords: Brad Pitzele, One Thousand Roads, EWOT, exercise with oxygen therapy, oxygen therapy, red light therapy, infrared light therapy, pseudo-hypoxia, mitochondria, mitochondrial dysfunction, biohacking, longevity, anti-aging, human performance, inflammation, inflammaging, microcirculation, endothelium, glycocalyx, nitric oxide, arterial stiffness, pulse wave velocity, capillary health, cellular energy, ATP production, aerobic respiration, anaerobic respiration, VO2 max, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, brain fog, autoimmune disease, Lyme disease, Bartonella, long COVID, mast cell activation, detoxification, lung health, sleep optimization, metabolism, functional medicine, ketosis, fasting, red light bulbs, LED lighting, light therapy, wavelengths, near infrared, oxygen concentrator

Resources:

• Save up to $500 (through 5/17) at One Thousand Roads: https://www.onethousandroads.com/Dave

• Get My 2026 Clean Nicotine Roadmap | Enroll for free at https://daveasprey.com/2026-clean-nicotine-roadmap/

• Dave Asprey's Latest News | Go to https://daveasprey.com/ to join Inside Track today.

• Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/discount/dave15

• My Daily Supplements: SuppGrade Labs (15% Off)

• Favorite Blue Light Blocking Glasses: TrueDark (15% Off)

• Dave Asprey’s BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com

• Dave Asprey’s New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated

• Join My Substack (Live Access To Podcast Recordings): https://substack.daveasprey.com/

• Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com

Timestamps:

00:00 – Trailer

01:41 – Welcome Brad

03:01 – What Is EWOT?

05:27 – EWOT vs. Hospital Oxygen

06:51 – Longevity & Inflammaging

11:42 – Pseudo-Hypoxia

12:57 – Red Light Therapy

15:47 – EWOT + Red Light Unified Theory

18:00 – Nutrition, Ketosis & VO2 Max

19:56 – Stacking EWOT & Red Light

22:01 – Equipment & Cost

26:00 – Junk Light & LED Problems

30:51 – Sunlight & Nitric Oxide

32:36 – Endothelium & Microcirculation

38:49 – Arterial Stiffness & Pulse Wave Velocity

43:29 – Lungs as a Detox Organ

45:04 – EWOT for Long COVID

47:58 – Wrap-Up

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